Jim Berger, Special Instructional Programs

Discussion Questions:

1. Pick a case study and consider what experiences your students have had in relation to the topic you are trying to teach. How does the age of your students impact the depth and breadth of experience? What are your impressions about their readiness and willingness to learn this material? What about their learning styles?
   
2. Consider the same case study as before and think about an activity that you can develop that will help them gain a better understanding. What are the typical responses you get or would get when trying to introduce the new material? What experiences might they have had with this material? What can you do in your activity that will get them to reflect on that experience and tie it into the new material you are trying to teach? How will you incorporate activities that progress from Knowledge to Evaluation in Bloom’s Taxonomy? What will you do to accommodate the different learning styles in your class?
   
3. Consider the activity you developed for your class. What role does the class size have on how you teach that material? What about the medium through which you have to communicate (e.g. online or ITV)? How will these impact your activities especially if you cannot see their faces or hear their voices as part of your feedback?
   
4. As a final discussion item, what checks do you have that will ensure that you know if your students are learning the material you are presenting? What evaluation procedures will you use to determine that they have “gotten” the ideas you are presenting? Any practitioner knows how important it is to reflect on your progress and consider new ways to improve your efforts. How will you get your students to become reflective practitioners?