When it comes to blog posts they should be like a ladies skirt, super short to catch your attention and only long enough to cover the subject. Many blog posts go unread because simply they are boring. Blogs are discussion tools. If the readers attention is tweeked, they will reply to ask more information and add their input and ideas.
Also lots of graphics and pictures spice things up and add an extra 1000 words to the mix.
Happy blogging.
How short is your skirt 🙂
Enrolling in the Provincial Instructor Diploma Program offered by Vancouver Community College was one of the best things I could of done. After years of instructing it will be nice to have a formal diploma. In addition to receiving the certificate, I will have acquired some very valuable knowledge that I have and will continue to utilize in the class room. The PIDP program consists of seven embedded courses and a Capstone Project. To date I have completed six of the seven courses. I have left to complete the 3240 (media) and the capstone project.
My biggest learning’s came in the 3220. It taught me the basic skills of preparing and running a class. I left there with this nice little tool bag of skills to work with in the classroom. Understanding Blooms Taxonomy helped me realize what levels my students are at and what I need to do to get them to the next level.
In the 3100 I learned that harbor the Behaviorist style of teaching and its strength and weaknesses and the importance of being more flexible and the need to utilize more of the other methods of teaching.
I look forward to the last two courses and completing the PIDP program. I will highly recommend this to anyone that is in the instructing field.
Are you enjoying the PIDP Program??
Thoughts..
https://magic.piktochart.com/output/10717283-digital_project_jh
Please Click on the above link to view….
Happy Viewing 🙂
When is your next Performance Review..
Thoughts?
Dr Wayne Dyer once said “The difference between the flower that is dead and the flower is living, is that the flower that is living is still growing” He links it to the idea that we are always learning new things and moving forward.
Whether it is formal or informal learning, to keep up with the current trends and to stay ‘professional’, one should take in a much training/ experience as possible. Some places of employment dictate if an employee must complete a certain amount of professional development hours and partake in various courses and seminars. Simply reading an article in a journal that is related to your area of teaching is also a good way to learn new ideas. If one does not make an effort to continue to learn then you run the risk of losing your creativity. Sticking to old ideas and methods can quickly close the mind off and become a breeding ground of stale thinking. If one is not entertaining new ideas, motivation levels can also drop. If you are looking for advancement or higher level positions, you most likely will require more credentials to make yourself qualified for a wider range of jobs.
Keep Focused, Keep up, Keep Learning 🙂
What do you want to learn today????
http://study.com/academy/lesson/performance-appraisals-benefits-and-challenges.html
Keep on the look out for my digital Project on Feedback Strategies.
My topic of will be based on ‘Performance Review’
When was your last Performance Review???
A succinct formulation of a fundamental principle, general truth, or rule of conduct, is how Brookfield wraps up his book in Chapter 20. Just like handing a child his lunch box and patting on the back on his way to school, Brookfield is providing us with fatherly words of wisdom to guide us forward.
I thought it was a good way to wrap up his book. I think ‘Maxim 1’ is important. Stress is a killer and can burn you out very fast. By not taking care yourself mentally and emotionally your going to cause harm to yourself and provide no useful value to your students. Keep a mental health check going and keep things in balance (very hard to do, but can be done). There was a couple months when I felt very drained and defeated and dreaded going to class. My co-worker came to me one morning and informed me he was doing a mental intervention. He offered to take my class for the day and then that weekend we went out for a bike ride. One simple act put me into a shift that got me on the level again.
The other Maxim of Brookfield’s I liked was number 16 ‘Don’t Trust What You’ve Just Read’. Don’t worry Stephen, I don’t 🙂
What’s your Maxim????
Thoughts?
Having your accreditation questioned or worse suspended can cut a training institution off at the neck. I liked this article because it touched on a couple of issues we are facing at the college I teach at. The meat and potatoes of this article is McGill’s medical program was audited by the Governing body in the region. It was found that they were deficient on 24 items and will have to get them up to standard or risk losing their accreditation. They sited one of the main issues as being in the middle of implementing a new curriculum. The other is keeping consistency in the hospitals their student work their practicums in.
