Dear friends,
We will be meeting this week, March
31st, to finish West Meets East: Classroom Organization,
Management, and Discipline; and Lessons Learned. Though we're not teaching at
the K-12 level, I found this book to be quite interesting. Knowing a bit about
where our students are coming from helps me understand how we might better
adapt our teaching to fit their needs.
Some of the challenges of the
classrooms are:
- class size
- classroom arrangement
- limited class time
- extra space
I was inspired by the
fact that many of the teachers described these challenges as opportunities to
create highly focused lessons (p. 120).
Q: What from
this week's reading inspired you?
In Chapter 5, Grant et.
al share "lessons from the West" and "lessons from the
East."
Q: Were you shocked by any of the lessons?
I found it most
interesting that the Chinese teachers were ok with some students not
understanding them. In that situation, students relied upon their peers to help
them decode the information (p. 129).
Q: On pages
132-133, Grant et. al presented the idea of the student watch cards. Have you ever
incorporated this into a university classroom? Would you do so? Why? Why not?
My favorite part of
chapter 5 is Figure 5.4: Classroom Management Versus Relationship Building.
This is such an important distinction I have discovered in teaching (and in
parenting). On page 145, Grant et. al note"
“Building a caring, respectful relationship full of trust allows students to feel comfortable taking risks and pushing beyond their comfort zones to achieve more than they might have thought possible.”
Lessons Learned
I found the comparisons of Cultural Dimensions on page 152 most interesting. I'm saddened by the U.S.'s low measure in long-term orientation (LTO). This is something I feel often in the U.S.I was intrigued by collaborative lesson planning Chinese teachers use. I would like to see us do this more frequently in the U.S.
Q: What was the biggest lesson you learned by reading this book?
Q: Which lesson seems the most important takeaway from this book?
Q: What surprised you most in reading this book?
Closing with a Metaphor and Reflection
Let's each close with a metaphor as Grant et. al did in Chapter 6. Choose a metaphor that describes how you think about teaching.
Q: How would you complete the following sentence? Teaching is __________.
As we move on to read Bill Condon's Faculty Development and Student Learning I think it's a good time to reflect upon the ways West Meets East has changed us and/or how our experiences studying, teaching, or working abroad have changed us.
Q: How have you changed as a result of studying, teaching, or working abroad? What lesson will you always carry with you from this experience?
Next Meeting
Our next meeting will be held in two weeks. We'll meet on April 14th to discuss the introduction and first chapter of Bill Condon's Faculty Development and Student Learning, then again on April 21st. Condon's reading is denser than Grant et. al.
