Active Learning and Students

Early Childhood Special Education and English Second Language Capstone Proposal

As Tomlinson (2010) points out in "Notes from an Accidental Teacher," a "zeal for learning" is one of the five elements and practices that make up effective teaching (p. 22). This element has the most significance for me because I count it as the most essential aspect of what it means to be able to teach -- one must be eager to learn. A teacher cannot pass on to students what he or she does not know or already possess. Thus if a teacher has no zeal for learning, it is to be expected that the teacher will have nothing to pass on to students. The desire to learn and to accumulate understanding is a necessary foundation for teaching: it is like the soil full of nutrients that the tree's roots must stretch out and reach so as to obtain nourishment that the tree might grow big and tall. If that soil is barren (i.e., without understanding, knowledge, information, wisdom, etc.) then the tree will not grow at all. For me, being a great teacher depends upon first and foremost being a great learner. If one is a great learner, one can build on that foundation and learn the ways and means that enable one to be an efficient and effective teacher in the classroom.

Reference

Tomlinson, C. A. (2010). Notes from an accidental teacher. The Effective Educator,

68(4): 22-26.

2

Approaching the process of giving feedback from a standpoint of curiosity rather than judgment is an effective way to create a dialogue with the individual under review (Reilly, 2015). When one engages another by immediately being critical and judgmental, the person who is being reviewed can feel hurt or misunderstood and immediately shut down, even if the criticism is valid. A better and more effective way to engage the individual is to begin by asking questions and by genuinely showing interest and curiosity about what the individual has done. This enables the person the opportunity to explain his or herself and allows the reviewer to approach the situation from a more respectful and objective standpoint. The reviewer giving feedback can identify the objective and discuss whether or not the method was effective in achieving the objective and why or why not it was or was not effective. This enables a dialogue to transpire and a positive exchange of viewpoints to take place without hurt feelings arising.