Effective Practices in Education

By trial and error, informal and formal action research studies, professional development and reading, a reflective teacher gradually develops a toolbox of pedagogical strategies that ‘work,’ that is, they help students achieve the desired learning objectives.  It is extremely validating to learn through recent brain studies why these techniques are effective.

As a teacher for many years I have constantly tried to learn more effective methods of reaching each student.  This search generated numerous Action Research projects.  The practices described in this section that I have introduced to the CELCIS Department at WMU have appeared to improving the on-task behavior and learning of our international students.  (See Evaluations by the Director)

I encourage you to check out the Color Vowel Chart method of helping international students improve their understanding and pronunciation of English.

Many of our students tend to be very relaxed about arriving for class on time.  My simple method of getting them in their seats and ready to learn on time is in the Encouraging On-Time Behavior section.

Whole Brain Teaching has a wide following and its own website http://www.wholebrainteaching.com/ with explanatory videos and materials that are free for educators.

Another technique in this section that I introduced was Flipping.  In a flipped classroom the usual arrangement of classroom instruction and homework practice is reversed.  You can find my brief explanation on the Flipping Grammar section and more information on websites such as this:  http://www.knewton.com/flipped-classroom-2/