Best and Worst Classes – I love this quick and easy
activity. On one section of the blackboard I write: “The best class I’ve
ever had” and underneath it “What the teacher did” and below that “What
the students did.” On another section I write “The worst class I’ve
ever had” (well, actually I write, “The class from hell”) and then the
same two items beneath. I ask students to share their experiences,
without naming the course, department or teacher, and I begin filling in
the grid based on what they call out. If there’s a lull or not many
comments about what the students did in these classes, I add some
descriptors based on my experience with some of my best and worst
classes. In 10 minutes or less, two very different class portraits
emerge. I move to the best class section of the board and tell students
that this is the class I want to teach, but I can’t do it alone.
Together we have the power to make this one of those “best class”
experiences.
Syllabus Speed Dating – Karen Eifler, an education
professor at the University of Portland, designed this activity. Two
rows of chairs face each other (multiple rows of two can be used in
larger classes). Students sit across from each other, each with a copy
of the syllabus that they’ve briefly reviewed. Eifler asks two
questions: one about something in the syllabus and one of a more
personal nature. The pair has a short period of time to answer both
questions. Eifler checks to make sure the syllabus question has been
answered correctly. Then students in one of the rows move down one seat
and Eifler asks the new pair two different questions. Not only does this
activity get students acquainted with each other, it’s a great way to
get them reading the syllabus and finding out for themselves what they
need to know about the course.
Irritating Behaviors: Theirs and Ours – This activity grows out of research done by D. Appleton in 1990 (The Journal of Staff, Program and Organizational Development).
His findings are a bit dated now, but the idea is not. Appleton asked
students to list faculty behaviors that most irritate them. He had
faculty do the same for student behaviors. I’d put students in groups
and have them respond to a slightly different question: “What are the
five things faculty do that make learning hard?” Or, asked positively,
“What are the five things faculty do that make it easy to learn?”
Collect the lists and make a master list to share in class or online.
Below the five things faculty do, you can also list the five things
students do that make it hard or easy to teach. The follow-up
conversation is about how the teacher and students can each commit to
not doing what appears on their respective “hard” list and have a better
class experience as a result.To know more visit our site http://allindiayellowpage.com