Maria Acosta Estrada

It is important to take the time to learn about our students' goals and interests, what knowledge they have about specific topics, their experiences and what future goals they have. All students should be treated with respect and encouraged to take ownership of their own learning.

If students are learning a new language, the student's mother tongue should be valued and respected. Therefore, the student is encouraged to use their mother language to help understand and clarify words in the new language. This is essential to ensure the student understands the meaning of the words and uses the new language effectively. 

Teachers must take into consideration that each student has different experiences and therefore, the knowledge they may have won't be the same as another student. Teaching designs must therefore be flexible, offer support and ensure there is no bias. This will enhance the students learning. 

It is essential to use language that is inclusive to ensure all students remain engaged in the lesson. In addition, it is important be student-centered by incorporating student's likes and learning goals. 

Essay questions may be the most challenging but most indicative that the student has understood the material. However, it is often disliked as it is subjective and will require rubrics to ensure expectations are clear. Completion questions on the other hand are the easiest to answer. However, there are still some issues with these types of questions since some correct answers may not be what the teacher was looking for. It is good to have a mixture of different types of questions and ensure there is a balance. 

Asking a good question requires many characteristics which include preparing the question, asking one single student, providing time for students to think about the question, repeating the question or paraphrasing a student's answer if it is correct. Another characteristic of a good question is that when someone gives the wrong answer it will prompt more questions e.g., if a student gives the wrong answer, continue asking the student questions to guide and aid the student to get the correct answer. Finally, ask questions that cannot be memorized and require the students to think critically.

Students will be more motivated to learn when they have a voice and are given choices in regard to how they are evaluated on their learning. For example, providing students with choices on the kind of assignments they will need to do, whether quizzes should be open or closed book, or how many short answer questions the quiz should have will allow students to feel more empowered as it is tailored to the needs and wants of the student.

Teachers must ensure that the students have a good understanding of what they learned, therefore, assignments need to be given to students where they can go over the material they learned and apply the learning objectives. It is beneficial for instructors to explain to students the benefits of completing assignments and how they relate to their academic goals to ensure they are motivated to complete the assignment.

I learned about TeacherTube, a great resource for instructors to share teaching videos such as lectures and demonstrations to provide a visual learning experience. This resource offers many different resources for free. I will be using this resource moving forward. 

Uploading digital files allows students to access the content anywhere, as long as they have an internet connection. This, in turn, allows files to be shared easily and stored in a safe place that cannot be lost like physical copies.