Thursday, August 13, 2009

Flexible Teaching Practice

The students in my class are so varied, in their learning styles, range of knowledge and previous education.
I find it pays for me to have a wide range of resources at hand that can cater to the different learning styles, and also offer illustrations for the different levels of understanding that they have.

One of my goals as a teacher is to facilitate a learning environment in which the students will learn at a deep level. Flexibility in my delivery of information is crucial if I want to 'reach' all my students.
I'm a teacher that likes to sit WITH my students to teach and learn together, with sprinkles of 'stand up at the white board' instruction. The 'sit down together' approach encourages dialogue with lots of questions and discussions.
Some students prefer not to talk. For those students I make sure to have handouts with diagrams, images and other information that they can ponder in their own time.

The majority of my students have limited research skills, and often have difficulty with self directed learning and motivation. These areas could potentially benefit from Flexible teaching and leaning practices.
I will be examining an online tool that may address the issue of lack of motivation for research. So, more on that later...