I found the discussion on experential learning very informative and beneficial. The author provided an in-depth summary of the six facets describing the teacher in this pedagogy. My role as the "project manager" within our leadership programs encompassed each of the six facets. We created the environment where I was an expert in the event planning area. Along with the various roles of the "project manager" or teacher we incorporated various leadership styles. As I read this chapter, I reflected about my role as an expert, facilitator, person, ego ideal, formal authority and social agent. In direct correlation to my role as the teacher changing each week, student interaction changed as well. It provided a very unique opportunity for students to learn from what they were experiencing and how it all came together. We found this method to be very successful and that is why I would incorporate it in my courses.
The course I am designing will utilize experential learning as students will be in a "hands-on" event planning project.
Distance education has been an integral part of both my undergraduate and graduate degree. I have had the opportunity to be in a classroom with the instructor as well as in a virtual classroom participating in the class via video streaming. With the current state of the economy, I believe distance education provides an opportunity for a large number of students to complete degrees without incurring additional expenses related to travel to and from the classroom site or use of personal time from their jobs. It is particularly important with winters in our area and inclement travel conditions. Students may go to their local high school to participate in class and have a few blocks to travel versus a lengthy commute from Fargo to their home.
I would love the opportunity to teach an adult education course at some point and would incorporate distance education into my coursse development. I believe it provides an opportunity for individuals that would like to participate that normally would not commute for the class.
I am currently enrolled in Instruction Technology/Teaching/Learning course. In a few short weeks, I have learned about virtual classrooms, social networks, mind mapping and the list goes on. I feel that technology will continue to provide virtual classrooms and it will be a challenge for teachers to keep up with the latest trends. I would incorporate this in as many of my courses as possible.
Lastly, I am excited about the mid term feedback opportunity in this class. The author provided a number of suggestions for us in methods of obtaining the feedback and I believe written feedback may be the method I would chose personally. There are times, however, as a student when I am not comfortable providing feedback based on interactions with an instructor. I believe as an instructor if I ask for feedback, I need to be prepared for what I may hear or read. The list the author provided about reading your evaluations and keeping negative evaluations in check was very beneficial and is something I will keep and use regularly. Although it is written in the context of evaluations, I feel it is a tool I can incorporate into my daily routine to keep things in check.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
October 22
In my course, students would be required to write a weekly report on the progress of their committee. The course is an event planning course and each committee would be responsible for reporting each week in writing the progress made. I would consider this low-stakes writing.
In addition, each committee would be required to compile a final report including all aspects of the committee work including budget, highlighting steps along the way, etc. This would be a more complex manual. I would consider this high-stakes writing.
A reflective essay about the course would be one additional writing assignment for the class.
Grading for each of the writing assignments would entail appropriate grammer and spelling along with all components of a final project assignment.
In an event planning course, it is very important for participants to understand one another and how they work. We would complete a learning styles workshop. This is a great exerecise that helps us understand how others process information. It enables the group to identify styles within their committee as well as learning styles that may be absent from their particular group. The other component of the workshop includes a stretching exercise teaching them how to adapt their learning style for the cohesiveness of the group.
Simulations and group projects would compliment learning for this course. The group will plan a large event and work in various committees including logistics, marketing, finance, and presenters. This is a great opportunity for students to challenge themselves and participate in a committee outside of their comfort level.
2. The tips provided on page 243 of our text reagrding use of power point are excellent. As both a student and presenter I have learned first hand about which cool backgrounds are not the best for readability. Each item discussed are items that I have learned throughout the course of both my undergraduate and graduate degree. How many words per slide are to many, how much animation is to much, what colors are best for the background and words, and to face the audience when presenting versus looking at the slide. In addition, my back up plan is to email the slide to both my personal and school email along with a flash drive. Lastly, I bring a hard copy of the slide show. This enables me to do my presentation with or without equipment.
I am a hands on person and love taking assessments and learning about myself. How do I work with a team, what is my learning style, how do I contribute in a team environment and the list goes on. We have had two activities thus far that stick out in my mind. We learned basic CPR and we learned about our personality. We have learned throughout our leadership programs that students relate to students moreso than students relating to staff. Our programs have been very successful with students in the leadership role and staff in an advising capacity. This agrees completely with the author's suggestions on how to be an effective group. These are my favorite type of activities and believe I would be most effective in utilizing these types of activities in my programs.
