Revitalized Unit Reflection

During the process of this revitalized unit I found that it was easy to integrate different models into my lesson plans. Each model brings a different way of thinking and incorporates a variety of learning styles. I feel that these models not only encourage students to think and learn in different ways, but helps teachers to think differently also. I loved that we were all able to learn about different strategies by reading and watching/participating in everyone’s demonstration. We were able to see the facilitators’ point of view, as well as, what it would be like to be a student in each situation.

The use of the Socratic Method encourages students to collaborate with others and look at things in various ways. Students are able to voice their opinions and thought pertaining to the topic without judgement. This strategy will help encourage students to talk and share and learn more from the material than just basic facts.

The cause and effect model helps students to go beyond basic cause and effect by pushing one step farther. Prior causes and subsequent effects make students think about why they were able to come up with cause and effects and what happens before and after each one. Each one also leads to a discussion and encourages students to reflect upon their learning and thoughts.

Using the Synetics model helps students think creatively and makes call more fun. They are able to think of analogies and metaphors that will help them remember parts of the story. Students will be able to make connects and elaborate on their thoughts during this process. This is a great motivator for students who are unsure about participating because this can be silly and fun.

The simulation allows students to use technology in the unit. They will actually be able to be a detective in the game and gets them thinking about what the detective in the story will have to do to solve the crime. They will be able to compare and contrast the similarities and differences as well. Although this is a game it encourages collaboration and will develop the tone for the project, encouraging students to participate in various ways.

This unit was a lot of fun to recreate and it was not a cumbersome and I thought. Just make a few small changes can make the unit different. I learned a lot of new strategies and how to continue to learn more in the future to help continuing my learning and encouraging students to learn using many different models.

I do feel I was able to follow the guidelines when completing this project and clearly reviewed my unit in the video.

Socratic Model Reflection/Evaluation

After presenting material and demonstrating the Socratic Method, I feel I was able to very closely and appropriately follow the model. The activity was engaging for the graduate student class and cultivated an interesting conversation. The model represented the rules expected by students and educators. Each part was demonstrated and elaborated upon during the presentation. The presentation of information utilized a power point to keep all participants engaged and we had a good discussion over the different types of relationships involving types of thinking and research we have done in the class. The hand out was easy to read and allowed for a comprehensive conversation about the content of the story and everyone’s opinions and experiences. I believe the class had a strong discussion about this topic and had a lot of great ideas for adapting it to fit a variety of classroom needs. We were able to connect this topic to others we have researched in class. Although it did not involve organizing material visually, we did talk about how thinking about material we were discussion and verbally rationalizing our thoughts connected it to Metacognition and Reflective Thinking.

When I was learning about the Socratic Method, I learned a lot about the process of how this method works. It is an easy set up physically but you need to be a strong leader to help students understand material and guide them through this process. It does encourage a lot of collaboration and creative/critical thinking. I would like to incorporate this into my classroom. It would be easy to have students watch a short clip or read a story and this discuss their thoughts. It would allow me to see their thought process and give me better insight into how to help them comprehend the material, if needed. During the presentation I was very happy with everyone’s participation, they were well informed and seems to enjoy talking about the material. It was an interesting topic that everyone was able to have an opinion on and encouraged the class to explain their thought process. We were able to learn more about the people in our class. The Socratic Method is very interesting and I look forward to using it in my own classroom.

Visual Inductive Thinking Presentation Reflection/Evaluation

After presenting my material on Visual Inductive Thinking, I feel the use of the model was appropriately followed and pertained to the learning of this concept. I think the activity including organizing/grouping different animals kept the class engaged and encouraged them to push their thought processes by re-thinking and reorganizing the material they were given. I did follow the model carefully, but I do wish in my explanation I would have touched on the visual part more, to explain its importance. I did add to the model by asking the class to compare their two organization strategies. I am not sure if this helped in their thought process but it did help me, as the facilitator, understand why they were doing what they did. I wish I would have been able to continue on with the lesson to help tie up “loose ends” I feel like I left the class a little unsure of what the objective was of the demonstration without the completion of the lesson. The presentation and the handout went well. There was a lot of group collaboration and as a class we were able to connect all aspects of different types of thinking and learning researches we have gone over. I think the class participated well and I was able to help them understand various parts that did connect to different learning styles.

                                                                                                                                                  

After completing the research and presenting the material I was able to realize how organized you have to be to bring this type of learning into your classroom. You have to make sure you, as an education understand the concept to help your students understand. I do think the class responded well to this demonstration, but they did voice they thought it was frustrating to have to rethink and reorganize. That would be a challenge going into the classroom and helping students with by-in and encouraging them to work through their frustration. I feel that most of the time my students depend on me to “give” them answers or to guide them through the process of learning. This would encourage students to show me what they know and how they piece things together. Overall I think the teaching demonstration went well and the class was able to grasp the concept of what Visual Inductive Thinking is.