Teaching in itself can be a big undertaking. However when considering that you have the needs of a class of twenty or more students to fulfill may be overwhelming. Many teachers feel that planning lessons to meet the needs of everyone is a large job to handle. While intensive planning for some of these students may be, creating a diverse lesson does not have to be hard. Simply changing and adjusting a few of your teaching strategies can reach many more learners than one would expect.
When considering the visual learners in your classroom, plan as many visual aides as possible. When giving a lecture, give handouts. Although the paper may say the exact same thing that you are speaking on, the visual representation will help these learners. Try adding a PowerPoint presentation or overhead projector transparencies to your speech.
When discussing places or locations, show pictures or a map to help these students gain a better grasp of your concept.
When listing or comparing items, use Venn diagrams, chart, and visual representations.
When planning assignments include posters, art projects, and drawings as options for the students to choose from completing.
Show videos or film clips about the topics you are discussing.
When asking students to complete a project, have a completed sample for students to look at and to follow as a guide.
When lecturing, allow students to take notes or write while you are speaking. This can be hard for some teachers to allow. However, if the students are listening and writing about the topic, they will get more meaning from the lecture. Of course you should not allow them to write notes to friends or draw meaningless pictures that do not aide in their learning experience.
Use as many different color stimulations as possible. Use highlighters or highlighting tape. Make important topics or key phrase a different color.
Small changes can make a big difference.