Module+5

March 8, 2012

The video that was not shown is available on Vimeo. http://vimeo.com/38205440 Comments from Participants in //Gems of Pedagogy//, Module 5, A Structure of Openness

1. I am floundering; where is this going? 2. We have so many people with expertise right here who could share their valuable insights if that were allowed. 3. Rather than talking together we spent 18 minutes watching the instructors on television when many of them were present in the room. 4. I would like more about the present issues of teaching we face to day. We have critical issues in education such as funding, the diversity of our students, and external demands for assessment that presses upon us. 5. I attended an afternoon 2-hour workshop on student retention, which gave clear suggestions that applied directly to the classroom. We had open discussions, too, but the direct application to my classroom made it a valuable experience for me. 6. I want something I can use tomorrow in the classroom. 7. I have spent a lot of time on reflection already in my life; I don’t need more. 8. I understood that it was not going to be clear what I am going to get, but I decided to trust it. I still don’t know where this will lead. 9. I recognize that it may sometimes be better not to go directly to the endpoint of the educational sequence, but personally that is what I would like to do. 10. When I signed up for this, I read the bullets and was drawn to things like authenticity. I wanted to have the time to talk about some of these things. 11. I have found it valuable to go back to my classroom and observe these aspects of the modules in my classroom. I work on them, too. For example, I make sure now that I talk to every person in my classroom. 12. What bothers me is the methodology of this. If we have a room full of experts, why do we need to watch ‘experts’ on the video? There is disconnection between what we are engaged with and what happens in these sessions. Is that done on purpose? 13. Who did you think your audience was? This series may apply to less experienced teachers, but that was not how this was marketed. 14. The first couple of sessions offered investigations that could help me, but when we shifted to less tangible qualities such as authenticity. I have to get through my curriculum. Authenticity is not expected of my role. When I have tried to be that way by sharing about myself, I have been negatively evaluated. 15. How do we move back and forth between the concrete nature of the content I teach and the human aspects of the job? I would like something to attach myself to so I can think about it. Something to look at, a metaphor, maybe, can call up experience and emotion. 16. I like coming here, but I’d like to know what is coming out of this. Even a tiny bit more of that overview would help me. 17. I recognize the difficulty of the balance of having a purpose and offering an open space for us to do it our own way. 18. I would be willing to examine what would make this kind of thing work better in the future. 19. I would like a reminder email just before the session to remind me of where we are and to raise my anticipation of the next session. 20.I like the circular seating arrangement. 21. I would like a nudge to share with other people at different times, like find another person to share with to move us around more. I really want to hear what others do in their investigations not just the people at my table. 22. Having a small group time and then an open conversation with each other in a face-to-face way is important. 23. I prepared a summary of my investigations in the beginning. However, when I sensed that others had not brought something, I hid mine. Later it seemed that bringing actual investigation documents fell by the wayside. 24. It is wonderful that we are all teaching in different disciplines; I want to hear everyone’s stories, even if they are nothing like my classrooms. I can still apply what comes to mind as I listen. 25. Can we have the slide shows online?