A Brief Reflection on Visible Learning and Instructional Strategies!

One of the interesting topics covered in week three of the course was titled: Visible Learning: Instructional Strategies.

We were provided with the following  list of teaching strategies and were asked to rank each category from most to list importance from 1-10, 1 having the most influence on student achievement and 10 being that factor that that has the least effect on  students learning and achievements.

The list was as follows:

·         Small group learning

·         Meta-cognitive strategies

·         Class size

·         Social skills programs

·         Teacher subject matter knowledge

·         Challenging goals

·         Self-reported grades

·         Not labeling students

·         Exercise/relaxation programs

·         Multi-grade/age classes

From experience and based on my own personal point of view I have re-ordered and structured the

list as the following:

(1) Small Group Learning

(2) Teacher Subject Matter Knowledge

(3) Not Labeling Students

(4) Social Skills Programs

(5) Class Size

(6) Meta-Cognitive Strategies

(7) Challenging Goals

(8) Self-Reported Grades

(9) Exercise/Relaxation Programs

(10) Multi-grade/age classes

Given that it was mentioned this ranking is based on adult learner, I will have to shift focus a little in order to allow for its applicability in the field of early childhood education. Therefore, once I start my teaching career, I will try to shift the focus of my classrooms into a more informal setting that is more learner-centered as opposed to being “educator-centered.”  In addition, I have to constantly keep in mind that each child is unique, and different to a great extent from an adult learner. So, It is very important for me to broaden my understanding of each individual child’s learning pace and abilities.