If-Then Bundles - Discuss some procedural knowledge that you teach. How do you teach it? What are the important IF conditions? Are there some competing IF-THEN bundles that sometime confuse students, and you have to help them discriminate among them?*

Mnemonics - What is your disposition on the usefulness and effectiveness of mnemonics, and what do they contribute to classroom learning? Do you teach any mnemonics to your students? Why or why not? Do you teach students how to construct mnemonics? Do you remember any that you learned when you were a student? How does the use of computers in the classroom affect mnemonics as a learning aid? Finally, contribute some mnemonics that you teach, have learned and/or have heard of.*

Phonics vs. Whole Language and Computers - Do you think the phonics vs. whole language debate in the "learning to read" process, is relevant when thinking about how students read from the computer screen?*

Misconceptions in Teaching - The processes of learning and teaching science often involve analyzing "misconceptions". What are some misconceptions in the content areas (including teaching students about computers) that you teach which must be analyzed in order to provide a more effective instructional plan? How can misconceptions be overcome? Is it easy to do so?*

Needs of Students and Teachers - Describe some productive ways to think about the needs, or goals, that students and teachers have? Under what conditions are these two need systems supportive, and where are they conflicting with each other? Glasser, in Lesson 13, also has some things to say about needs.*

Priming Student Motivation - On pp. 481-2, Mayer lists 3 strategies for motivating students: 1. Create situations that mesh with the interest of the students so that they can see some personal value in learning the material. 2. Create situations in which students can observe their peers succeeding and also experience success themselves, and 3. Create situations in which students can learn that their academic successes and failures depend on their effort rather than solely on their ability. How can the use of computers in the instructional classroom facilitate motivation, as described by Mayer. Select a content area, perhaps one that you teach, and illustrate your responses within that context. *

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Contact information:
Dia Langellier
Wilcox Elementary
1800 Hastings Rd.
Springfield, IL 62702
217/525-3281

This page was last updated on April 25, 2004

The task of the excellent teacher is to stimulate "apparently ordinary" people to unusual effort. The tough problem is not in identifying winners: it is in making winners out of ordinary people. ~K. Patricia Cross