Get Your Students Hired
When I'm repeating a student's comment or question so the entire class can hear it, I often will clarify a term or word that the student used. I will also paraphrase at times to temper an attitude the student unconsciously expressed. This helps bring everyone into the conversation. Even in a class of native English speakers from within the United States, there can be puzzlement due to differences in life experience. Life experience can create surprising differences that come up unexpectedly in classroom discussion. Students can be rather unaware and insensitive sometimes. What is ok to say to a friend is not always "politically correct" to say in the classroom.
The first thing I think about is to try to make the lesson interesting to a wide audience. I choose examples that many students can relate to and are generally familiar to everyone. By doing this I can hold their attention. I then choose a variety of methods that incorporate different mediums, like A/V material, pictures, clicker-questions, small group work, etc. I try to meet the needs of all the learning styles of the students. When it comes to students with severe reading/writing deficiences, I pay close attention to them, giving them one-on-one time, and try to pair them up with a peer tutor.
What are some strategies that have helped you work with students that have diverse learning needs?
I, like Maricelly, prefer grouping the students together in small groups. I will typically place a couple of the weaker students together with a couple of the stronger students so that the stronger students can somewhat mentor the weaker ones. This seems to work very well!
Placing students from differnt cultural backgrounds together
Working within small groups of 4-5
Placing differnt ranges of experiance togeher
Providing adio visual and phyiscal tools to help to deliver the content
I put them into groups. It takes me "out" of the picture and makes them more secure working with their peers, then it inhances their learning and it proves when they have the confidence to stand and do a project on their own.
Reiteration, repetition, and application of the subject matter helps the learning process and the motivational process as well. paying close attention with a patient understanding desire for them to learn and succeed in their education and life.
Carlos
Diversity is an interesting challenge we all face as instructors both in a traditional campus but also in an online setting.
I believe the biggest problem that I have had with diversity in a classroom would be students whose first language is not English. These students have a difficult time trying to convey their message correctly because they do not yet fully understand the language.
In an online setting, when you don’t meet your students face to face, it is difficult to ascertain the learning difficulties of a student. It is also impossible to define their ethnicity, age, or disability unless they disclose the information themselves.
I provide all of my students with instructions on how to turn on the features in Microsoft Word that will help them improve their spelling, grammar, and punctuation. However, for some this is not enough. I follow up their work by using track changes on their papers, and provided them with detailed feedback on what they need to do to improve and how they can use the many resources the school has to offer.
I also strongly encourage all of my students to form study groups outside of any group that I may already have assigned them. This allows them the opportunity to work with others who might be in the same situation as them. Networking is one of the best tools students can take advantage of while they working through their education.
I am always open to additional ways to continue to assist my diverse students, and have enjoyed reading this thread and look forward to future ideas being shared that I can utilize in my classrooms.
Kimberly
Individualizing instruction and providing clear-cut written instructions using vocabulary that is more appropriate to their level of communication. Additionally, I encourage students to keep with them a dictionary and to discuss with me terms or words that they do not fully understand. Once a student learns a definition, however, he or she must learn to use the term or word appropriately. Often I will work with a student individually on using words and terminologies that are not understood and develop examples between us that will help the term or word become relevant.
When i run into a student who is struggling or sometimes an entire class i like to use key words that they can understand and give examples of them in such a way that they will understand it easier. It's like i come down to their level of comprehension and it works like magic.
Glenn
Asking them what strategies help them the best to learn. Checking with them if there are any words they question or need an explanation of what it means.
I try to learn a few words of their language if possible. I also like to read about their culture. I also like to put students in groups because sometimes peers are the best teachers.
First and foremost is respect. Subsequently I try to give them frequent opportunities to practice the new material whether it be concepts, words, equations, in different settings.
I usually go through a brief review of what we covered in the last session, being sure to repeat a number of new terms that were introduced. I then segway into what we will be covering in the current session by listing the goals that we expect to achieve and the terms (with applications) that will be introduced.
I teach online so I usually see a student's level of command of English when they send me that first email... I've found that the ESL students usually do rather well, it is the American students with literacy issues that have the real problems expressing themselves....
I try to meet with them one on one - to see how they evaluate themselves- especially the way they learn best. Then I try to pair them with a stronger student who can help them / role model communication .
One of the strategies I have learned is to listen. Students may have a variety of ways of expressing themselves, due to culture, experience, social location, that are different than my own and therefore, I might need to listen carefully to fully understand.
Repeat,repeat, repeat.
I just keep giving the information in as many different ways as I can think of. Visual,kinesthetic and auditory.
Rebecca