EDCI 5065 Week One

Observations of Our First Class

Class Structure:
I responded with to the semi-structured interconnected activities. It made me better able to grasp the larger concepts we discussed. Also, they made the six-hour time block fly by.

Instructor Style:
Moving around the room, speaking to us a peers (to some extent) made GNA very relatable and approachable. For me personally, understanding that questioning, elaborating and challenging as a larger part of this class than in my previous experiences will take some getting used to. I am very accustomed to structure, rules, etc and this format is new.

Group Work:
I very much enjoy working in a group when there is mutual respect and that was the case today. Being able to speak freely with constructive (but respectful) feedback from group members to challenge and encourage me to expand my thoughts is helpful.

Activity:
The concept map was helpful for me to visualize a lot of the ideas we will be discussing over the next few weeks. Because I am very visual, I retain information well when I can map everything out graphically.

General:
I like the open discussion portions of the class the best because it gives us the opportunity to hear the perspectives of our classmates. There are so many portions of the article we read that I didn't choose for my reflection, so I am glad that I got to hear more about it from the other students. Similarly, being able to view each other's concept maps helped us understand that there were many different approaches to the same assignment. We all generated different word associations for what learning meant to us. This is a strategy I'd like to employ as a teacher.


WEEK ONE T2P STATEMENT:
If students feel comfortable and emotionally safe in the learning environment, then learning can occur through their active questioning and interpreting of information because they will be less inhibited by worrying about rules or conventions placed on these activities by the teacher or institution.