Ideal Versus Inspirational Instructors!

 I find the dichotomy between what makes an ideal instructor versus an inspirational one quite interesting given that many often depending on the subject matter being taught or the audience noticing the difference is often masted and in many occasion is deliberately neglected. 

In my opinion, an inspirational instructor is the one whom in a subtle manner, is the one who challenges the students, but also spends a lot of time reminding his/her students of their successes rather than their of their failures.not just in the classroom but also outside, in the students' real lives.

An ideal instructor, however, is the one who appreciates their students' presence, their attempts for trying hard while appreciating their curiosity as well as their questions. An ideal instructor, uses a supporting language as well as attitude towards their students at all times., while creating an environment of mutual respect, reminding the students that he/she has his role while they have theirs as students, but neither is set above the other. (i.e.) Blurring the demarcation between roles. 

Here is an interesting read I found on this topic: 

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/01/what-makes-a-great-teacher/307841/

Cooperative Learning Visual Assignment!

My Visual Project on Cooperative Learning as an Instructional Strategy

Midway Self-Assessment!

Over the past three weeks, I feel that I gained insight in the field of Adult Education and Instructional Strategies. Of all the course material, the discussion forums were the most helpful because I was able to see the application of course material applied from the varying perspectives and expertise of my classmates. Based on the rubric provided, I would give myself 85 out of 100, despite the slowdown to my posts in week 3 due to technical difficulties with my visual project.

I chose Prezi because it was the most accessible option. Even though learning to use Prezi seemed easy enough; applying my knowledge from the Prezi tutorials was a nightmare. The worst was the need to re-record and retime the presentation repeatedly. I exceeded the 5 minute limit although my audio clips were exactly 5 minutes long. It took a while before I realized that the slide transitions were adding to the length. It took script re-editing and multiple re-recordings to make them sync, which was time-consuming.

Overall, I am satisfied with my performance, and believe I have done my best to stay abreast of the course work while providing my own unique contributions to the proceedings. 

Interesting Thought of the Day!

In the section written on Classroom-based models for understanding student engagement in our book, it is explicitly discussed that by engaging the students they try make meaning of what they are learning. So getting students involved enhances their problem solving skills. Student engagement is also greatly associated with active learning. Therefore, through traditional learning in combination with student – teacher discourse learning becomes a dynamic activity. 

Some Insights on Reflective Practitioners

I found "Creating Reflective Practitioners" a very interesting topic for discussion as it highlights the application of the actual strategies we discussed into our everyday practice. 

Reflective practice is defined as: "an approach that enables professionals to understand how they use their knowledge in practical situations and how they combine action and learning in a more effective way."  I can say for certain that we use reflective practice in the field of Early Childhood Education almost everyday, in a sense that we have to come to a decision as to how to improve our teaching scenarios by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of our practice through evaluation. 

Thus, I think : Interaction, Seeing, Drawing, Chat, and incorporation are some of the ways by which we convey reflective practice specifically in the field of Early Childhood Education and in our everyday practice. 

Inspirational Movie Teachers

I should say the clip on Mr. Wright  in our PIDP 3250 Instructional Strategy Discussion Forums a truly inspirational piece and very touching . On the theme of inspirational movie teachers I should say the movie that has truly stood out for me, although many years has passed since I first watched it since its release in 1995 was  : "Dangerous Minds" by Michelle Pfeiffer.

This movie really conveys the message of what an inspirational teaching should be. I believe inspirational teaching takes place only when we can touch lives of the students to make a difference in a positive way no matter how small that difference maybe.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCLW92XoZdc

Creating Reflective Practitioners!

         Even though I consider myself a reflective practitioner of anything that I do, I had a great deal of trouble with this topic in particular. If anything, it was not something that was created within me due to a positive experience with education as opposed to a negative one. My constant anxiety over poor performance has spurred the most fastidious aspects of my learning attitude (sometimes to my own detriment). Even though my reflective practice was given birth from dubious circumstances, I do believe that it has been an important element in my success, and it should be for anyone who wants to find academic or professional success. 

         The difficulty for me would be to find a way to teach the mentality of reflective practice to students, but without having to imbue it within them via trauma. In the field of childhood education, it may be beneficial for instructors to learn the strengths and weaknesses of every student, and simply to communicate it to them on a regular basis, and maybe encouraging them to overcome them. Regardless, this may not be the most efficient method as young children are likely unable to even understand the methodology behind the self-reflection needed to benefit from the exercise. In the end, the solution may be to represent reflection visibly through an “Interaction, Seeing, and Drawing chart.” Instead of asking young students to look within themselves, it can be liberating for teachers to find an effective way to “show” them. However, I would say that there is a long way to go on this particular field and it is one of the avenues that I look forward to going down in the future as it grows.  

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AfHPV-YBdI

Learning How to Learn!

         "Learning how to learn" is a deceptively simple phrase. However, their ramifications are quite significant. For many people, learning has always been constituted by a single relationship.: the one between teacher and student. The teacher disseminates knowledge, while the student takes it in. It seems that it has only been in recent centuries where society has had the opportunities to carefully scrutinize this traditional formation, and tried to augment a tried and true method. This has enabled academics and teachers to create more inclusive teaching methods. 

         As a result, there is finally an environment where people from all walks of life are able to learn in ways that transcend traditional teaching structures. Self-directed learning and cooperative learning are both possible only because of this change in paradigm. Perhaps the most important thing is that even within the traditional educational formula, there have been augmentations that have helped teachers to better engage and motivate their students. "Learning to learn" is not about learning, but is really about how different people learn and how to design an effective framework to maximize every student's potential. 

Learning Styles - Visual, Auditory, Kinetic or Tactile & Beyond

Kolb's Experiential Learning as a holistic approach to education and learning is what is often used within the framework of Childhood Education. Therefore, I will see its applicability during my everyday practice in the near future. It is a humanistic approach in learning. As such, education, based on this approach becomes a much more inclusive concept. Furthermore, according to other scholars, notably Jean Piaget, John Dewey and Carl Rogers, individuals' experiences play a fundamental role in their learning and development. Thus, education through experiential learning then become a transformative process. "... Learning is bast conceived as a process, not in terms of outcomes" (Kolb, D., 2005). 

I believe if we want to apply Kolb's Experiential Learning to teaching a child, we must put emphasis on each individual child's background while also monitoring their experiences during the course of their learning process. Moreover, Kolb's Experiential Learning is truly interdisciplinary and as such it can be applied to various academic fields in the context of education and learning. However, according to Fleming's VARK model, education is defined as a conversational tool between the educator and the learner. The VARK model is rather a diagnostic tool and does not truly reflect extent of one's learning. So, I think then in this context, it is not a very useful tool to be used in education. I also found, that VARK has been used in a variety of different fields; however, I would really appreciate some more insight on its applicability in different disciplines if possible. 

Here is an interesting article I found: 

http://www.vark-learn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Educational-Developments.pdf