In addition, each committee would be required to compile a final report including all aspects of the committee work including budget, highlighting steps along the way, etc. This would be a more complex manual. I would consider this high-stakes writing.
A reflective essay about the course would be one additional writing assignment for the class.
Grading for each of the writing assignments would entail appropriate grammer and spelling along with all components of a final project assignment.
In an event planning course, it is very important for participants to understand one another and how they work. We would complete a learning styles workshop. This is a great exerecise that helps us understand how others process information. It enables the group to identify styles within their committee as well as learning styles that may be absent from their particular group. The other component of the workshop includes a stretching exercise teaching them how to adapt their learning style for the cohesiveness of the group.
Simulations and group projects would compliment learning for this course. The group will plan a large event and work in various committees including logistics, marketing, finance, and presenters. This is a great opportunity for students to challenge themselves and participate in a committee outside of their comfort level.
2. The tips provided on page 243 of our text reagrding use of power point are excellent. As both a student and presenter I have learned first hand about which cool backgrounds are not the best for readability. Each item discussed are items that I have learned throughout the course of both my undergraduate and graduate degree. How many words per slide are to many, how much animation is to much, what colors are best for the background and words, and to face the audience when presenting versus looking at the slide. In addition, my back up plan is to email the slide to both my personal and school email along with a flash drive. Lastly, I bring a hard copy of the slide show. This enables me to do my presentation with or without equipment.
I am a hands on person and love taking assessments and learning about myself. How do I work with a team, what is my learning style, how do I contribute in a team environment and the list goes on. We have had two activities thus far that stick out in my mind. We learned basic CPR and we learned about our personality. We have learned throughout our leadership programs that students relate to students moreso than students relating to staff. Our programs have been very successful with students in the leadership role and staff in an advising capacity. This agrees completely with the author's suggestions on how to be an effective group. These are my favorite type of activities and believe I would be most effective in utilizing these types of activities in my programs.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
10/15 Blog
The reading in Teaching Tips this week ring very true to our workplace environment. Our staff works with factors of motivation on a regular basis. We are asked to identify how we find value. Along with how are we motivated.
As a staff we practice both attribution theory and expectancy value theory. Our Director is a visionary in leadership and works with each of us on an individual basis identifying our stregnths and areas for improvement. Based on our personal development, those of us which supervise staff are charged with student development.
One of the major goals for student development is to determine the student needs and how we meet them. How is each of our student motivated?
I find the similarities between the teaching tips and our workplace environment very interesting. It appears to me that tips and techniques we learn in this class can be used in the workplace and not just a classroom. Yes, you may have to make adaptations but the concept is the same.
Although I am not in a classroom, I work with students planning their events on a daily basis. Much of the discussion in the second chapter of our reading applies to my job. Listening and understanding what the student needs are is the first step we take. My staff and myself often find ourselves working with many cultural differences and helping them understand our policies and procedures presents it own set of challenges. I am grateful for the suggestions offered in our text and share information with my staff on a regular basis in regard to working with students and understanding their needs.
Leaner-centered learning is a neat concept. I truly believe that at times professors can get stuck in ruts (per say) and maintain an attitude of why fix it if it is not broken. I tink in these situations it may be beneficial to both the student and instructor if they listen to student input. It may present an opportunity to challenge the instructor to think outside the box or create new ways on presenting information. In addition, it may also spark renewed interest on the part of the instructor.
As a staff we practice both attribution theory and expectancy value theory. Our Director is a visionary in leadership and works with each of us on an individual basis identifying our stregnths and areas for improvement. Based on our personal development, those of us which supervise staff are charged with student development.
One of the major goals for student development is to determine the student needs and how we meet them. How is each of our student motivated?
I find the similarities between the teaching tips and our workplace environment very interesting. It appears to me that tips and techniques we learn in this class can be used in the workplace and not just a classroom. Yes, you may have to make adaptations but the concept is the same.
Although I am not in a classroom, I work with students planning their events on a daily basis. Much of the discussion in the second chapter of our reading applies to my job. Listening and understanding what the student needs are is the first step we take. My staff and myself often find ourselves working with many cultural differences and helping them understand our policies and procedures presents it own set of challenges. I am grateful for the suggestions offered in our text and share information with my staff on a regular basis in regard to working with students and understanding their needs.
