Finding what really WORRRRks...

I have struggled this year with finding what strategies will work for my students. Each year my students are so unique and their needs are just as diverse. One thing I realized over my few years of teaching stays the same, I have to change things up each year...
Right now we are implementing personalization into the curriculum. This is definitely beneficial but requires a good bit of work. We are moving from differentiation to personalization. Each of us have unique ways of bringing different items to the table and in my case I always try to find ways of thinking outside the box to get kids motivated. I want them moving- dancing, singing- and creating real life situations to understand what the indicators mean. We also like to play games... I have some seriously, competitive spirits in my groups, I love it!
What I find to work is ASKing them. "How do you learn best?" Sometimes if we ask them, they do not understand the question... 'what do you mean, you are the teacher?!?' However if we explain... you may get the most astounding answers. When I was in high school my English and government teachers, Mr. and Mrs. Rodgers, would allow us to emerge into the era we were learning about... writing letters to civil war generals, learning the 'Charleston', and arguing about Civil rights... They created a passion within me to provide this same love for learning in my students.
Overall, I hope to ignite something in my students that makes them crave to learn and at the most optimal pace. We have kids in one classroom who range from a kindergarten level all the way up to 5th or 6th grade... in some classes it can be even more of a spread. We have to break the mold if we want to make a change!