Journal 7 Post

What I really liked from Marsha’s article that I see is an effective way to engage students in the material presented was by allowing them to participate in letting their voices be heard through their intellectual autobiographies as well as generate their own exam questions. I believe that by taking the approach in making it all about the students was effective in that it encouraged students to participate, boost their self-confidence in this particular area and challenged them as students in critical and analytical thinking.

           For instance, I remember my junior year in high school, my teacher made a similar approach in that she asked us something about ourselves, which I liked because it showed that she was putting in the effort in trying to get to know me. In addition, I felt like to her we weren’t just students but young adults. For instance, in class we would hold discussions on the text rather than just jotting down notes and being expected to know and understand the material. And when we did not understand something, she had no problem in breaking the passage down for us and going over it while asking for our opinions on what we thought. I enjoyed being in her class because I felt like I was a part of something and that it was my class, my teacher and I all learning the material together which, encouraged me to be more active in class and feel like I actually got something out of it.