Barry Westling

Barry Westling

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Hi Bobbi: You're right, just like instructional lessons, we give information about how serious we are when we arrive prepared or unprepared. Regards, Barry
Hi Deborah: I agree one part of educating students is preparing them to think critically. Giving them more than minimum is good as long as the students master the minimum first. Regards, Barry
Hi Jeanne: I think it's natural for us to do and display waht we feel we're best at. Relying soley on our strengths misses an opportunity to really utilize all of our talents, because weaker areas are simply challenges we have to overcome through experience, training, trial and error, and time. But once those challenges are overcome, they may manefest in the most awesome strengths we would have never imagined. That's why I think good teachers are always striving to do better at every opportunity. Regards, Barry
Hi Detra: Good post. Options is one way to let students learn in a manner they are most comfortable with. Generally, student centered puts the emphasis on student focus, and removes it from teacher-driven lessons that may or may not be beneficial to the students. Variety, lots of media choices, discussions and group work are some examples that lend themselves to the student centered classroom. Regards, Barry
Hi Detra: Yes, our role is extremely important when we pose it in the context of training and educating our future leaders. They need to be better than we are, so we need to set our goal to do all we can to achieve that. Mediocrity will be the result if we don't. Regards, Barry
Hi Detra: Whoa...self destruction? I hope you're feeling good about knowing yourself! :-) But you're right. We all have natural strenghts and probably tend to avoid or ignore weaker areas. Good teachers will want to continuously work towards improvement on both fronts. Such a willingness will not only make us better teachers but assist our students in becaming the best they can be as well. Regards, Barry
Hi Detra: These special activities are really very good because, besides the reasons you mentioned, they can inspire students to try harder or maybe plan their job opportunities more realistically. Although they take some planning, it's worth the time to the students, as these are usually quite memorable experiences. Regards, Barry
Hi Mariann: These are good examples. I think better back up plans are simple to implement, can be initiated on very short notice, and require virtually no planning. These are useful for those times when everything you've planned is not going well, equipment not available, or resources absent. That's when a good back up plan is worth it's weight in gold. Regards, Barry
Hi Mariann: I agree we should be prepared to alter our natural teaching style if we want to be successful in reaching all of our students, because, just as we have different styles, so do students. Knowing our strengths and weaker areas allow us us to use our talents where they can do the most good. I would add that we need to continuously work on those weaker areas, then be willing to modify or change. For adults, change is difficult. Regards, Barry

Hi Anthony: Good points. To me student centered puts the focus on assuring we are doing everything we can to achieve learning by our students. Almost every class we have has learning objectives. Many classes will also have student learning outcomes. See, all the focus is on learning, not about teaching. Of course, as teachers, we have to follow an organized process. Student centered might require we modify our curriculum, use different and varied media, or approach instruction from the perspective of our students. It's interesting that engaging students and getting them involved in their own learning produces the best… >>>

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