ALBANY - It is hard to believe that the holidays are already here. The children at the elementary school have had a full quarter of learning, and we have all fallen into the day-to-day routines. With each new class, teachers spend a lot of time getting to know students. They want to know how each student learns best and what strategies work best to help them learn.
Every student has a unique personality and learning style. Some students learn best visually (learn by seeing), others are auditory learners (learn by hearing), and still others learn kinesthetically (learn by doing). Along with their learning styles, teachers consider students' behaviors, personalities, physical strength and abilities along with their individual interests.
Once teachers have all these things in mind they can determine the most effective ways to teach each student. Teachers teach but they also constantly diagnose and plan courses of action for students. For years and years, teachers have used time tested techniques and strategies. These strategies are designed to help learners range from simple things like increasing the size of print for children who have a hard time seeing to intensive re-teaching.
Response to Intervention is a new initiative in education. Its aim is to create a network of resources and data for teachers to draw on in the process of differentiating instruction for each student. According to the RTI Action Web site, "Response to Intervention (RTI) is a multi-tiered approach to help struggling learners. Students' progress is closely monitored at each stage of intervention to determine the need for further research-based instruction and/or intervention in general education, in special education, or both."
The Wisconsin Framework for RTI has three major points for teachers, including high quality instructional practice, continuous review of student progress using multiple measures, and collaboration between all the resources schools have to offer students.
These resources include community involvement through sharing knowledge, volunteering time, and collaboration. RTI will bring more data to help teachers find and effectively use strategies and resources to help students learn. As teachers strive to create classrooms that will ensure that students reach their fullest potentials, RTI will be another tool that will improve education for all students.
Every student has a unique personality and learning style. Some students learn best visually (learn by seeing), others are auditory learners (learn by hearing), and still others learn kinesthetically (learn by doing). Along with their learning styles, teachers consider students' behaviors, personalities, physical strength and abilities along with their individual interests.
Once teachers have all these things in mind they can determine the most effective ways to teach each student. Teachers teach but they also constantly diagnose and plan courses of action for students. For years and years, teachers have used time tested techniques and strategies. These strategies are designed to help learners range from simple things like increasing the size of print for children who have a hard time seeing to intensive re-teaching.
Response to Intervention is a new initiative in education. Its aim is to create a network of resources and data for teachers to draw on in the process of differentiating instruction for each student. According to the RTI Action Web site, "Response to Intervention (RTI) is a multi-tiered approach to help struggling learners. Students' progress is closely monitored at each stage of intervention to determine the need for further research-based instruction and/or intervention in general education, in special education, or both."
The Wisconsin Framework for RTI has three major points for teachers, including high quality instructional practice, continuous review of student progress using multiple measures, and collaboration between all the resources schools have to offer students.
These resources include community involvement through sharing knowledge, volunteering time, and collaboration. RTI will bring more data to help teachers find and effectively use strategies and resources to help students learn. As teachers strive to create classrooms that will ensure that students reach their fullest potentials, RTI will be another tool that will improve education for all students.
