I am relating this to a small time frame of instruction in a one on one scenario.
1.I verbally relate my expectations of the students obligations for todays task.
2.I tried a different approach and asked the student to describe the perfect day of what their expectations were for the task.
The number 2 approach was more successful for the students successful outcome.
I am in a unique position in that I teach massage therapy, so there is a lot of active learning going on in most every class. At the beginning of every term, I tell the students I love questions - bring it on - hit me with your best shot. And when they do ask questions, I am enthusiastic about answering them. I am also very honest if I don't know the answer, and we all pick up our phones and google the answer to see what each of us comes up with. I am also appreciative of those who ask questions during our lecture time, which tends to stimulate others wanting to ask questions also. It works in our setting.
Hi Tanya,
Students like learning that is made in to fun such as what you are doing. Students also retain more when they are having fun while learning.
Patricia Scales
I truly appreciate that idea. I have observed shy, non-verbal students come out of their shell when they have been placed in a group or with a team during our activity/share time. There has been cases where these type of students have become the spokes person for the group. They then have become active learners and retain the information addressed.
Teaching math, most of my teaching is lecture based. I could assign some a more practical math problem and break the class into groups where they need to communicate with each other. One could summarize the group findings.
After a lecture there is usually a written assignment. To review the written assignment I use a "nerf" type ball and we play a ball game with the students indicating which answers they want to give. I find that this approach draws out even the most reluctant student because everyone wants to "play ball". Also no one is forced to provide information when they are not sure. If a student is stumped, other members of the "team" are encouraged to assist that "team mate". I feel that this is a game where everyone is a "winner".
I teach Math. So I really have to make students active learners by doing lab which includes some simple problems for them to work out and then I ask them to create a problem and write it on the board for other students to solve so all the students have to be creative and active learners during that time
Sometimes a particular subject may be dry in nature. So I use my resources and do interactive class quizzes. The students tend to participate more and try to outdo each other.
Anatomy requires a great deal of memorization. As I was taking this course I was thinking about having students put together models while they learned certain structures of the human anatomy. I think I will be having them build a muscle a layer at a time.
During classes of pure lecture using guided lecture followed by group discussion and quiz creating or note creating will create a more active learning classroom.
When teaching a subject, if I see some confusion on any of the students faces, I will write on the board several questions relating to the subjects objective and break the students into several groups and have them write the questions down and look for the information relative to the part I assigned them. Then I have each group present what they have found and learned, answering questions from their peers. After each group has presented I ask for any questions regarding the subject matter and ensure the students understand what we have covered.
