The world supports a wide variety of learners with dynamic and unique learning profiles. That fact makes teaching both wonderful and challenging at the same time. For every strategy that works for a student, there are many that do not work. All strategies do not work for all students! A good teacher can help students understand the need for strategies, teach strategies that fit their strengths and challenges, and then encourage students to reflect on strategy use and take charge of their own learning!
What is a strategy? A strategy is a method of completing a task that gets that task done successfully and efficiently. Most importantly, a good strategy fits the person who is using it. In other words, we need to understand our own learner profiles to make good strategy choices, and we need to be able and willing to modify or switch strategies to make the best use of our time and effort.
What we all need are strategy toolboxes that work for us! Below is a growing collection of strategies that may work for you or someone you teach. Start with knowledge of the learner’s strengths and challenges, and then look for strategies that are likely to work for that learner’s profile. Remember, too, to submit strategies that you have found to be effective. We may not be able to share every strategy that is submitted, but please send us your best ideas to help our collection grow!
