RUNNING HEAD: PRQ 7 by Bekah Bryant

PRQ 7
Directing & Facilitating a Variety of Learning Experiences
Bekah Bryant
Vanguard University

Great teachers engineer learning experiences that put students in the

drivers seat and then get out of the way. Ben Johnson. The teachers that

RUNNING HEAD: PRQ 7 by Bekah Bryant

students remember are the ones that make learning an experience. Rather
than only being a conveyer of knowledge and content, teachers direct and
facilitate a variety of learning experiences for all students that create a
classroom environment that is fun, engaging, and memorable. Teachers can
direct and facilitate a variety of learning experience through implementing a
variety of strategies in their classrooms. Using a variety of strategies such as
direct and inquiry instructional practices provides learning experiences that
are differentiated for a variety of learning styles and memorable for all
students.
First and foremost, it is the educators job to make learning an
experience, one that is relevant to themselves and connected to their
interests. John Dewey discusses the criteria for an educational experience.
He states that the principle is of universal application (Dewey, 1973). He
discusses the value and worth in making learning experiences continuous.
This is the basis of his theory, that all experiences are transferable and and
universal. As a teacher, I plan on using a variety of learning experiences and
strategies to give my students memorable and universal educational
experiences. I will do this by using math problems that are geared towards
their interests, such as creating a money problem that relates to surfing if
the majority of the class is interested in that. I would begin a lesson by giving
universal application to what we will be learning and why it is relevant to my
students. I will use varied teaching methods to help students meet or
exceed grade level expectations, and understand the purposes, strengths

RUNNING HEAD: PRQ 7 by Bekah Bryant

and limitations of a variety of instructional strategies (Commission on

Teacher Credentialing (CTC), 2013). Through planning and creating a variety
of experiences in my classroom that are given context, meaning, and
relevance I am able to meet these TPEs.
I can direct a variety of learning experiences in multiple ways through
using varied teaching methods in a direct instructional manner. I can
incorporate presentations, demonstrations, questioning techniques,
recitations, and reviews to be sure to obtain students attention, reinforce
correct responses, provide corrective feedback, and practicing correct
responses (Burden & Byrd, 2013). These strategies will be implemented in
my classroom when I am introducing a new skill or concept in a short period
of time. The instruction will be teacher directed with careful monitoring of my
students.
I was able to implement this strategy in my fifth grade classroom. First,
I was able to create an experience for my students as they were learning
about the Revolutionary War and were separated into two teams: the patriots
and the loyalists. I started the lesson with a review to reinforce content and
see what my students remembered. A review at the start of a class will help
you determine if your students have the necessary prerequisite knowledge or
skills for the lesson (Burden & Byrd, 2013). This directly related to TPE 3.10
in that Candidates know how to accurately interpret assessment results of
individuals and groups in order to develop and modify instruction
(Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC), 2013). After this, I modeled

RUNNING HEAD: PRQ 7 by Bekah Bryant

using a double bubble thinking map to compare and contrast teams. All of
the work done in this lesson was guided and teacher-directed. Students were
able to review a concept, and reinforce their opinions and knowledge of the
content they had learned in a memorable way.
Next, I can facilitate direct a variety of learning experiences in multiple
ways through using varied teaching methods such as inquiry and discovery
learning methods. Andrea Guillaume discusses how these methods provide a
stark contrast to direct instruction. Inductive teaching is based off of
student experience where students actively engage and investigate. She
points out that whereas direct instruction focuses primarily on the product,
or outcome, to be gained, inductive strategies also focus on the process by
which knowledge is formed (Guillaume, 2008). In these methods, the
teacher is merely a facilitator and observer. Students are constructing
meaning through asking questions, investigating for answers, and reflecting
on the process. Implementing these strategies in my classroom will provide
multiple hands-on learning experiences for my students that peak their
interests and are universal through the skills they are learning and using in
this type of learning process.
A way I was able to create a discovery learning experience for my
students was through an inquiry training lesson with my second grade
students. This lesson went hand in hang with Deweys model of reflective
thinking in that students are identifying a problem, forming a hypothesis,
collecting data, analyzing that data, and drawing conclusions. We began the

RUNNING HEAD: PRQ 7 by Bekah Bryant

lesson by asking questions of what they had already learned about force and
motion. Then presenting them with materials and asking them to make a
hypothesis about which item would roll the farthest and why. Students were
asked to discuss with their partners, then write their hypotheses down, then
we went outside to test and record our data. Next, we were able to draw
conclusions from what actually happened in our lesson. Students were able
to focus on properties that helped an object roll and work at their writing and
opinion building skills. This lesson was made universal for my students
through a discussion at the end in order to meet TPE 4.6: candidates
provide opportunities and adequate time for students to practice and apply
what they have learned to real-world applications (Commission on Teacher
Credentialing (CTC), 2013). I asked my students why they thought making
hypotheses and testing them outside of science was important. Students
explained the importance of creating opinions and having evidence to
support their opinions. This lesson gave students a learning experience that
was student-centered and the opportunity to discover new meanings,
practice the skills, and go through the experience that shaped their learning.
These strategies are just a few ways that I can direct and facilitate a
variety of learning experiences for all students in my future classroom. I can
create experiences for my students that are fun, engaging, and memorable
through both direct and inductive teaching strategies. Both of these
strategies include multiple different methods of engaging students,
reinforcing content, and making learning meaningful and relevant for my

RUNNING HEAD: PRQ 7 by Bekah Bryant

students. These practices put students in the drivers seat of their learning
through one way or another. Through using a variety of strategies such as
direct and inquiry learning I am able to provide learning experiences that are
differentiated for a variety of learning styles and memorable for all of my
future students.

Works Cited

Burden,P.R.,&Byrd,D.M.(2013).Methodsforeffectiveteaching:Meetingthe
needsofallstudents(6thed.).UpperSaddleRiver,NJ:PearsonEducation,Inc.
CommissiononTeacherCredentialing.(2013).Californiateachingperformance
expectations.Retrievedfromhttp://www.ctc.ca.gov/educatorprep/TPAfiles/TPEs
FullVersion.pdf
Guillame,A.M.(2008).K12classroomteaching:aprimerfornewprofessionals(3rd
ed.).UpperSaddleRiver,NJ:PearsonEducation,Inc.
Dewey,J.(1973).ThephilosophyofJohnDewey.(Vol.II,pp.494506).NewYork,
NY:CapricornBooks.

RUNNING HEAD: PRQ 7 by Bekah Bryant