Hi Josh! Your post on direct instruction was very informative. I completely agree with you on how direct instruction should only be utilized in times where it best serves the students. For example, if there are safety concerns or something else that needs to be addressed to everyone. My teaching style is very similar to yours in which I only like to use direct instruction within a lesson if I am teaching specific new information. Otherwise, I believe it benefits the students more to practice and apply this new knowledge than for me to continuously provide students with information over and over again. I agree with you that direct instruction only has a limited role within our learning resource. By utilizing videos, activities, and opportunities for reflection, we are enabling our learners to practice and apply knowledge and make it meaningful to themselves. Something to reflect on would be how have you seen direct instruction utilized in a positive way but also negatively and what made them positive or negative?
Hi Sam! I loved your post on cooperative learning. I totally agree with you on how cooperative learning and brain breaks could be intertwined. Whether students are working individually or cooperatively, the need for a break is still very relevant. Students need to be able to take a break during any kind of learning to allow their brains to recharge and get ready to continue the task at hand. I love your point about how cooperative learning benefits students in a variety of ways. Students are not only learning or applying new information, they are helping guide others and enhance each other’s learning. If our interactive learning resource was intended for group learning, I think that the principles that go along with cooperative learning would be great to consider. Something to reflect on would be how you have utilized or plan to utilize cooperative learning in your past or future classrooms?