Instructional Strategies: Learning and Growing

     It is a sad fact that teachers often get in a rut and tend to only use a few instructional strategies in their classroom.  Using a variety of strategies can help to meet the varying needs of the students in the 21^st century classroom.  It offers multiple ways to learn and gives the students multiple  ways to look at and think about presented material. Students that struggled with classical teaching methods can now reengage and flourish as material is presented and taught in new and interesting ways.

     Technology can make it easier to use more of these strategies.  It is especially useful in assisting in group learning formats, enabling a wider range of participants to collaborate and discuss new ideas.  Productivity software has not only allowed us to do things more quickly, it has allowed us to do things that we had not even imagined only 10 years ago.  Who would have thought you would be able to video chat in real time on the other side of the world? 

     After researching the various strategies, my mind is awhirl with new ideas that I want to implement or at least try in my classroom.  To keep from becoming irrelevant in the 21^st century classroom, it is important for teachers to continually grow and innovate and guard against growing stale.  Now I feel like there are so many ideas, and so little time to fit them in.