Barry Westling

Hi Michael: You're right - whenever you can involve and/or engage the the students, the more likely they're going to remember the information. I don't think we can always avoid the written format however. I think it would to the students disadvantage if they completed a whole class and never had a written-format quiz, test, or assessment. As technology advances, with increasing frequency, instruction will be delivered to some degree by a computer. And naturally, assessments will be in an electronic "written" format. So preparing the student with more than just the topic content and having them be practiced at… >>>

Hi Marta: You’re right; most of the commentary does address the inevitable problem of some unplanned event disrupting the daily lesson. You'd have to admit having the power go out, not having a computer/LCD projector for a PPT, overhead projector bulb burring out, and hundreds of similar kinds of situations fit into the category of having a backup plan. I once had a 4X8 dry erase board fall off the wall at one end. For about two hours, I just used the board in its lopsided position until a portable board could be located. I feel I saved two hours… >>>

Hi Marta: I assume you're addressing the comment made by Samuel. I cannot comment for him. But within the scope of the discussion of Understanding Yourself as an Instructional Leader, flexibility could imply using different teaching styles (to match learning styles of students or specific topics), or it could imply altering a standard approach to presenting a topic in order to improve student learning. Perhaps a deeper meaning of flexibility would be a willingness to be open to self examination or peer-review or assessment in order to see oneself in a different light. This takes a bit of courage because… >>>

Hi Marta: I assume you're addressing the comment made by Samuel. I cannot comment for him. But within the scope of the discussion of Understanding Yourself as an Instructional Leader, flexibility could imply using different teaching styles (to match learning styles of students or specific topics), or it could imply altering a standard approach to presenting a topic in order to improve student learning. Perhaps a deeper meaning of flexibility would be a willingness to be open to self examination or peer-review or assessment in order to see oneself in a different light. This takes a bit of courage because… >>>