The teacher uses a variety of strategies and techniques to engage students and urge them to think critically and creatively. Examples may include Socratic dialogue, lecture, inquiry, small group instruction, and individual instruction. The teacher demonstrates and models new skills and uses effectively analogies, metaphors, and illustrations to explain content. The teacher uses a variety of modalities, such as visual, oral, aural, and kinesthetic, in the introduction of subject matter. Through observation of and conversation with the student, talking to parents, and consultation with resource personnel, the teacher identifies strengths in each child that can be used to build effective learning approaches.
Students engage in a balance of competition, individual performance, and collaboration and teamwork.
The teacher uses both directed and discovery teaching to integrate the subject into the students' thinking, offering students knowledge of concepts and principles as well as problem-solving opportunities. The teacher provides an appropriate balance of direct instruction and opportunities to experiment, emphasizing direct experience whenever possible. The teacher asks questions and provides learning tasks that have meaning for students and that require them to apply their knowledge and skills in new situations, to analyze and evaluate, and to create new products. The teacher knows what misconceptions are commonly held by students and addresses those misconceptions in leading students to accurate understanding. The teacher helps students to see the connections of their learning to life situations.