Teaching Content Area

Teaching Content Area Reading

Introduction

The paper has provided comprehensive strategies to make students learn the subject of Social studies in the classroom. Every person is different from one another; same is the case with their learning abilities. Teachers have to face a challenge with every student being different and struggles to find the right approach to match the ability of each of them. Every student expects to have an equal share of attention which is now a difficult task as the numbers of students in educational institutions are increasing day by day. Teachers need to look forward to come up with new and better approaches of teaching to avoid the situation where any student is left over looked and unattended (Latz, 2009).

Discussion

With the implementation of the No Child Left Behind mandates, schools are required to report the achievement of all students. The primary goal has been ?to decrease the achievement gap between advantaged and disadvantaged youth in our nation's public schools. However, many teachers today do not believe they are properly equipped to teach students with diverse learning styles and backgrounds. Nevertheless, it appears that American classrooms will continue to see an increase in diverse students at all levels. It is estimated that by the year 2025, 35% to 50% of students will be of minority backgrounds; however, the ethnic demographic of teachers is not changing. Statistics continue to reveal that over 90% of students enrolling in teacher credentialing programs are from white middle-class backgrounds, which have little or no experience working with minority (Buehl, 2009). Besides cultural diversity, a single classroom can contain a range of academic levels, posing a distinct challenge for teachers who are expected to meet the needs of so many levels of learners. In addition to the fact that the majority of teachers in public schools are White and many feel ill-equipped to teach students of backgrounds dissimilar to their own (Krathwohl, 2009). Furthermore, “Classrooms and learning are built around relationships. Teachers' relationships with their students, more than anything else, influence the quality of the learning that takes place” Today's middle and high schools are full of adolescent readers whose low levels of literacy achievement limit their academic success.

According to Soltis and Fenstermacher (2004), the teacher's goals and objectives shape up the teaching structure and approach. He has identified three basic approaches of teaching:

Executive

An executive approach to teaching is where the teacher works as a manager taking into account the proper management of learning processes. He possesses the knowledge and skills to adjust to more experienced way of teaching (Manthey, 2006).

Facilitator

The teacher having a facilitator approach has a mind set of exploring and mentoring the capabilities of the student also makes learning easier for him. This kind of basic approach is about communicating the basic knowledge of the language and making the foundations of the students' learning stronger.

Liberationist

A liberationist kind of teacher creates a friendly environment for students to learn quick and easily. This approach focuses on providing an atmosphere where a student ...