Timothy Smith

Effective Assessments are going to give you the roadmap to what needs to be increased, decreased or changed in how information is delivered to the students. Utilizing the assessment whether essays or quizzes etc., they are going to show what the students knows and understands.

This module gives you the ideas to implement assessments and to promote critical thinking. Taking an assessment at the beginning of the course gives you as well as the students a baseline of what they know and how to tailor their instruction. 

Questioning is the baseline for comprehension, ability to retain information but also is a gauge to see who is just listening. It will also help identify those that are hearing what you are saying but processing it into a completely different realm. Allowing them to question you builds a rapport but also shows you where their interest lies. 

This module is a reminder that students are not only different culturally, but also their ability to learn, understand and retain information. You must determine who learns in what format and then roam the classroom and address the students in a format that will serve them best. 

I think developing strategies to become effective depends on the instructor but definitely needs to be catered to each cycle of classes. Notes and handouts to me seem like small actions to gain such progress in class success. 

I think in order to be successful in teaching, there has to be an understanding from both sides. It alleviates a lot of misunderstandings if there is a set standard and outline that all are aware of. It gives a lot of direction and focus when there are waypoints ....

Planning and Prep is a must in almost every environment. I had something instilled early on in my life that has caused me to be an over planner/prepper. What I took away from this module is the fact that you can plan, plan and prep and there will be something that pops up that will cause an issue to arise. 

But the point to plan and prep is to minimize the issue should one arise. If you weren't planning and prepping then the issue becomes chaos.

Going through this module, there are a few things that stood out to me. First was the continuous improvement for self-development, which seems to go unrealized until you start to self-critique yourself and your teaching style. This lays your deficiencies out and allows you to work on them. 

Another aspect I believe is the development of your abilities to read the room. You must develop not just your technical skill and knowledge but your personal skills as well. You should ideally be able to identify how to approach the subject, teach it to the students and then be able to… >>>