Pretesting students is a great way to understanding their current knowledge if any of their career field. This is also a great ice breaker method as well.
I loved the idea of passing out the index cards to ask what student issues/difficulties are without their names. This is a great way to know what should be "tweaked" in a lesson plan in addition to the possibillity of adding on completely different materials to better match the various levels of students.
I have learned how important it is to identify my students learning styles and create different activities that will keep each of them engaged in learning the material I am presenting to them.
have students fill out status assessments if you feel like they aren't responsive to your teaching.
The idea of giving a pre-test to get to know your students right away and cater your teaching strategy yo what you learn about them is great.
Redirection when students get distracted or off-task is the most effective way to get them back on task and also acknowledges their dissatisfaction with the previous approach.
From these module there have been several important aspects that I have learned and / or confirmed from my own experience as an instructor.
- A must to go through a complete and rigourous preparation of each course and its lessons
- Think and develop PACE plans: Primary, Alternate, Contingency, Emergency, bearing in mind the learning objectives of each lesson
- Always adapt yourself to the students you finally get on the course and their way to progress on learning
- Flexibility is always a paramount for becoming an effective and good instructor.
Pay attention to the class, have a backup plan in presenting the material. Consistently assess and adjust activities to maintain engagement.
In this module I learned that it is important to be able to be flexible with how the class flows, depending on engagement, and the students ability to understand the material. Class will not always go as planned and I need to be able to adjust on the fly.
Do small pretests to know more about the students and their knowledge of the course.
A distraction came when the deliver of the top is not dinamic and to the level of the students. Reinforce the topic using examples that students use in their life and activities.
one idea I'll consider is having a plan B in place and changing the student's activities if needed.
Changing or editing your content, depending on how students react, or respond, is key, for retension. reading your students on a continual basis is key to this.
Having more than one plan is essential. Making sure you are keeping track of the time and know when you need to shift the timing of your activities.
These are great tools for teaching.
Having a back-up plan or "plan B" will help to avoid excess pain and negative outcomes should the original plan not work
The ability to achieve good results in a course depends on multiple variables that are not controlled by the educator. In these circumstances, I consider that implementing a pre-testing process is essential to achieve educational goals.
I gained the most from the section about handling restlessness or inadequate backgrounds in students. I see it quite a bit, and it pains me to watch students struggle through a course due to poor or lack of advising or thinking they were prepared to take my lab courses. I saw it right away, and have since taken the initiative to add prerequisites to my lab course that would solidify their skills before they reach my labs. I'll be using pretests this coming fall. I had always struggled with making lessons that fit everyone of a wide range of skill levels, which I've learned isn't feasible for my particular courses. So utilizing pretests sounds like it will be a great way for me to adjust my lessons to the proper student levels.
It is best to lesson plan ahead but know that in real time, changes may need to be made based on class performance and understanding. So you need to be flexible and have a backup plan.
Having a solid lesson plan is required to be an effective teacher, however on top of that it is also a great thing to have a solid back up plan when you must keep the attention of students fro whatever reason.
