EDCI 5065 Week 1 - Theory 2 Practice essay

There are many ways to educate.  There has to be because each person will learn best acording to their unique scaffold.  I am still at the sponge mode of pre-service teaching.  I have learned some new words that are critical to thinking like a teacher.  Today I experienced a class that encorporated a variety of the learning styles: aural, social, language, visual, verbal etc.  Today was the first time I have experienced a successful group project in academia.  It was a wonderful experience.

I think several specifics made this activity successful and different from the failed attempts I've experienced previously:

• personal choice in team membership
• criteria of diversity for each team
• no established leader, just cooperative involvement by all team members
• a task that was group-think oriented and benefited from diversity.

We all did our homework, so personal motivation to succeed is a factor in our being prepared to share.  I also noticed that throughout the day we were encouraged to learn from each other instead of the teacher. This increased cohesion in the group