Tailored Instruction
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E.L. Doctorow's insight is shared by many writers. But while starting with nothing may be just the trick for some, it can feel impossible for others. My approach to writing instruction acknowledges the diverse ways students process and express language, emphasizing individual strengths.
Most important, I prioritize untrapping thoughts and ideas from your student's mind. Depending on the purpose of the task, this ultimately empowers individuals to demonstrate their knowledge.
Individuals learn differently. My teaching style, too, differs depending on the needs of each student I work with. My students offer unique insights and abilities, and I differentiate instruction to align with their interests, strengths, and challenges.
Still, some strategies--such as explicit, goal-oriented instruction--have proven successful for students who struggle with abstract concepts and organization of ideas. Other effective methods include breaking down goals, structuring our time, and explaining what to do and how to do it step-by-step. Students practice skill-building with me so that I can guide them and offer immediate, encouraging feedback. If the focus area remains unclear for the student, I repeat and/or vary my approach. Nothing is more valuable to me than flexibility: I pivot if and when necessary to ensure dynamic, impactful instruction.
Techniques and tools I use and equip my students with include:
Thinking aloud: the student expresses their thoughts verbally while either I or technology record them aloud while either I or technology record their ideas
Brainstorming
Freewriting: writing without rules and letting the mind wander
Modeling (sentence/paragraphs/essay construction)
Presenting and reviewing strong as well as weak writing
Graphic organizers such as a mind map, flowchart, spider map, or other visual that enables the connection of thoughts and ideas
Charts: information is organized by column (for instance, one column may be used for a character's name, another for that characters' particular traits, another for their major/general desire, another for their significant relationships, and another for growth)
Charts may also be used for listing and defining (visually, if that works best) literary devices, literary elements, or rhetorical forms. For instance, a comparison/contrast paper comprises one rhetorical form, while a narrative essay comprises another.
Chunking: breaking down material into manageable parts (may be applied to topics, reading, writing, constructing sentences). By focusing on one part of a sentence, paragraph, or essay at a time, we move forward at a pace that best suits the student. I ensure understanding before we continue to the next step
Linking previous knowledge or personal experience to newly gained information (organizing, connecting)
Acting/moving for kinaesthetic learners
Objects (to help explain parts of a story or play or poem, and to fill in for different parts of a sentence. This is like using use salt and pepper shakers, as many of us do, to demonstrate a situation)
Games (for everyone!)