I defintely agree that diversity is important for people to learn more about what the world has to offer because there are so many people in the world that bring a lot of differing perspectives that we are able to learn from.
Author: Stephen T-N
Comment on Inclusive Pedagogy by Stephen T-N
Matt, thank you for your post! I can definitely relate to your comment about how your last name can be perceived one way but your actual physical appearance is another. I don’t think many people really take the time to assess their own biases and the times they do and realize they they do have some biases, it can be a bit of a challenge initially. However I think that with the right facilitation of a discussion around this, it can be very beneficial for some people, and it seemed to be that way with your staff members.
Comment on Authentic Teaching by Stephen T-N
Heather, I’m with you on this! As people not heavily pursuing a teaching career, we don’t really have to think about this. However, we do want to be as engaging as possible when we give our presentations in our respective fields. I also don’t consider myself a largely creative person, so coming up with really fun/interesting activities to use in my presentations is something that I struggle with as well. I think though with practice and also taking notes on others presentations, we can work to become better at it! Thanks for your post!
Comment on Using “I” and the vulnerability of opening up by Stephen T-N
I would definitely agree with you on this! We have been so conditioned to writing in a specific formatted style that it takes away from the ability for us to express how we actually feel. I’m not big on blogging at all, in fact I’ve only blogged since being in graduate school for class assignments. The first time I was asked to blog the first thing that I wanted to know is if I needed to use APA format to cite my resources. However, being able to freely write and express my opinions on readings and peer blog posts has felt good because I’m not confined to a style and it’s just me and my thoughts, and whether someone agrees with it or not…they’re my thoughts and opinions. You also bring up another good point about this being a public platform and in the times we live in especially going into the student affairs field, free writing and self-expression can be taken the wrong way, so we need to be cautious of what and how we say things.
Comment on Shhh…! Students Are Sleeping! by Stephen T-N
I found this to be very interesting and VERY true. Students especially undergraduate students by-in-large do not respond well to lengthy lectures and will tend to drift out of focus or even fall asleep. You mention you TA for a class of 100…I personally think that the class size is partly the issue because it is easier for someone to become distracted in a larger crowd of people. I don’t believe to have the solution to this issue of students becoming distracted during lectures because as much I would like to avoid the “banking model” frame of learning, I think that at some points it is necessary to convey the message needed for students to be successful. It’s a difficult task for sure….
Comment on Against humanity as we know it……no laptops in my classroom! by Stephen T-N
It took me a little while to develop a thought on this because as someone who has conformed to the comfort of taking notes on my laptop I can really see the benefits for me that it brings. However, I reflect back on the days I would take handwritten notes and I did actually retain the info a little better because I physically wrote it done instead of typing. I agree that laptops present a certain level of distraction especially if teaching undergraduate courses, as those students would assumably be more easily distracted. I personally would grant a little more latitude to graduate courses because my assumption is at that level graduate students would be a little more invested in their field of study to not allow themselves to be so easily distracted.
Comment on Networked Learning by Stephen T-N
Matt I also really appreciated that last line of helping students to learn how to build a life worth living. I think students as well as professionals get too caught up in the money and job aspect of life and sometimes don’t focus on what makes them happy and can still make money and a fruitful career. Being in the higher ed program I think we have learned ways to challenge and support our students so they start thinking a little more about this concept and not solely on how they can make a living.
Comment on To Blog or not to Blog by Stephen T-N
As someone that is not big on blogging, I think having discussion topics that students would be interested in could help opening their minds to putting their thoughts on a blog. I also think again as a non-blogger you will just simply have students that don’t understand why this is something they are being asked to do as part of their class and even if they do post something on a blog, it probably won’t be as thought out because they just may not care about it as much.
