About me
Dr. Richard Parenti
Activity
Discussion Comment
I have an opportunity in my position because a segment of the team I lead suffers from groupthink. Now that I'm aware of it I'm going to get it out on the table so that we can effectively deal with it and create some positive outcomes.
Discussion Comment
One of the most important things I think I do is learn the names of all my students. Even when students' names are hard to pronounce, I make the effort to say it correctly because a person's name is the sweetest sound to them. At the beginning of a new class I promise them that I will learn their all their names and I keep that promise. I make plenty of mistakes along the way and I always apologize, let students laugh at me, and keep trying. Eventually I get it right and often the whole class will cheer when… >>>
Discussion Comment
I never sit down when I teach a class. I can't. When I'm in front of a classroom I feel like I'm on. It's my obligation to engage my audience for the next 1 to 2 hours and I take that seriously. Sitting down, to me, implies that class is a converstation. And while there will be dialogue, I want to ensure that the words go in the direction that is best for the material being learned. I rarely have behavior problems in my classroom because I seek out the students that aren't engaged in the work and do what… >>>
Discussion Comment
Some of the challenges from students comes from a combination two characterisitics. Aptitude and Persistance. Aptitude is the student's ability to grasp the material and persistance is the student's effort put forth for learning. A student with a high aptitude and a high level of persistance knows a lot and tries hard. We like these students because they make teaching easy. They get it the first time and they are willing and eager to learn. A student with a high aptitude and low persistance are the ones we view as "lazy." These students would be hard pressed to get an… >>>
Discussion Comment
In a world where televsion dominates our lives, we have become accustomed to "commercial breaks." Watching television as a kid I can remember RUNNING to the bathroom during a commercial break and feeling a sense of accompllshment when I got back to my favorite cartoon before the commercials were over. Back then it was a rare thing. Today, we can bake cookies in the time it takes for a television show to return from a commercial break and the breaks are more frequent (good for those with prostate problems, I guess). But the point is, this has affected our attention… >>>
End of Content
End of Content
"...20% of development is through formal training and 80% is through informal learning. We learn by doing and by sharing."
This is an interesting application of the 80/20 rule. I've heard many versions of this in terms of 20% of a the people doing 80% of the work, or 80% of sales comes from 20% of the sales force. And I guess that I can agree with this analogy because I went to school for 10 years to earn my professional degree and I worked in my field for 15 years where I learned quite a lot. Whether I can say it's more… >>>