Great reflections, Sara! “Thinking about your role as a teacher” is something that every educator should be aware of and understand well. The role of teacher is not just to give lectures and transfer knowledge but also care about the growth and long term success of a student. By taking the GEDI course, I think many of us have realized what our roles should be as future educators and that I believe, is one of the most important takeaways from the course.
Author: Sneha Upadhyaya
Comment on “Collecting the Dots” to “Connecting the Dots” by Sneha Upadhyaya
Your post reminded me of a professor I have had in my Master’s degree program. He would spend most of the class time showing us videos and pictures of things and assign us homework without “teaching” us the technical stuff. He would not give us any guidance on any assignments, but would ask us to use “GOOGLE” as reference. We were all so frustrated with him and gave him a nickname-“Dr. Google.” The semester went by like that and at the end of the semester, we ended up giving him bad reviews in the SPOT surveys. However, when I think about it now, I feel like I actually learned more than what I would have if the professor taught us everything and gave us homework that were based on his class lectures.
Most of the times, when teachers try to use PBL, they often do not give enough background on PBL- the “whys” and “hows” of it and the students think of it as a waste of time and money. I think when using a PBL type assignment, students should be given enough information and background about PBL and its advantages , so that students are more interested and motivated in adopting PBL.
Comment on Avoid Distraction from Electric Devices by Sneha Upadhyaya
My story was different, That one day I forgot to bring my phone, I kept thinking about it and couldn’t focus all day until I got home. Haha! But I agree with you, electronic gadgets can be a source of distraction sometimes.
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Comment on My Action Items for Diversity by Sneha Upadhyaya
Great post! I think showing willingness to contribute to issues of diversity and inclusion is in itself a first big step! When you are aware and are willing to learn and improve your knowledge about such issues, you have already succeeded to reach your goals.
Comment on May I have an hour of your time? by Sneha Upadhyaya
I greatly enjoyed reading your post this week. Also, a very nice statement that you have put together. None of us are perfect and we are all ignorant of other people’s stories in some ways. When we are ready to listen to the stories and accept people for who they are, the world will already be a better place to live!
Comment on Week 12: insert interesting title by Sneha Upadhyaya
Thank you for the post. I agree with all of what you said. However, if you think about students not paying attention and being involved in other activities from a different perspective, it could be that they are not motivated or they don’t find the course materials interesting. Hence, as teachers, we might have to find ways to get all of the students engaged and motivated.
Comment on The Obstructed Line Between Helping and Distracting by Sneha Upadhyaya
Thank you for the post. I like your idea of letting students use technology in classrooms when required by the course. I agree with Jason as well-to create an interactive environment, sometimes it is better to ask the students to put their laptops away and be more involved in verbal discussions.
Comment on The What and the How of Critical Pedagogy by Sneha Upadhyaya
Great post! I like Kaisen’s idea of “customized” learning. It is very important that we help learners build a strong foundation in the beginning, but once they have a strong base, we can provide them freedom to build on the foundation on their own and explore their interests. Letting students determine the topics of their interest for projects is a great idea to engage students and facilitate critical thinking.
Comment on Who Knows How to Use a Screw Driver? by Sneha Upadhyaya
Greatly enjoyed reading your post! Love the illustrations too. I think there is a big gap between what the students are generally taught to what the real world demands. A student may be able to ace all the exams but may not be successful in their later career when it comes to solving real world problems. Hence, connecting theory to practice is something that we really need to address in our pedagogies.
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Comment on Won’t We Need to be Able of Critical Thinking Ourselves? by Sneha Upadhyaya
“when the educational systems and educators try to accommodate their inconvenience, sometimes it might discourage them to be become independent learners.”
I agree with the statement above. I think as educators, it is our responsibility to address the need of every individual, however, in doing that we should also be aware of not making it “too easy” on them. There has to be a balance between what we “teach” them and what we leave for them to learn and figure out on their own so that they can exercise their brains to develop critical thinking.
