Linda Gordon

As a K-12 educator with over 17 years of classroom experience before entering higher educaiton, I want to offer the view that classroom managment techniques can be taught and modeled but in the end, classroom management is an art that must be practiced and honed and is never fully mastered. What is important is being reflective and responsive to the needs of your class. 

I'm halfway there but also not convinced I want to go further. In my diversity class, the students read the content and respond to a discussion question online before class and I facilitate further discussion and offer other experiences such as short videos in class to further the conversation. This way they come in with basic content and can get to the deeper discussion. In my math class I am using an AI system that adapts to the student. I teach the content and we practice in class and then their homework opens up individually based on what they do… >>>

This diversity class was unique in its format with reflective writing and videos. I was pleasantly surprised ar finding a resource I did not know - the implicit bias test site from Harvard. I will definitely be using this in my human diversity course! 

This course was particularly well done and I have a number of action points. It verified that my instinct to dislike the barren walls of my room is correct even with adult learners. I am going to work on organizing and decorating that space more purposefully. I also am purchasing a laser pointer which I've intended to do but will accomplish now. I also want to look up the references for interactive activities and see which ones might enhance my courses. 

I completely agree with the idea that we need to demonstrate the connection between what we are teaching and the students' future careers. As a math teacher, it is easy to fall into a flow of just teaching math, but students really do appreciate understanding how they will use the math later. The challenge is that some of the math is in the curriculum to allow them to continue with their studies if they choose to go to a traditional university and take algebra 1 so it does not have a career application beyond "you might need this if...". I… >>>

I particularly like the comment early in the class that UDL is not really something that is achieved in its entirety but is rather something of a ongoing journey towards a goal. There are some areas that I struggle to imagine a different way of having students respond - for example, if I am teaching a writing course, I need them to write. Certainly adaptive technology for disabilities is 100% fine, but the final product has to be written. On the other hand, I can see opportunities for me to do a better job with this - for example, I… >>>

I certainly agree that reflection is the path to improvement, whether after teaching a class, or after taking a class. In this case, I particularly appreciated the early comment about the first time you teach a class it is like being a test pilot. I am teaching two courses that I designed for the first time and I definitely am feeling it - particularly in one where I am trying out a "flipped classroom" model fully for the first time. 

I also am going to work on my issue with names. I find them very difficult to remember - always… >>>