Leaner-centered learning is a neat concept. I truly believe that at times professors can get stuck in ruts (per say) and maintain an attitude of why fix it if it is not broken. I tink in these situations it may be beneficial to both the student and instructor if they listen to student input. It may present an opportunity to challenge the instructor to think outside the box or create new ways on presenting information. In addition, it may also spark renewed interest on the part of the instructor.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
October 8 Blog
I believe when we think of students, we envision our students to be the perfect student there to gain knowledge and skills. Students with prolems are not the first thing to enter your mind.
The discussion highlighted different problems students may be dealing with and gave some tips on how to handle the various situations. I am an observer and have personally witnessed the majority of the behaviors from students in my classes. As a fellow student, I just listen to the student and noted the instructor doing the same.
The portion of the chapter dealing on reactions to sensitive topics was of particular interest to me. This is something we deal with on a daily basis in our workplace. The author gave some good tips on how to handle these situations that I can apply to both my work and in the classroom.
We recently had a display on campus that created numerous reactions from students. Based on the reactions, the group which opposed the displays handed out material across the street. I know this is on a much larger scale than a topic in the classroom but I truly feel that what we learn about teaching from our readings can be applied to every day life.
Talking to colleagues is also a great way to learn how they address these types of situations. We can always learn from one another.
When it comes to meeting with students I generally have a set routine in place. I require them to set an appointment during working hours, require them to check in with the receptionist, leave the door open an inch or two and always make sure there are other staff members in the office complex when I have meetings.
I also require my student staff that works late to follow a similar process. First, you must protect yourself at all times. By this, I mean, create a safe environment for everyone by having other people in the office complex should the situation turn bad.
I may look at student meetings quite differently than others based on my experience with supervising full time staff. There have been a number of situations where an employee was being released and during some of those conversations I had another person with me. It is just better to proceed with caution and take the necessary measures to protect both yourself and the university from any type of law suit. I view meeting with students very similar.
I discussed plagerism in an earlier log. I have faith that the majority of students may forget to add a reference versus intentionally leave it out. I have been very fortunate with my instructors talking with me and asking about a reference I may have missed. It is part of their grading process and it helps jog my memory when I am writing to make sure I have included all my sources.
Some of the problems with plagerism may be eliminated if there were short courses offered in proper ways to use internet sources and citing them. This may be just the boost a student may need to do it correctly.
The discussion highlighted different problems students may be dealing with and gave some tips on how to handle the various situations. I am an observer and have personally witnessed the majority of the behaviors from students in my classes. As a fellow student, I just listen to the student and noted the instructor doing the same.
The portion of the chapter dealing on reactions to sensitive topics was of particular interest to me. This is something we deal with on a daily basis in our workplace. The author gave some good tips on how to handle these situations that I can apply to both my work and in the classroom.
We recently had a display on campus that created numerous reactions from students. Based on the reactions, the group which opposed the displays handed out material across the street. I know this is on a much larger scale than a topic in the classroom but I truly feel that what we learn about teaching from our readings can be applied to every day life.
Talking to colleagues is also a great way to learn how they address these types of situations. We can always learn from one another.
When it comes to meeting with students I generally have a set routine in place. I require them to set an appointment during working hours, require them to check in with the receptionist, leave the door open an inch or two and always make sure there are other staff members in the office complex when I have meetings.
I also require my student staff that works late to follow a similar process. First, you must protect yourself at all times. By this, I mean, create a safe environment for everyone by having other people in the office complex should the situation turn bad.
I may look at student meetings quite differently than others based on my experience with supervising full time staff. There have been a number of situations where an employee was being released and during some of those conversations I had another person with me. It is just better to proceed with caution and take the necessary measures to protect both yourself and the university from any type of law suit. I view meeting with students very similar.
I discussed plagerism in an earlier log. I have faith that the majority of students may forget to add a reference versus intentionally leave it out. I have been very fortunate with my instructors talking with me and asking about a reference I may have missed. It is part of their grading process and it helps jog my memory when I am writing to make sure I have included all my sources.
Some of the problems with plagerism may be eliminated if there were short courses offered in proper ways to use internet sources and citing them. This may be just the boost a student may need to do it correctly.
Oct 1 Blog
Based on the readings, it appears to me that grading is a very complicated part of teaching. I understand what test anxiety can do to a student and their potential on tests.
