Jack McCarty

A couple of notes on this section of the course. When I was in High School, many of my classes implemented the Socratic method for promoting engagement in my education, a practice that certainly should be woven into post-secondary education, and yet has not. I believe my continuing to engage my students with questions, and developing answers as a whole, we are not only able to educate our students but better incorporate the 'self' as mentioned earlier. 

We also can not reject the importance of social media in the use of education. Most of our students are learning not through… >>>

There seems to be a certain disconnect between my younger students and myself brought on not by age, but by technological aptitude. While telecommunication as a whole has certainly revolutionized the means of literacy, it is important that literacy still plays an important role of everyday life. It has not disintegrated with the advent of hypertext and the webpage, but instead has evolved with it, for better and for worse. This course has told me that in order for instructors to maintain literacy standards within the classroom, they must be open to the changes that have been brought on with… >>>

As a writer in my free time, I understand the importance of literacy in whatever field you work in whether its nursing or electrical. However, with the course tying literacy to other key learning factors, it is an important reminder just how much our students depend on it. I try to exercise my students as much as possible in this key area, providing them writing prompts whenever the opportunity presents itself that are based on a variety of texts. The impact that these activities had on student comprehension can not be understated. It is a night and day difference in… >>>

Guided notes have always been the center piece of my lectures in class, however, I now know that guided notes alone will not bring them as far as they can with the lecture in question. Using mnemonics is something I have been trying to incorporate more into the classroom, as well as graphic organizers, and the results are a stark difference in learned materials. I need to incorporate these techniques more if I want to improve student improvement! 

I already use review as a key learning tool for my students whenever I have the chance, however, a pre-test is something I should certainly take into consideration. It's a great tool not only for the students to set their expectations as to what the class might entail, but for the instructor to make sense of the student's progress!

I have always known that there are a variety of different intelligences that students, in some shape or form, can excel or struggle in. The objective goal in my classroom has always been to satiate a the variety of all intelligences, however finding signs in which student possesses what strong suit has always been difficult to me. The examples laid out in this course has fundamentally changed the way in which I can organize my lectures ahead! 

Differences in abstract and concrete ideas as well as differences in how memory (both long term and short term) is shaped will greatly help my endeavors to teach. By allocating time and resources to not just one learning preference, but to multiple, I will surely be able to provide adult learners with the education they are hoping to receive. A final benefit of this course was a refresher as to how logic shapes in our consciousness and what should be avoided in that development. 

The step by step processes of Critical Thinking are a healthy reminder of how solutions or truths can materialize from within us. By taking the time to diligently analyze a problem then evaluate its solutions, students (as well as teachers) are far more likely to come to succeed in their endeavors.

Intelligence comes in many forms and so the best teachers must play in the middle to compensate for the variety of intelligences. For example, if one is too heavily focused on logical-mathematical, they can be missing out on aiding those students who excel in other forms of intelligence.

Critical thinking often employs reasoning, questioning, discipline, and judgement, skills that are valuable in any given worksite. No matter the field, it is often worth while to partake in the actions listed but this goes double fold as a teacher. My presenting information through these steps, students will be able to develop a better understanding of the material at hand.