Hillary Faeta-Ginepra

I work in a lab setting where students are doing different competencies simultaneously.  It can be very difficult to monitor everyone and give each student the time they need.  I have found that having each and every student make a written plan and check in with me about their plan of action prior to the lab starting enables me to interact with everyone much more easily.  Monitoring, moving around during class and lab gives me an opportunity to immediately correct mistakes and give positive feedback as it is occuring.

Most interesting to learn that pausing actually helps students' brain refocus and retention of new information is higher.  I teach cooking and yes, there is often an "uncomfortable pause" while waiting for the next step in a demonstration.  I try to use that time to reinforce the technique...but I am now going to incorporate more of the pause into both lecture and demonstration.  I see now how this can also help with building the critical thinking skills of students (allow them the time to formulate their own answers).

It was very interesting to learn the various limitations that people have with certain instructional delivery plans.  For example, only remembering 25% of what you hear.  It is important to create plans with multiple forms of delivery to increase retention and reach a variety of learning styles.  I also enjoyed the video on learning that highlights the importance of students learning something about themselves as a means to motivate them.

Being prepared on that first day is essential to setting the tone and expectations for the class.  Give students the appropriate information to set them up for success in the course and create opportunities for everyone to get to know one another and feel comfortable in this environment.

Creating a plan/road map for objectives is essential to maximize student learning.  I feel that I have a small amount of time to impart a great amount of information.  When I am focused on the learning objectives and come to class with my outline/checklist, I am able to successfully stay on task and get students back to the learning goals of that day regardless of distractions.  I am a Culinary Educator and we call this mise en place, or everything in it's place.  It's our mantra and way of organizing and planning our physical and mental work/tasks/objectives for the day.  … >>>

Agreeing with the last comment, model, manage and motivate!  I thought it was most interesting to learn that its important not to fall into the babysitter role.  I want students to feel comfortable and be themselves, but often, it becomes an issue when they bring their problems to the classroom and lab environment.  It is distracting and brings everyone out of focus.  Refocusing students on the goal of learning and keeping them motivated is something I want to become better at.