I saw a few overlapping statements with the authors, but each had different main points therefore I’m going to separate my thoughts according to author.
I’m going to blame it on lack of sleep and the mental exhaustion of a 10day/3credit course—I cried while reading Lang’s chapter on Students as People. Lang made an important point when he said, “This course you are teaching, while it occupies a substantial portion of your time and energy at the moment, occupies a much smaller space in the hearts and minds of most of your students” (181). Yes, students are in college to learn, but they are also living their life. And unfortunately for many college students, college life isn’t full of puppies and rainbows (I will stop using that statement now). This doesn’t mean you should start lowering grading standards or counseling your students, like Lang explained, but it means you need to be aware that your class is simply a “tiny slice” of their life.
As always, Davis provided a lot of great information, repeated it, and provided it all in bullet point lists. On p. 66, Davis commented on defusing heated remarks and I thought it was a bizarre strategy. He said to “stop the discussion, have students take a minute to write about the incident and ask the pair to exchange their point of view before you restart the discussion.” I don’t know if this strategy is the best, but I don’t have a strategy that would be better. Does anyone have an example that would or has worked well?
Davis’s entire chapter on Students with Disabilities was helpful but I would like to discuss this a bit in class, focusing on NDSU and what our school has to accommodate students with disabilities and what NDSU has to offer teachers working with students who have disabilities. For example, if you have a student with a disability, like a hearing impairment or vision disabilities, will you know before the class, or will a student show up and you have to figure out on the spot how you are going to best help the student. Another question would be, does NDSU have a disability service center and what does it do?
I also have questions with regard to students who may be struggling due to English not being their first language. What do you do if a student does a presentation and you can’t understand what the student is saying? What if you get a written assignment that makes you go, ‘Oh crap. This student is horrible at English.’ I use both of these examples because as an undergrad I saw this in peers and thought, ‘Oh crap. What is the teacher going to do with this?’
The reading on Learner-Centered Teaching was super interesting and I immediately thought of John and thought, ‘I bet John will like this teaching philosophy.’ I think this author (who is the author?) is right on the mark. Much of teaching is so authoritarian (or is ‘authoritative’ the correct way to use it in this sentence?). When I was in high school I truly believed that the only people who went into the teaching profession were those interested in “power-tripping” over poor defenseless teenagers. This makes sense, as this mysterious author noted, why else would teachers make rules against wearing hats or chewing gum, other than to power-trip. Does wearing a hat or chewing gum make the student less likely to learn? Isn’t learning the main reason students are in the classroom? I rest my case. Although I believe this author is on the right track and I hope this teaching philosophy will take over the world, I am scared I might not ever see that day. But I’m kinda getting old. So maybe my grandkids will enjoy a college career where the power will be shared and they will make decisions on assignments and create course policy and content. I hope so!
Course Objectives (These are all over the place and will change – I haven’t started working on this project yet – Eeeeek. )
At the end of this class, you will be able to:
*Demonstrate effective written and verbal skills necessary for health communication professionals
*Understand major barriers for health communication specialists within health care settings and apply strategies to overcome these barriers
*Prepare presentations on issues relating to health communication for various audiences and educational levels
* Evaluate current health communication campaigns and justify your reasoning through application of effective health communication theories
I’m going to blame it on lack of sleep and the mental exhaustion of a 10day/3credit course—I cried while reading Lang’s chapter on Students as People. Lang made an important point when he said, “This course you are teaching, while it occupies a substantial portion of your time and energy at the moment, occupies a much smaller space in the hearts and minds of most of your students” (181). Yes, students are in college to learn, but they are also living their life. And unfortunately for many college students, college life isn’t full of puppies and rainbows (I will stop using that statement now). This doesn’t mean you should start lowering grading standards or counseling your students, like Lang explained, but it means you need to be aware that your class is simply a “tiny slice” of their life.
As always, Davis provided a lot of great information, repeated it, and provided it all in bullet point lists. On p. 66, Davis commented on defusing heated remarks and I thought it was a bizarre strategy. He said to “stop the discussion, have students take a minute to write about the incident and ask the pair to exchange their point of view before you restart the discussion.” I don’t know if this strategy is the best, but I don’t have a strategy that would be better. Does anyone have an example that would or has worked well?
Davis’s entire chapter on Students with Disabilities was helpful but I would like to discuss this a bit in class, focusing on NDSU and what our school has to accommodate students with disabilities and what NDSU has to offer teachers working with students who have disabilities. For example, if you have a student with a disability, like a hearing impairment or vision disabilities, will you know before the class, or will a student show up and you have to figure out on the spot how you are going to best help the student. Another question would be, does NDSU have a disability service center and what does it do?
I also have questions with regard to students who may be struggling due to English not being their first language. What do you do if a student does a presentation and you can’t understand what the student is saying? What if you get a written assignment that makes you go, ‘Oh crap. This student is horrible at English.’ I use both of these examples because as an undergrad I saw this in peers and thought, ‘Oh crap. What is the teacher going to do with this?’
The reading on Learner-Centered Teaching was super interesting and I immediately thought of John and thought, ‘I bet John will like this teaching philosophy.’ I think this author (who is the author?) is right on the mark. Much of teaching is so authoritarian (or is ‘authoritative’ the correct way to use it in this sentence?). When I was in high school I truly believed that the only people who went into the teaching profession were those interested in “power-tripping” over poor defenseless teenagers. This makes sense, as this mysterious author noted, why else would teachers make rules against wearing hats or chewing gum, other than to power-trip. Does wearing a hat or chewing gum make the student less likely to learn? Isn’t learning the main reason students are in the classroom? I rest my case. Although I believe this author is on the right track and I hope this teaching philosophy will take over the world, I am scared I might not ever see that day. But I’m kinda getting old. So maybe my grandkids will enjoy a college career where the power will be shared and they will make decisions on assignments and create course policy and content. I hope so!
Course Objectives (These are all over the place and will change – I haven’t started working on this project yet – Eeeeek. )
At the end of this class, you will be able to:
*Demonstrate effective written and verbal skills necessary for health communication professionals
*Understand major barriers for health communication specialists within health care settings and apply strategies to overcome these barriers
*Prepare presentations on issues relating to health communication for various audiences and educational levels
* Evaluate current health communication campaigns and justify your reasoning through application of effective health communication theories
No comments:
Post a Comment