I like your idea to use movie nights precipitate interventions similar to those described by Steele. Your description of the former experience of movie nights is attractive. I agree that people try to identify with the characters and their struggles after watching the movies can lead to a rich discussion. I remember that I watched videos about people from diverse backgrounds sit down to have a discussion about a topic they were all interested in, that led to a very stimulating discussion. So if we can use movies to further inspire the conversation, that will really help with interventions. After reading theories, I like to see how people use practical ways to apply them. Thank you for providing such a great suggestion about applying our reading.
Author: Dan Li
Comment on From Cooking to Becoming a Chef by Dan Li
I love your metaphor of comparing how our intellectual processes to cooking by ourselves at home. That is a unique and reasonable metaphor attracts foodie like me. I agree that “Cooking is both an art and a responsibility for a chef, like teaching is to a teacher.” We would like to engrave our students into something unique and artistic, we would like to gain more knowledge like different recipes, then create our own based on those in our kitchen (classroom) and share them with our students. That was some of my thinking of extending your metaphor. Great job for coming up with such a cool metaphor! Thank you for sharing!
P.S. I love pictures you chose for this blog. Artistic looking.
Comment on What Harry Potter Taught Me About Teaching: Be a McGonagall, not a Lockhart. by Dan Li
So glad to see there are so many huge Harry Potter fans out here. I love Harry Potter series, mostly books. But I do love the scene of McGonagall brought the castle to life, and said “I’ve always wanted to use that spell.” I agree with your analysis that it was a defining moment for her as a teacher and her students. That is a very creative and reasonable interpretation. I did something similar for my blog this week too, I try to associate teaching voice with characters in screen. And the evaluation you got, “Rachel is the most charmingly self-deprecating teacher I’ve ever met”, is very cool. Good luck on your teaching voice searching. Thank you for sharing.
Comment on Four things discussion is good for by Dan Li
I like how you engaged your thinking closely with the reading, and made a smart move on the title. I agree with you that discussion will be better in telling stories. I had a communication science class last semester, it was just so fantastic to see how people told their stories and how stories could inspire other stories. I think discussion definitely has more potential to get stories telling going on. However, I do think lecture should still have a position in the modern education, since discussion without lectures can easily turn into pure chatting. We may want students to get basic knowledge first, and get into deeper level of the topic, and then start to discuss.
Comment on Four things discussion is good for by Dan Li
I like how you engaged your thinking closely with the reading, and made a smart move on the title. I agree with you that discussion will be better in telling stories. I had a communication science class last semester, it was just so fantastic to see how people told their stories and how stories could inspire other stories. I think discussion definitely has more potential to get stories telling going on. However, I do think lecture should still have a position in the modern education, since discussion without lectures can easily turn into pure chatting. We may want students to get basic knowledge first, and get into deeper level of the topic, and then start to discuss.
Comment on Let’s Share The Carrot and Break The Stick! by Dan Li
I think this blog made a good point about the source of the assessment standards. “Yet, how and by whom these standardized ways are created, namely the founding definitions of academic success, is taken for granted most of the time.” This make me start to think a lot about how do I define academic success and where are my standards coming from. The definitions of academic success sound like common sense for students and teachers nowadays, but when we really think about this issue, more problems come out of it. Through I hate to admit, often times, academic success commonly equates to “A” s, publications and positions in schools. Where are these standards coming from? And also what is the standard for “A”? All of these require us to always doubt more and think more before we get any “common sense” in mind.
Comment on That “D” In Sixth Grade Though by Dan Li
I agree with you that grades still have their place or usefulness. “A” could drive students to put more efforts, and “D” could really remind students that they need to learn from this judgement, they need to pay attention. The strict grade system is also dangerous that may turn students into “A” chasing freaks and depress their creativities. So it goes back to the thing you mentioned at the first of the blog, “it depends.” It depends on different situations, standards of “A” should be flexible. Teachers need to improve their ideas about what could relate to an “A”.
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Comment on How many points do I need to get an A? by Dan Li
Thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts. I feel that I used to pay a lot of attention to grades in my undergraduate study, but now I am in graduate school, I am not that nervous about the grades. I still want to get a better grade, but not as desperate as I used to be. But the attitude changes towards grades didn’t have negative impact on my passion about learning. As a graduate student, I know more about what I want to learn and what direction I am going, so grades didn’t affect my effort of learning. I believe that is the same with most of the graduate students in this country, especially PhD students. So what I think about the problem you mentioned at the last, I would suggest that we keep the A-F system with undergraduates, who might need more forcing help to learn better. We can just do Pass or not, or Excellent Pass with the graduate students, who should already know better that is important when it comes to their study and time balance.
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Comment on People: the more you expect, the more you get by Dan Li
I had some doubts about your title until I saw you explained it as “the positive outcomes that result from people who have the fortune to have someone who believes in them and expects them to do better and eventually master a certain skill”. I think a good amount of attention, support or even pressure give students the drive to learn better, and at the end of the day, they will be the people who benefit from it. However, it is hard to handle the right amount, which we all experienced it when we are kids, students, or at the teaching position. Mindful learning may be a way that not only the students but also the teachers would like to pay attention to, since this may help both of them get to a balance, and result in diverse, wonderful outcomes.
Comment on I Google big words by Dan Li
I think it is not a bad idea to try to look up concepts and engage in the talking at the same time. Actually, I am the same if I run into big words in class, I will try to Google them right away. I feel it is a waste of time if I didn’t know the important concept that people were discussing, and just pretended to be totally engaged, and actually wondered about the meaning a lot, which stopped me from listening unconsciously. I would rather look it up quickly and come back to the conversation with better understanding. Sometimes, the interpretation on line actually inspired me to think deeply. The learning way that most suitable for everyone themselves should be the right way, and that is the true meaning of mindful learning in my mind.