I found the sections on constructing a test very interesting. In particular, disciplines that use problems for their tests have challenges if they use problems for their test. Both from the reading and personal experience, I know setting up the problem correctly can be 3/4 of the problem and if it is done incorrectly, you will not be successful in completing the problem for the right solution.
I thought the idea of setting up the problem as the question without requiring them to calculate was a good point. To me, if a student is struggling setting up problems, this is a great time to either set a time to work one on one with the student and/or possibly find them a tutor. I guess I would look at it as a student learning and how can I accomplish that as a teacher. Sometimes taking a step back and reviewing the teaching process, I believe the solution will present itself.
The wonderful essay questions pose another challenge for both teacher and student. If I were using an essay question for a test, I would make sure I had specific points that were required in the answer to assist in weeding through the paragraphs of answers. There is a perception that on an essay question you can write your way through the problem and may not ever answer the question. I feel setting the expectation and requirements for answers may eliminate some of these perceptions and equip students with the necessary tools to answer the questions.
I liked the idea of grading in teams. Sometimes a fresh set of eyes reading material can be just what a teacher needs. It just sounded like a great idea.
I really apprecaited the section on coping with test anxiety. I personally suffer from this and can literally put myself into such a state that I end up with a racing heart rate and utlimately can't function well enough to even take the exam at the appropriate time. I will actually take this information and apply it to myself in both capacities as an instructor and student.
I enjoyed the section of the article where the author discussed counting off for late papers. I understand time management and deadlines, however, when a person works full time and attends school, time is managed by work. I personally have a very demanding position supervising student staff which keep the building open from 5 - 11 p.m. during the week and until 1 a.m. on both Friday and Saturday night. We have been hit pretty hard with absences with the current flu going around and my job requires those slots are filled. I may have all the good intentions in the world and two sick students turn my world upside down.
I found many helpful things within the article that I will take forward when I am in a teaching capacity. It appears that once you develop your own teaching philosophy and style, it is a good practice to assess teaching. Student learning is a key component of the programs we offer and that is where I am involved in a teaching capacity. It is a little different than actual classroom time, however, we still work on teaching skills to the students.
The critical points recapped on page 171 of the article were very informative and great tools. I found the article quite enjoyable.
I found the sections on constructing a test very interesting. In particular, disciplines that use problems for their tests have challenges if they use problems for their test. Both from the reading and personal experience, I know setting up the problem correctly can be 3/4 of the problem and if it is done incorrectly, you will not be successful in completing the problem for the right solution.
I thought the idea of setting up the problem as the question without requiring them to calculate was a good point. To me, if a student is struggling setting up problems, this is a great time to either set a time to work one on one with the student and/or possibly find them a tutor. I guess I would look at it as a student learning and how can I accomplish that as a teacher. Sometimes taking a step back and reviewing the teaching process, I believe the solution will present itself.
The wonderful essay questions pose another challenge for both teacher and student. If I were using an essay question for a test, I would make sure I had specific points that were required in the answer to assist in weeding through the paragraphs of answers. There is a perception that on an essay question you can write your way through the problem and may not ever answer the question. I feel setting the expectation and requirements for answers may eliminate some of these perceptions and equip students with the necessary tools to answer the questions.
I liked the idea of grading in teams. Sometimes a fresh set of eyes reading material can be just what a teacher needs. It just sounded like a great idea.
I really apprecaited the section on coping with test anxiety. I personally suffer from this and can literally put myself into such a state that I end up with a racing heart rate and utlimately can't function well enough to even take the exam at the appropriate time. I will actually take this information and apply it to myself in both capacities as an instructor and student.
I enjoyed the section of the article where the author discussed counting off for late papers. I understand time management and deadlines, however, when a person works full time and attends school, time is managed by work. I personally have a very demanding position supervising student staff which keep the building open from 5 - 11 p.m. during the week and until 1 a.m. on both Friday and Saturday night. We have been hit pretty hard with absences with the current flu going around and my job requires those slots are filled. I may have all the good intentions in the world and two sick students turn my world upside down.
I found many helpful things within the article that I will take forward when I am in a teaching capacity. It appears that once you develop your own teaching philosophy and style, it is a good practice to assess teaching. Student learning is a key component of the programs we offer and that is where I am involved in a teaching capacity. It is a little different than actual classroom time, however, we still work on teaching skills to the students.
The critical points recapped on page 171 of the article were very informative and great tools. I found the article quite enjoyable.
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