Wendi's Reading Notes #2

These topics overlap with most or all of the readings and would be a benefit to class discussion:

Managing your time—How do you manage your [instructional] time when teaching?  Is it best to plan “too” much, but know that you’re only going to cover a fraction of it so that you have “excess” material if they students don’t elicit inquiry, yet time to stop with the lesson and discuss material with the students? I agree with the reading (ch.14), but think it would be beneficial to discuss in class.

Opening a lesson —I think we often jump right into a lesson and ignore the “interest approach.”  This is critical and should be completed for each lesson so that students understand what we’ll be learning about, why, how it applies to them, and shows we are enthusiastic about teaching it.  What are some creative ways to open a lesson?  What can we do to get over some of our anxiety we might have by trying something we’re not completely comfortable with?  What can you do as an instructor to be sincere about your enthusiasm and the lesson?

Explaining clearly—What are some additional tips for explaining clearly?  When or how often should we be evaluating for explaining clearly?  What are some signs we watch for to help us gauge how the material is being learned?  I like the organization suggestions and think that the other readings actually add to this idea of explaining clearly.

Back-up & excessive use of technology—It is still wise to make use of chalkboards and whiteboards, but primarily to have a back-up plan it technology does not work.  Overhead projectors are very low-key technology (power source), but do offer a variety to the excessive use of PPTs.  Multi-media should not be a replacement for teaching, but isn’t that somewhat what we do with on-line courses?  Excessive use of technology/multi-media becomes monotonous for students and the take-home message is lost.  How much is too much?  How often should you “switch it up?”

Wading or jumping in with technology—This can be intimidating for yourself as well as the students.  I’ve noticed this with my on-line course.  However, how do I change that if students electively chose to take the course knowing fully that it was an on-line course?  How much responsibility does an instructor take to always include instructions on use of technology?  I know we’ve talked about assessing our students, but based on my assessments, three-fourths of the students are not even comfortable using technology beyond e-mail.  What do you do when you notice students constantly struggling throughout the course due to technology issues?  How much is too much assistance from the instructor?