Brittany

Biggar
EDUC 3501

Teaching Strategies Catalogue

Jigsaw
Jigsaw is a teaching strategy that allows for a teacher to break up learning
material, so students must reply on each other to learn the required information.
For example, you present a lengthy article to your class and then put students into
groups where they are assigned different sections. Once assigned their section, they
are regrouped with students that share the same section. In their like groups they
discuss and share their ideas about their section. After they have discussed and
shared their section, they return to their original groups, where they piece together
the article as a whole. This strategy allows for students to work together on learning
the class material. One benefit to this strategy is that it allows for students to take a
large project or amount of material and share the workload. Another benefit is that
there is no better way to learn the material than to teach it. This strategy does have
cons though. One problem with the jigsaw method is the possibility of error on class
material. For example, when a student doesnt understand their section and
presents wrong information the rest of their group. When considering this method,
you would also need to ensure you have an assessment strategy that will illustrate
whether or not students learned and understood the material.

Exit Slips
Exit slips are a small piece of paper that students can use to reflect on what
they have learned. At the end of class the teacher presents the students with a
couple questions she would like the students to answer. The students are given
approximately 5 minutes to write their responses. After the students write their
response, the teacher collects the exit slips and reviews them for next class. The
teacher can then make changes to her next lesson where need based on information
collected from the exit slips. Exit slips are a great method to gain more information
about your students learning. The problem with exit slips is the decision on
whether they should be graded. Without a grade or if no apparent difference comes
from writing exit slips, some students may not take them seriously. I think it would
be important to have students put their names on the slips, so that you can
individually monitor students reflections.

Four Corners
The four corners teaching strategy is an interactive way for students to
express and discuss opinions, as well as a way for teachers to formatively assess
students learning. You present the class with a question or controversial statement
and based on their response they must stand in one of the four corners that
illustrate their response. The responses to the controversial statement could go as
follows, strongly agree, agree, strongly disagree, or disagree. If you present the class
with a question, the response could be particular answers to the question presented.
Each different response would be represented in one of the four corners. This
strategy would be an engaging way for students to reflect on learnt material, while
allowing the teacher to formatively assess the students learning. Some other

Brittany Biggar
EDUC 3501


benefits of the four corner strategy is, it promotes, listening, decision making and
communication. One problem with using this method to assess students learning, is
how can you be sure students will choose the corner they believe is correct and not
simply follow the crowd? When using this strategy I will need to ensure that this
method is an appropriate way to assess students knowledge.

Field Trips
Who doesnt enjoy field trips! A field trip is anything that takes students to
study something outside of their normal environment. One thing to take note is that
a field trip doesnt have to be away from the school. As a class you could take a field
trip to a different areas of the school, such as, the library. Field trips are an engaging
way for students to gain direct knowledge on something theyre studying. They also
aid as a visual representation of the students learning material. One implication to
field trips is their cost. This is why it is important when planning field trips to
consider what can be found only steps away from the classroom. For example, when
learning about seasons you could take students on a field trip just outside the
classroom.

Metaphors
Metaphors are the comparison of one object to another. This is an important
teaching strategy I want to include in my classroom. Sometime new information can
be hard to relate to, but when it can be related to something we know it can become
easier to understand. Metaphors can also help kids learn the meanings of new
words as they can be related to known objects. The comparison can provide the
student with a visual representation of the new words. For example, Jimmy eyes
were as blue as the sky. Most students know the color of the sky, so they can then
relate the color of the sky to Jimmys eyes. In older grades metaphors can be used to
help relate complex things to real world items. When using metaphors you must be
conscious of your audience. Although this can be a very beneficial tool for relating
things, students may interpret the same metaphor in different ways.

The Name Game

The name game is a way for students to interact with other students in the
class. This is a great way to introduce students on the first day. The name game goes
as follows; first students arrange chairs in a circle. They are then required to learn
the names of the students sitting directly beside them (Left and Right). Once they
have had a moment to talk with the people beside them and learn their names, the
teacher calls on specific students. The students then tell the class the names of the
people whom they just met. It is important to note the students are told beforehand
that they will be called upon. Once a couple people are called upon, the teacher says
switch. The students rearrange, so they are sitting beside new people. They are then
required to learn the names of two people sitting beside them instead of just one.
The game continues till everyone has learned each other names or enough names
that is appropriate for the age level. This game is a great way to build a positive
learning environment and allows for students to get to know each other. One

Brittany Biggar
EDUC 3501


negative implication to the name game is for students who may be shy. Although
you are trying to break the ice and create a positive learning environment you need
to be aware of the negative impacts it could create on specific students.


Discussion
Discussion is a way for students to express their ideas and thoughts. It can
occur in many different ways, such as, a group discussion, a class discussion or an
online discussion. Environment is a key component for discussion to work
effectively. A positive learning environment, in which students feel safe, will
encourage students to partake in the discussion. One useful way to use discussion is
when presenting or reflecting on a topic. This is a great way for teachers to
formatively assess students knowledge, and also assess students prior knowledge.
When discussion is happening, I can analyze students understanding. If the
students are having trouble discussing one topic, I may consider revisiting it in
another class, or even correcting it on the spot. As per the introduction of a topic, I
can observe students pre existing knowledge. Another benefit to discussion is it
allows for students to actively participate in the classroom. Which I believe is
essential to students learning. The problems with discussions are that, every
student may not feel comfortable presenting their thoughts or ideas to the class as a
whole. I think that is why it would be important to incorporate other forms of
discussion such as, online or smaller groups, where students may have more
confidence.

Learner-centered
Learner-centered learning is where the student is the focus of the learning
Students are responsible for their own learning and teachers act as a facilitator of
the learning. Learning-centered is all about the student; it requires students to be
actively involved in their learning. Learner-centered allows for the student to learn
how they learn best. They can incorporate their particular interests, as well as their
preferred teaching style. The benefits of learner-centered learning, is it empathizes
the needs of the students, which in turn can increase students learning success. Who
doesnt want to learn a particular subject, how they learn best? Some limitations to
this strategy are adhering to all students needs. Learner centered can cause a lot of
controlled chaos, which may impede some students learning. When using learner-
centered strategies, I would need to consider students who may have difficulty
learning in this type of environment.

Collaborative Learning
Collaborative learning is when two or more students work together on a
specific goal. Within the groups, students are required to share their knowledge and
skills to help obtain the specific goal. Collaborative learning can be very beneficial as
each student as specific skills they can contribute to the group. Its like the old
saying two heads are better than one. The problem with collaborative learning is
that not all students prefer working in groups. Some students enjoy working on

Brittany Biggar
EDUC 3501


their own. Also, some students may not get along. It is important to teach students
how to effectively work in groups.

Random Pairing of Groups-Popsicle Stick Method

The Popsicle stick method is a way of randomly forming groups within the
classroom for group activities. The teacher prepares various different colored
popsicles representing groups. As the students enter class they are required to grab
a Popsicle stick. Once everyone has a Popsicle stick the teacher can form groups
based on their Popsicle stick properties. I would consider having more than just one
attribute present on the sticks. As students may catch on and choose their sticks
based on the colors people they want to be grouped with have chosen. This method
is an effective way to pair students and decreases the chance of students feeling left
out since, everyone must choose a stick. The limitation of the game is that the
teacher has no choice in the groups, so if the teacher wants to pair certain kids for
particular reasons this method wouldnt work.