I am very tired now and feel that there has been an overload of information today. I really valued everything that was done today but there was too much and it was just a taste of everything. I would really like to consolidate my knowledge as I know when I get back to Cape Town I will be so busy that I will never be able to find out about this or to follow up.
The morning started with three of us giving our presentations. It was disappointing that there were not many responses to these presentations from other participants in the course.
The vitero session was interesting but required a lot of concentration and then I was aware that I had an obligation to do a recording at lunch time so this probably made me tense and tired. I did not find that I was engaged today as I was yesterday and I didn't feel the freedom to participate that I had felt the day before.
I ate lunch quickly because I was mentally preparing myself for this presentation. I started to feel a bit sick and nervous. I was also anxious about others viewing my video - that it would be very boring for them.
The presentation about myself went reasonably smoothly with a few mistakes, but it doesn't seem as though these matter.
Again I arrived late into the class and this was off-putting as it sets you on the wrong foot. Again I was very aware of how missing classes must set students back a great deal and perhaps sometimes they never manage to catch up. This must be similar to following a course in a second language and one has to be very patient with students in this respect.
I am wondering how all these insights can be implemented not only in my own practice but in my own institution.
The fire alarm was highly irritating as we lost concentration in a section where already I had difficulty following. Again I learnt that you need to have empathy with your learner and the importance of establishing prior knowledge before one begins one's teaching, or else it one can really pitch things at the wrong level. As a teacher you also need to be aware of the different levels of competence that you are dealing with held by the learners and to accommodate these different levels. This of course takes a good deal of competence and sensitivity towards others' needs but is essential if learning is to occur.
I wonder whether more use could not have been made of the digital natives in the class so it is not a 1-1 interaction, but that the more knowledgable peers are giving knowledge to those in need of more personal assistance.
I would really like to try all this out again. I know the frustration of choosing quantity over quality - this is another lesson for teaching and learning but I think I will end there because I am getting tired in this stuffy atmosphere and want to escape outside as it is a beautiful day.
3 comments:
Dear Vivienne, you are right, I could have responded to your reflection. I promise to improve on this point, especially now when we are making reflections so important as a learning possibility
Funny,you see also the information that the comment was deleted. That was the same comment as I have posted again. I only discovered some misspelling.
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