Kevin Duden

Sometimes I wear my mood on my sleeve.  I need to be aware of how I am coming across to my students and show enthusiasm even if I'm not.

I like the ideas of collaborative learning groups (which I already use), journaling, learning logs, Catch Up. My supervisor is encouraging us to do things to help our students become more engaged.

I am becoming a bigger fan of simulations. Mine are rudimentary but most students prefer them over classroom lecture.  In the future I will be looking for more ways to incorporate them with my limited resources.

In my situation, teaching in a prison, the students do not have access to technology.  I could try to provide more paper resources for them to look up when they are able.

I'm not sure it's relevant in my situation as students have little access to technology in the classroom since they are in prison.

To try to find ways to make sure students are actually listening and comprehending. We have an orientation where my entire program is explained in pretty good detail. They also have access to TAs and Aides, if they have questions. Despite this, they still say things like, "I didn't know I was supposed to do that!" They often go away angry in an attempt to blame me when it was clearly their fault since much of the time I know for a fact that it was covered beforehand and or they have written instructions explaining the requirements. It really does… >>>

Be flexible and allow students to participate in the process how they see fit (with some guidelines).

I often talk with colleagues about ways to make the learning process more individualized rather than "cookie cutter." Maybe starting the program with an executive functioning lesson might help; have them set goals for what they want out of the program.

In my situation (a prison setting), I try to be aware of the different learning styles; auditory, visual and kinesthetic. My lessons are all on PowerPoint (visual), I read the slides aloud or more often have the students do it (auditory), and we have written worksheets that are often done in groups (kinesthetic). One weakness is that we have Spanish speaking students and the best we can do is allow them a translator.

I had a college professor years ago who allowed us to write a term paper or type our notes as part of the curriculum. He did this because had many foreign students who did not speak English well. I think this was likely a lowering of the standards, but he allowed everyone to choose rather than applying a different standard. I think that's the challenge here. I don't think it would be acceptable to allow a different standard for one group and not the other. The student should be able to choose.