I have been thinking recently on teaching strategies, considering ways in which I could use high expectation teaching to not only challenge higher level learners, but to intrigue and pursue lower level learners. A challenge--but teaching is all about conquering challenges and moving on to even greater performances. In a reading on teaching strategies I recently read for an education class, I have managed to come up with three favorite strategies which I would love to share with you.

1. Pre-Assessment 
    One thing I have come to cherish is the strategy of Pre-Assessment. The understanding that students learn best when interested in subject matter is well known among educators. We ourselves are eager to dive in and struggle through difficult material should it intrigue us. Pre-Assessment allows you to gather information, like student interests, when beginning a new unit. In this manner, the teacher can teach students new material utilizing those interests, not only grabbing students attention but motivating them to persevere when a task appears too difficult.
    Pre-Assessment does more than collect interest data. As the name suggests, it pre-assesses students understandings and skills of new material. The easiest way to turn off learning in the class is to teach information students already grasp. They know the material, they understand what is being taught--Why must they learn it again?! If a pre-assessment reveals student mastery in an upcoming unit, the teacher can proceed to teach a more difficult task, one that builds off of current capabilities and prepares them for not-so-cookie-cutter problems in the real world.
    However, as is important to remember, students are rarely if ever homogeneous in learning. Yes, you have students that have already mastered and understand information. But more than often teachers find through pre-assessment that students have various understandings and mastery (or lack thereof) of the new material. Using Pre-Assessment, teachers can discover how much the student understands, where they are struggling, and which students can be called upon to help other students in understanding the new material. If one particular student struggles in Pre-Assessment, extra attention can be set aside throughout the unit to make sure that particular student understands and catches up with his fellow classmates.

2. Compacting
    Suppose in your Pre-Assessment you discover all except one student have not yet mastered upcoming material. To assume any student will further her education by learning the same material again without challenge would be destructive to that child's education. She not only is being told that she is not required to put forth effort in furthering her understanding, but she is being told that her learning is not a priority of the teacher. She must then assume that challenge represents failure, not on the teacher's end, but on her own.
    The same goes for students who struggle in Pre-Assessment and find themselves "not getting it." With learning requirements at the end of the year, it is difficult for teachers to loiter over a lesson for one particular student. As mentioned before, that is unfair to those who have mastered the understandings. But leaving a student to struggle in the dust, constantly falling behind and coming to believe he will always be behind, is murdering the student's potential at mastery.
    Compacting really addresses these exceptional students. Following Pre-Assessment, teachers can allow students who understand or fail to understand, to compact out of lessons that focus on knowledge or skills. The goal of compacting is to focus on student understanding of those skills and knowledge, and attack understanding directly to master the material. A great way of using compacting is Independent Investigation which allows students to pursue their interests using the new material or address specific struggles with the new material to personalize learning.
    Meanwhile, students who have not mastered but somewhat struggle with the information can continue with the planned lesson. Their knowledge is still being challenged and they, in their own time, may compact out of the unit. As their classmates continue with the main lesson, the exceptional students perform their Independent Investigations which address their individual struggles and strengths. No Individual Investigation will be the same, and students will better master the material in these personalized lessons.

3. Complex Instruction
    Complex Instruction is an excellent tool to use whether many or few students understand the material. The goal of Complex Instruction is for heterogeneous groups of students to collaborate in order to solve complex problems and tasks. This strategy calls upon all group members to contribute through their individual skills, knowledge, and understanding. This task not only furthers students mastery of information, but creates worth and belonging within the class as students recognize the importance of their contributions and how they lead the group to success.
    Students who have high understanding of content clarify information to their struggling peers, allowing the group as a whole to become more confident in their own capabilities. Students who struggle are able to contribute through their own strengths, creating a belief that they can belong with the "achievers". They also are able to communicate on lower-stressed learning, where they feel comfortable discussing and arguing their conflicting understandings and come to a better grasp of the information.
    Complex Instruction also allows the teacher to step aside and let students pursue understanding in a manner that best fits students' own needs. The teacher is then free to address each group's challenges and assure that all students have a well round grasp of the information. In this manner, students are not bored with learning what they have already mastered and grapple with new skills and understandings which they are ready to overcome.

    Each of these strategies and many more can help students who both excel or struggle with learning to better master content. Learning is not meant to bore or discourage. It should never be comfortable, but challenging for each student. Teachers must focus on adapting their lessons to meet the needs of their students, both high-level and low-level learners. By using flexible yet challenging strategies, a teacher can better meet the learning needs of each student.