Hidden Dynamics For every thought we express during a conversation, there are probably several others that never emerge: ideas that are off-topic (or off-color), discourteous or otherwise inappropriate. And often what we do say is not really what we mean. For personal, cultural or other reasons, many of us are reluctant (or unable) to express…
This time I didn’t fill out voluminous stuff for the first page of questions. I just checked some pretty negative boxes, and answered only these three questions: What was the strongest aspect of this course? I think Mike is a tremendously talented and knowledgeable professor, whose is humor was a delight. I thought he did…
This is all from: Dörnyei, Zoltán and Murphey, Tim (2008). Group Dynamics in the Language Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Four main functions of “closure”: Help students realize and summarize what they’ve achieved during the course Provide emotional finality Help students think about what’s next (plan of action) Evaluate teacher’s work The authors quote Tim…
Hidden Dynamics For every thought we express during a conversation, there are probably several others that never emerge: ideas that are off-topic (or off-color), discourteous or otherwise inappropriate. And often what we do say is not really what we mean. For personal, cultural or other reasons, many of us are reluctant (or unable) to express…
DIE Describe (what is it) Interpret (what does it mean) Evaluate (what do you think of it) In cooperative learning situations there is a positive interdependence among students’ goal attainments; students perceive that they can reach their learning goals if and only if the other students in the learning group also reach their goals. No…
Dear Mike, Here is my… Group Dynamics Final Paper Progress Report Theme Since talking to you last week, I’ve refined my theme from the “one in every group” idea to Invisible Dynamics: what goes on beneath the surface that never gets expressed (unless you’re in some kind of encounter group, like doing blindfolded naked finger-painting).…
Remember a teacher who was a good leader. What features made her effective? Scrolling back through the years, I find that Miss Richardson stands out as a strong leader. She was a PE teacher. I hated PE, but she made it a little less painful. I’ve had a handful of good teachers over the years,…
I don’t recall Elka having ever stated the fundamental rules of courtesy that we kept using during our colloquia in orientation, unless she referenced them once on the first day, in passing. I may have grown immune to hearing it by then. The Recorder When we arrived in class we found that Elka had laid…
This is in reference to our Explore the Environment exercise last week. It is drawn from all the groups’ feedback. Helped Cooperation Motivation; shared goal Mutual respect Positive attitude Flexibility Building friendships Tolerance for ambiguity Awareness of task Make task manageable: triage Movement Diversity of perspectives Empathy Taking turns: allowing each person a voice [polychronic/monochronic:…
From all the groups in which I’ve participated during orientation, what have I learned about the way groups form in the beginning? From a somewhat objective perspective I see that certain people appear as more willing to talk and to lead, and others to assume a quieter, follower role. Over a day or two I…
