Barbara Islas

It is important to include questioning within our teaching practice. By integrating questioning, we promote critical thinking. It also will assist in gaining knowledge of the learners' understanding of the concepts presented. Socratic questioning is a type of questioning that helps the learner to think deeper and provides an opportunity for higher learning. Questioning is important. It is equally important that the teacher provide opportunity for silence after the question has been posed. It is also very important to listen until the learner has completely finished answering. Once the learner responds, provide immediate feedback in such a manner to promote… >>>

There are four major learning styles. By incorporating a variety of teaching modalities, the activities are more likely to meet the needs of each of the learners.

Classroom management techniques presented were very valuable. While student teaching, I did witness a student verbally threatening a professor. Had she handled it in the manner in which it was presented, the outcome, I feel, would have been much more positive.

Learned about the 4 teaching styles. I think I gravitate towards the guide, but can also see myself as the controller. It depends on what I am teaching about and the classroom dynamics.

Use of online professional development as well as collaborating with peers is important to further education. Change occurs frequently. As educators, we must be assessing, designing, developing, implementing, and evaluationg the teaching environment and content.

When communicating with students, it is important to frame the text in a clear and concise manner, checking for content, grammar, punctuation, and no possible misconstrued communication. 

Responses must be timely, alliowing for 24-48 hours from submission to reply, depending on business day. 

When communicating with students, one must be sure to communicate expectations of the course and how the students are graded. Students need timely feedback in a positive and constructive manner. 

Time management involves being organized by blocking out time for particular events and then being disciplined to stick to the schedule. This is an area that I struggle with. 

I let other things interfere and think I need to respond to student questions and emails quickly. In fact, I need to set up boundaries and communicate these to the students. Then, I can use flexible methods to communicate the content.

Part of good time management skills involves understanding what resources are available, including mentoring and technical support.

I find that my students value feedback from the instructors. They want to know what is important to know and how to apply what they know to real life situations.

Reply to Gulsebnem Bishop's post

You are so right. Clear communication is essential especially in an online environment. As we have seen over the past year, the method of teaching has been almost entirely sychronist or asynchonoist. Personally, I have learned to like certain aspects of the virtual environment but there are so many aspects of teaching live that the online environment cannot provide.