Sunday, April 6, 2014
Questions for the Teacher
Over the semester, you have been piecing together the stories of the students in this class. What do you perceive are the needs of the students? How do they compare and contrast with your own? How has your assessment of our needs informed your instruction for reflective teaching? What has been your celebrations in teaching this class? What would you modify for the future?
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LOLOL, good grief Beth! Thats a lot of content to cover. GREAT questions.
ReplyDeleteI had to sit with them because none of them have an easy answer. In fact, I went and worked on my post modern portrait yesterday for awhile, because sometimes in thinking more spherically, linear thinking becomes a little clearer for me (if that makes sense?).
Teaching on line is hard. I am a relational being and I really like to connect with people. We communicate in all sorts of ways when we are in the same physical space, so being limited to the written format for most of this is certainly a challenge for me. It was as a student too (Ive taken many online courses). This format has, I think, forced me to become a more articulate writer because being clear is very important to me.
I believe individually, everyones needs are different because all of you are coming at this content from various degrees of experience. I can not lump all of you into one category, or really any categories because needs are fluid and change each week. What I try hard to do is stay available and open. What I hope is that there is a sense of safety here to explore ideas. Ive noticed as the weeks progress that people are expressing things more deeply and personally and I am pleased by this.
I am not sure what my needs are to be perfectly honest.... I am extremely pleased with what has transpired thus far. Why? Well, listening (reading) everyones stories and reflections is like a gift. An honor. I love hearing the different ideas everyone comes away with and how they put ideas into action. It excites me when some one has an "ah ha" moment, or suddenly sees a circumstance in a new way that allows the unfolding of an unknown. I love it when buttons are pushed a little because I see that as an opportunity to explore something from a new perspective.To gain additional insight and understanding.
In terms of modification, I will be asking for everyones input. I am also always reading so it is entirely possible I might add a book or swap one out. I suspect the summative projects will inform any modifications that might need to be considered as well. For me, the real reflection regarding modifications will come as I sit with all of the content and review it after the term is over. Stepping back and out of something offers an additional point of view that is sometimes difficult to see when your right in it.
Im not sure if that answers your questions but it is a start :)