Here at the College we are in the middle of getting a new curriculum rolling that answers to a different agency. In the meantime trying to keep the former one going. Also we send our trainees into the work place for onsite practical’s. Because we utilize several different companies, it can be difficult to maintain consistency as some companies enforce their policies more than others.
As new technologies develop the required evaluations also must change and reviewing, amending policies and procedures to keep current is a must.
Are you Accredited?
Will you sleep at night the day before your next annual Audit? 🙂
There is a U-tube video that I posted in a previous posting called ‘The Blah’ that would also apply here. Lecture has a time and place but we are learning for shorter times and not all places. In chapter 6, Brookfield talks about ways to keep your lectures effective and hold your students attention. He speaks to ‘chunking’ and buzz groups, both techniques I already to an extent use. Chunking is grouping or two thoughts together and only speaking on it for 15 min max. Then you engage the group into discussion on that topic and work in a supporting activity or assignment. This breaks your main theme up and provides more retention time for the material to sink in to the learner. This is very effective and I encourage you to work this into your lectures.
Are you chunking???
Thought??
What is ‘ETHICS’ anyway???????
eth·ics
ˈeTHiks/
noun
plural noun: ethics; noun: ethics
1. Moral principles that govern a person’s or group’s behavior.
2. The branch of knowledge that deals with moral principles.
I think most people have a built in code of ethics from an early age. That instinctive feeling you get when doing something that is not right even if no-one ever told you that it was wrong.
But then came along words like integrity, accountability, lawful, moral. Doing something against the rules compromised these valuable characteristics that defines us. But the word that scares everyone and prompts us to be mindful of the rules is ‘liability’. There is always a price to pay when boundaries get crossed and rules broken.
Just about every organization has a Code of ethics to protect the integrity of, you guessed it ‘them’ not you. You will do this and this and this and that to keep your job your credibility and our integrity.
The College I teach at has a code of ethics and as a part of initial orientation, your made aware of the document. Its your standard do’s and don’ts, but because we are situated in a Gulf Country, extra items are added to address local customs.
But what happens when someone breaks the rules or commits an unethical act. It usually does not end well for the instructor and the training institution quickly goes into damage control mode to protect itself from losing its accreditation.
Referring to the article above, Joanne Leger-Legault career was shattered upon being accused of having intimate relations with students. I often wonder if the outcome for her would of been different if they were not her students. What she did was not good, but does being a teacher make one more vulnerable to the media and more pressure on authorities to convict. Either way as ambassadors to the public and figure heads of trust we need to keep our ethics in check.
It makes no difference if you are teaching in the classroom or coaching a baseball team, resistance from the learning body can be frustrating and at times debilitating. In chapter 17 of Brookfield’s book ‘The Skillful Teacher’ he outlines some ways to respond to students that push back or do not respond to your teaching efforts. Some of Brookfield’s ideas are as follow’s:
1) Check that your intentions are Clearly Understood.
2) Assess Learning Incrementally.
3) Use a Variety of Teaching Methods and Approaches.
4) Try to Sort Out the Causes of the Resistance.
I think number 4 is very important. Establish Rapport with the class, ask them openly if they like how things are going. Use formative feedback forms to see if any identifiable root causes appear. Brookfield likes his Critical Incident Questionnaire to gain feedback. (Like many other chapters he loses the reader by revolving the entire chapter around his beloved CIQ’s 😦 😦
The one key factor that I directly link to resistance is motivation. History tells me that the most resistance I have encountered in the class is from unmotivated students. Focusing on different activities and teaching styles to try to keep the students involved is the best option to combat resistance.
Are you Experiencing Resistance in your classroom???
Thoughts ?
Adult Education As Interpreted By Jerry :) 