Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Hi Joe: Recognizing diversity is absolutely an important attribute. Students express their passions in different ways too. An effective teacher does serve many roles and some of these responsibilities need to be emphasized more given the circumstances or focus of the class at the time. When students sense that you care about their learning you're bound to get the best response from them.

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Preparing to Manage Your Class

Hi John: You've shared some good ideas. It is rather pragmatic to discard an activity if it seems to not be working. Of course, in a science environment there's bound to be calculations,equations or procedures that just have to be worked through in a systematic way. Perhaps the best advice here is to be avaialble for the student, patient when they experience difficulty, and offer encouragement when they demonstrate successfulness.

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Developing An Evaluation System

It is true we want to use a grading system that is accuarate and fair. We also want to assess what the student has learned. Graded assessments can do this, but they are not perfect. Care is needed to not overlook assessing a student's performance by a grading system that fails to show the teacher what the student has learned. For instance, a written test may assess information the teacher feels is important. But some students may not be able to express their knowledge through written work and therefore, may not appaer to perform well. Having a variety of assessment… >>>

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Preparing to Manage Your Class

Isn't it interesting that we all have a certain type of educator "personality"? Students often pick up on these traits - sometimes very quickly - and will use the information if they can. As a Peacekeeper, a student may learn that if they become a bit confrontational, they might get their way. You are right that understanding your style will only help in improving your strengths as a teacher. Good job :-)

Barry Westling

Discussion Comment

Selecting media for your classes

You're right to be alert to the type of media you're presenting. Students learn different ways, and some topics are better presented using media that supports the content better than others. Keeping students interested is definitely important.