4-1 Teacher Centered learning

1. Week 4-1: Leave a 30-word micro session summary.

Instruction of students can either be teacher centered in which the teacher delivers material much like in a traditional classroom, or student centered which is focused on group work and self discovery. 

2.
Thinking back of your prior learning experiences in the classroom as a student, how teacher-centered classroom teaching approaches such as direct instruction have influenced your personal learning?

I am a non traditional student, so I went through the school system earlier than probably most in the class having been born in 1986. When I went to school, classes were really only teacher centered, it was not until I reached college that I went to any type of student centered classroom. Being in teacher centered classrooms taught me many valuable skill sets, such as being able to focus my attention, becoming self reliant, and responsible for my own tasks. To this day I feel as though I have a high self efficacy due to my past experience even so much so that I still learn new tasks on my own at home (how to crochet being my latest experience with self learning). 

 
3. Tell me any of your thoughts/opinions/perspectives about teacher-centered instruction reflecting what you have watched in the following videos.

I think that it was somewhat harsh as if teacher centered instruction was a way of the past that is obsolete and should not be considered effective any longer, however I feel as if I personally had the opposite experience, that I did not feel hindered by my experience with this type of instruction. 

 4.Tell me your thoughts about teacher-centered vs student-centered teaching regarding this video( https://youtu.be/e6ieXLVCss4 : Transformation_Student-centered Learning ). Do you believe that a student-centered teaching model can enhance students’ learning experiences and outcomes? If so/not why?

I believe that this is a mix, I would not want the student centered approach to be the only method, as I believe that this would work better teaching some material better than others. I do like using the student centered approach for problem centered classes such as math to compare answers as it is said that teaching others how to work through something is re affirmative of your own knowledge. 

 5. From a teacher’s perspective, name one student-centered teaching approach that you think is most effective and also practically doable in the K-12 and/or college educational settings (out of the five student-centered teaching approaches introduced in the video folder) and tell me the reason why you think so. 

I really enjoyed discovery learning, in which the students must discover the knowledge on their own. I think that this is the most effective as if an individual learns something on their own, discovering it by themselves, this may last longer as it was a self discovery. I find that when I teach or discover something on my own, this is something I will remember for a long period of time however if someone just tells me something, I am more apt to forget it as it will seem non consequential.

6. Do you have any questions or concerns about course learning? 

Not currently we are almost finished :) 

7.

	Modules	Topics  & Activity	Check ✓ if Completed
Week 4	Week 4-1 *Due by August 8 at 10:59 am	1) Week 4-1 Reading Quiz	✓
		2) Week 4-1 Discussion Forum: one initial response & two peer feedback replies	✓
		3) Week 4-1 Personal Blog Reflection	✓
	Week 4-2 *Due by August 8 at 10:59 am	1) Week 4-2 Reading Quiz	✓
		2) Week 4-2 Discussion Forum: One initial response & two peer feedback replies	IP
		3) Week 4-2 Personal Blog Reflection	IP

8.

Miranda Singer:

Miranda, I really enjoyed your blog post for a variety of reasons. One of the first being that you pointed out many of the positive things that can be part of a teacher centered classroom. I was raised in teacher centered classroom and I enjoyed it for several reasons, including that it taught me discipline, that I had to listen and absorb the material, and to be self reliant. I think these are great traits that can be learned in a teacher centered classroom, that have benefited me to this day. Great post!

Matt Calbo:

 I really enjoyed your post for several reasons. The first being that I completely agree with you that teacher centered learning does have some merits especially dealing with the younger ages (I had my niece and nephew in mind when they were 4 & 6) however that there are merits in student centered learning as children get older such as when they are in middle school or high school.I also believe that discovery learning is a great way for knowledge to be obtained, as if an individual finds out information on their own they may be more apt to keep it in their memory banks. Great post!