Week 2 T2P

I think one of my greatest lessons that I have learned was also quite humbling. As new students to TCPCG we were all bombarded with alot of information on a daily basis. Very quickly I knew that if I did not get myself organized the information overload would overwhelm me and have me missing important iformation. And although I began organizing, planning and communicating with Monica any(and all) questions I had, I missed an important nugget of information in an email for week 1. This information was the actual, physical homework for week 1 of this class. This triggered 2 things for me. 1.That I always have been taught to read through directions(or in this case an email) completely before beginning a task. 2.That I am always reiterating this direction to my daughter. I found myself embarrassed and disappointed in myself the very 1st day of class which were the best lessons for me to quickly learn. I am infallible and have the ability to admit when I am wrong(without an excuse). I simply did not heed my only simple advice. I also know that when I am deluged with information that I need to take time to organize and dissect each piece and unfortunately at the time of everything going on I didn't see to have this precious commodity.
From this humbling event I hope that I have learned to be able to react to my students in the same way as Dr. Garcia did which was an understanding tone rather than one of authority or disciplinarian. I also hope to be less judgmental when students, or my daughter, make mistakes similar to this. A simple acknowledgement of the mistake and reinforcement that the task needs to be done in a timely fashion. To highlight this approach I also loved the added, "I am sure you have already beaten yourself up enough"(not verbatim what was said but how I translated it). These little nuances in how I can teach my students could make or break our relationship. I believe there is an inherent role of mistakes in the curve of learning. Some make more than others, I am a self proclaimed "some". So it makes perfect sense that I am a highly experiential learner because unfortunately I make mistakes on a pretty much daily basis but I tend to make the most of them in order to learn or re-learn a lesson. In this case I hope that I have learned not to be quick to judge someone for their mistakes but to help them grow from them.
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If a student experiences excessive cognitive dissonance while participating in a learning activity then he/she might feel excluded from the class experience because their views either aren't addressed, taken into consideration or made to feel valuable.

If a teacher employs authentic assessments throughout the lesson, then a student has a better understanding of where they stand and what needs to be improved/addressed because the integrity of the assessment is an integral piece of learning. Nobody is doing anybody any favors with, "Thats great" or "Sounds good".

If a teacher employs a wide variety of learning activities throughout the lesson then students remain engaged and intrigued because they need to be constantly stimulated.