Eclectic Technology

Has your role as a teacher shifted? Do you model being a learner with your learners? This post by Jackie Gerstein shares why it is important that the educator "needs to understand and be able to articulate and demonstrate the process of learning, him or herself."

How can you go about doing this. Gerstein recommends that "educators pick something new to learn and practice doing the following: (below quoted from the post)

1. Explicitly state and record the metacognitive process while learning.
2. Demonstrate and articulate the actual steps of learning.
3. Record the stages of artifact development.
4. Understand and embrace the iterative process of learning.
5. Use and demonstrate the self-evaluative reflection process.

Gerstein then discusses each of these five steps/procedures/strategies, providing links to additional resources as well as one additional visual as well as a video that looks at how the learning process is iterative (and may provide you with an idea you would like to do with your class).

If students are unwilling to take intellectual risks what other risks might they be unwilling to make in the future? This post explore this issue from an educational, professional and personal viewpoint. The image above is a representation that explores "some of the issues we're wresting with in guiding our students. The different spectra on the "x" and "y" axes represent the different ways people respond to uncertainty and action."

Do you think of the children in your class as learners or students? Do you think of yourself as a teacher or an educator? And how do you define these words: learner, student, teacher, educator. This post explores how the word learner differs from the word student. One statement in the post "The word "learner" suggests an open-mindedness and a self-initiation. The word "student," however, implies a hierarchy. It defines a status, where one is the instructor and the other is the pupil."

If we view our classroom as individuals whom are learners then what is the role of the educator? The five ideas listed below are explored:

* Expertise
* Clearly delineated goals

* Mentorship

* Feedback

* Deftness with necessary tools

The first post in this series (of two) explored '5 Things Students Expect from their Teacher'  was scooped here). This post continues the dialogue and may provide you with some new insights into how you view yourself in your classroom this year...food for though.