Wei-Yu (Wendi) Chan
CDEV150
Tracy Burt
April 2011
Teaching Strategies Toolkit
Summary of Strategy
“Cocktail Party”
It is similar to role play. Everyone in class is
supposed to pick an educator/philosopher
(depending on what is provided by the
teacher), read the brief biography and the
information provided at the back and then
go around meeting others as the character
chosen.
Interview
Students are supposed to get into pairs and
share experiences and ask each other certain
questions related to the theme of the lesson
(teachers can provide those questions)
Group Agreements
Students are encouraged to share what
standards or discipline they want for the
class. Usually at the beginning of the classes
Quick-write
At the end of the lesson, students are told to
take out a sheet of paper and jot down their
reflections about the lesson plans without
any restrictions of what to write about.
“Jigsaw”
The class is broken down into small groups
and each group is assigned to a section of
the reading. They are supposed to pick some
quotes or some principles from the section
that stood out to them and write a brief
description to why it stood out to them.
Purpose/Rationale
● Getting to know and understand the
chosen educator/philosopher better
● Socializing time with classmates and
learn as a group
● Active and interactive learning
method.
● Everyone gets to share their
experiences and at the same time
hear about his/her partner’s
experience
● A chance for small discussions
● Keeps the classroom interactive
● Maintain friendly and peaceful
classroom learning environment
throughout the semester
● Encourage people to share and speak
up for what they believe
● To boost self-confidence
● Allows the students to write down
their thoughts freely without being
penalized
● A less-stressed assignment that can
be done in class
● Quick assignment/reflection of the
day
● Allows the teacher to know what
each student is thinking about and
hear the opinions of most of the
students.
● Stimulates discussion and consensus-
building skills
● Brings awareness that collective
learning can be done by splitting up
the work
● Co-operation of the class fulfills the
lesson plan.
Then they are brought together and shared in
the class.
Gallery Walk
This is similar to the “Jigsaw” activity
except, instead of sharing their work in
class, they are told to put them up on the
walls. Students are to walk around the class
to read each group’s work.
Circle discussion with a ball
The class is to sit in the shape of a circle.
The teacher will bring a ball to the class and
the person speaking will have possession of
the ball, when that person is done, he or she
will pass the ball on to someone else.
Sometimes he or she might need to throw
the ball across the room to someone on the
other side of the circle.
Video and Video Notes
Watch a video in class and the students were
supposed to jot down notes from the video.
It would help if the teacher could provide
certain questions that he or she would like
the students to answer because that way the
students can focus on specific issues and can
therefore take better notes.
Writing Exercise
Teachers tell the students what he or she
expects from their papers and provides them
with the rubric so they can evaluate
themselves before turning them in.
Guest Speaker
Bring in guest speakers related to the
subject/topic
Reflective Journals/Papers
After a certain number of lessons, the
students are to turn in journals or papers. It
stimulates analysis of the readings, lectures,
in-class activities and a combination of other
resources.
Human Scavenger
Teacher hands out several traits and the
students are to walk around the classroom to
● Creates movement in the class,
wakes the students up
● Allows personal analysis
● Provide some time to share each
other’s opinions in small talk.
● Keeps the class alert because they
would have to catch the ball.
● Less tension in class, less formal
● Eye contact when classmates share
opinions
● Able to see everyone
● Helps the students focus on certain
points of the video
● Provides another form of learning
other than mere talking and lecturing.
● Another form of resource
● Guided note-taking
● Lets them know what the teacher
expects or where the standards are
● Allows the students to set their own
standards and permit self-
improvement
●
● Allow question and answer sessions
● Shares experiences from professional
field
● Allows advice and opportunities to
get into the field
● Allows the students to relate and
share on paper
● Gives the shy students a chance to
speak up in class and share with the
teacher his or her experience
● Allows students to practice writing
papers and reports
● Encourages classmates to get to
know each other.
● Interesting activity
find people who have those character traits.
