Week 4-2 Personal Blog Reflection

1.  30-word micro session summary: 

Week 4-2 spells out the differences between consultative versus traditional teacher-centered teaching approaches.  Along with consultative teaching it demonstrates various styles of student-centered instructional strategies including, fish-bowl, jigsaw, and exploratory talk. 

2.  As a student, I would evaluate my overall college classroom learning experience in terms of developing my higher-order thinking skills as average.  Honestly, it depends on the course I am taking.  I tend to perform better in the interactive courses which facilitate regular in-class discussions rather than a course being heavily focused on the reading.  College courses with discussions help me to (1) synthesize disconnected pieces of information, (2) associate facts received from different sources, and (3) evaluate the importance of information through exploratory talks.  

3. I do think consultative teachers are more likely to incorporate various instructional strategies into instruction than traditional teachers because the instructional strategies studied were very collaborative and interactive in nature.  The instructional strategies are always guided and facilitated by the teacher but are very student and problem solving centered  whereas traditional style teaching is  more rigid in structure.  

4. From a consultative teacher's perspective one instructional strategy that I find most effective for a creative thinking approach is role playing.  Role playing is effective because it encourages students to actively participate in performance-based measures and linking new knowledge with already learned knowledge.  Role playing also promotes creativity because it requires imagination, improvisation, and problem solving! 

5. From a consultative teacher's perspective one instructional strategy that I find most effective for the critical thinking approach is jigsaw.  Consultative style teaching is collaborative and interactive where the teacher is a co-learner and facilitator.  While learning in a consultative teaching environment peer dialogue and problem solving is encouraged.  I believe that the jigsaw strategy is most effective because is encourages students to work together in a co-learning environment rather than competition.  The appreciation of collaboration and teamwork can help increase critical thinking skills while increasing students overall motivation and self-efficacy. 

6. Do you have any questions or concerns about course learning? 

No! 

7. Week 4-2 Activity Completion Check

	Modules	Topics  & Activity	Check ✓ if Completed
Week 4	Week 4-1 *Due by August 8 at 10:59 am	1) Week 4-1 Reading Quiz	✓
		2) Week 4-1 Discussion Forum: one initial response & two peer feedback replies	✓
		3) Week 4-1 Personal Blog Reflection	✓
	Week 4-2 *Due by August 8 at 10:59 am	1) Week 4-2 Reading Quiz	✓
		2) Week 4-2 Discussion Forum: One initial response & two peer feedback replies	✓
		3) Week 4-2 Personal Blog Reflection	✓

8. Social Blog Activity: 

Courtney Eaton's Blog

Hi Courtney, I enjoyed you inclusion of videos in your blog, it really helped my understand of your perspectives! I also enjoyed your discussion of how project-based learning is most effective for student-centered learning.  Of course it is important to remember that not every student favors working in groups, however I think it is broadly very effective for critical thinking and problem solving skills discussed in the readings. 

Sadie Robinson's Blog

Hi Sadie, I like how you recognize the different implications of both student-centered learning and teacher-centered learning.  They both serve different purposes.  I also enjoyed your thoughts on how critical thinking skills have decreased as the internet has become more popular.  While I agree the use of the internet allows most of the thinking to be done for us, I also think that it can help students attain endless information to help facilitate learning.  Not to mention, most of the students in our generation are very tech savvy.  The use of technology of the classroom may also help engage students further. Thank you for sharing your ideas!