According to exxperts in education, teachers have to know who is in their classroom in order to create an environment in which students will discover themselves, where they will speak out and use creativity. With that that profile on the table, the teacher will plan a lesson. And one more thing: a review of the students’ cumulative records at the beginning of each scholastic year, will show the teacher how to individualize and differentiate at their levels.
How to write a lesson plan that empowers those valued individuals to speak in their own voices?
Option 1: Give them choices. Students learn in different ways, and the lesson plan needs to reflect that individuality.
Option 2: Keep it relaxed when the task is a persuasive writing text-. For instance, it cannot always be five paragraphs with five sentences in each paragraph.
The teacher can get the same amount of information from students if they have the freedom to do it in different ways. They can create a commercial, they can create a blog, they can create vlogs. The teacher just needs to see that they can make a persuasive argument.
Even math can be made an open-ended exercise. I opened the chapter Fractions by giving students pattern blocks and ask them to build a figure that represents ‘one-third.’ Students grappled with the concept, but there is more than one way of doing it, they make their own choices. I also gave them tokens or coloured circles (n.b. plastic shapes from the automotive industry punching-machine, as I have worked one year for JLR, on the production line, outstanding experience!), starting with exercises on concrete groups and moving towards abstract. When students are struggling to learn fractions, the teacher should address mainly three large issues, such as limited understanding, misconceptions and lack of practice (in this sense, a wonderful, helpful website is Texas Instruments Building Concepts at www.education.ti.com/en/building-concepts).
Do the same in science class, let them design their own glue, for instance.
That combination of facts, data interpreted into information, and a clearly-defined end product may be considered as parameters that foster creativity, not just "make a shape”.
According to Howard Gardner Theory of multiple Intelligence, there are eight learning styles in total, ranging from visual to auditory and more. and this brief explanation leads to the next step.
Option 3: There is a way to build lesson plans on a tic-tac-toe approach, such as making available eight ways (the mentioned theory) of mastering the information (“pick your own”), plus a blank square if none of the others appeal to the students. They choose. This may happen because some people can demonstrate their abilities visually. Another student may be more kinesthetic, so they will do something hands-on. An artistic student may create a video, and another may create a song.
The ninth square is where creativity shines the brightest. For instance, one student might use every ninth-square opportunity to tie the lesson back to his STEAM fair project. Another consistently incorporates media production. Basically, they get a chance to develop something totally different. When we, the teachers, stop trying to control it, then what students do is authentic. It is connected to who they are and what they are passionate about.
