Primarily, this standard wants me to recognize the importance behind using a variety of

instructional strategies to appeal to students’ different learning needs. While some students will

benefit from textual resources, other students will learn more by critically analyzing visual

resources. Therefore, there are many reasons to using different strategies in the classroom to

reinforce the same material; however, it is necessary to also consider the limitations by using

numerous resources. In general, using a variety of instructional strategies enhances student

learning. This includes creating interdisciplinary connections as well as making connections with

real world experiences. Additionally, this standard wants me to understand how to not only vary

the instructional strategies, but to also vary the instructor’s role in the process. Thus, as

educators, it is important to also play the role of facilitator, coach, audience, and sometimes

mentor.

For this standard, I chose to use a written lesson plan of a reader’s theatre as the artifact

to demonstrate my understanding and application of the standard. In this particular reader’s

theatre, the students reenact the monumental trial when Dred Scott, an African American slave,

sued his master for moving him to a free territory, but keeping him enslaved. Therefore, in

addition to the typical reading incorporated into instruction, the students are also working

through some kinesthetic movement helping students with ADHD and other disabilities focus on

the lesson and task-at-hand. This clearly demonstrates my knowledge of “techniques for

modifying instructional methods, materials, and the environment to facilitate learning for

students with disabilities and/or diverse learning characteristics.” Furthermore, as a reader’s

theatre, this specific lesson models a variety of “roles in the instructional process as instructor,

facilitator, coach, [and] audience in relation to the content and purposes of instruction and the

needs of the students.” During the reenactment of the trial through the reader’s theatre, the
students are given an active role in their learning and can significantly improve their critical

thinking skills by giving each individual student responsibility as a specific role in the

reenactment. Thus, the instructor simply stands back as the audience and a facilitator, if

necessary, giving the students more responsibility in their own education. Since I have used this

artifact in practice, my teaching will change in the future to further meet this standard by

extending the reader’s theatre further. Rather than simply using one day for this lesson, it could

become a lesson lasting multiple days, encouraging the students to delve deeper into the

reenactment and discover more about the specific topic.

After demonstrating the importance behind incorporating a variety of instructional

strategies into the classroom to appeal to students’ different learning needs, I feel more prepared

to teach and learn in a diverse society. ‘Diverse’ can be defined in multiple ways. For one, it can

be interpreted as an ethnically and racially diverse environment. With an ethnically and racially

diverse student population, it is necessary to consider students’ family and personal backgrounds

when making connections between the curriculum and real world experiences. For example, in

math, some students will understand using gas prices as numerical figures, while other students

will simply understand using the price of riding the public bus. By using a variety of

instructional strategies, all students are developing their critical thinking and problem solving

skills further. ‘Diverse’ can also be interpreted as an academically diverse environment. By

satisfactorily meeting this standard, I have demonstrated the importance in using a wide variety

of instructional strategies to appeal to students’ diverse learning styles and performance

preferences. This will prepare me as a prospective teacher to provide the best education for a

diverse group of students. I look forward to using this knowledge in my future and am confident

that my future experiences will further build upon these understandings as well.