Fish Bowl
The class is to get into two circles, one
within the other. While the smaller circle
inside, discusses and shares opinion, the
people on the outer circle take notes and just
listen. After a while, they rotate – the people
on the outer circle move to the inner circle
and continue the debate with aid from their
notes of the previous discussion. The teacher
determines the number of rotations and the
duration of the discussions; group consensus
are welcome.
Study Group
Having a study group outside the class time
really helps in understanding the lesson
materials and gain advice in how to study
for that class and also teachers (who should
be there too) can find out who is having
problems with the class and what can he or
she can do to help that student.
Everybody be a teacher
Everyone in class has to find a topic to
research about. Everyone is also given a
certain amount of time to present it to the
class.
Field Trips
The class can go on field trips to visit places
that are cheap and/or free but related to the
subject. It’s a fun chance to have the lesson
outside the classroom.
Peer Teaching
Firstly, everyone is separated into small
groups. Everyone in the group is numbered.
Each number will then get together and will
be assigned a specific topic. They will then
discuss about what is important in that topic
and what should be addressed that other
people should know about. After some time,
the original groups get back together and
each number presents to the rest of the group
● Good ice breaker
● Stresses people to speak up, because
the circle is smaller
● More attention is dedicated to the
discussion
● More intense, and therefore, should
be more productive and analytical
● Allocate study time for review or
revision for a particular class
● Give those students who need help a
chance to catch up
● Provide more attention to the
students
● Equal grounds between students and
teachers, this time the teacher
becomes a student and listen to what
the student has to present
● Student gets to experience being a
teacher for a while
● Improve presentation and speech
skills
● Deeper understanding of the topic
when doing own research
● Outdoor lesson
● Active learning
● Stimulates more interest due to the
different setting
●
● Gives everyone a chance to be a
teacher
● Not as stressed for shy students to be
teachers in small groups
● Informal learning environment
● Interactive learning
● Concise learning
about the topic. While presentation, the
other group members are to take notes
because the teacher might not go over
what’s discussed.
Projects
Students are to visit places and come up
with either a presentation or a report of a
decent length. They can either do it by
themselves or they can work together in
groups. Group projects have higher
expectations. In the education field, site
visits are a great form of projects; making a
resource binder is another
Plain Lectures and Reading Assignments
Teacher lectures and the students take notes,
if they want to. Reflective journals and
papers will reflect how well the student pays
attention in class and how the student can
relate to the class materials. Reading
assignments are to give the students a heads
up as to what will be discussed in the next
class
Extra Credit Opportunities
Teachers decide what to give as extra credit
opportunities, like attending a workshop,
being a volunteer in a certain event, reports,
presentations, homework and more.
Commercials/ Advertisements
Break the class into small groups of 4-5
people. Assign each group a theme or
merely give the class one theme. Each group
is supposed to come up with a commercial
that shares with the class what is important
in that area of discussion and entertain the
class with their creativity.
Quizzes
Pop quizzes or small quizzes are a nice way
to buzz the students. Not every student is a
test taker so this may not be the most
efficient way for a student to learn. Allows
the teacher to assess the students
● Allows to students to work on their
own
● Encourages the students to use their
imagination and creativity to plan
and present their work.
● Students can work at their own speed
at their own comfort geographical
zone (especially when students come
from many places)
● Gives international students a chance
to travel and explore the field
● Students learn more by asking
questions directly to the
professionals.
● Beneficial for those who are learn
more just by listening and taking
notes
● Allows the teacher to share with the
class his or her knowledge in a
formal classroom environment
● Reading assignments allow the
students to keep up in class
● Gives students who are not doing
well a chance to make up their grade
● Build confidence that there is still
chance to do well
● Encouragement
● Creativity can shine
● Entertaining
● Fun and stress-free assignment
● Beneficial for interactive learners
and those who learn better with
hands on activities.
● Beneficial for test takers
● A little stress on the students
sometimes is good
● Pushes the students to stay on track
on their own
understanding.
Word Poem ● Allows creativity
Break the class into groups of 3-4 people. ● Fun with literature
Each group is assigned a section of the ● Artistic talents with underlying
reading. Pick out words that stand out to meaning
them individually and then put them into a
poem as a group. After it is done, it will be
shared with the class.