1- Activity 12: Problem solving

Problem solving is at the heart of teaching. Teachers sometimes are often so fluent in solving problems that they may find it really difficult to articulate the problem solving principles and strategies they use to students. In order to teach students problem solving skills, a teacher should be aware of principles and strategies of good problem solving in his or her discipline. Teachers should also:

•    Communicate proper information to students so they can identify specific problems,  difficulties, or confusions 
•      Encourage independence by modeling the problem solving process to show students the     process and not the answers
•       Be sensitive by providing positive reinforcement 
•       Encourage Thoroughness and Patience  

      Once our students are provided with the skills to solve problems from an early age, they would be better able to handle problems they encounter later in life.

1-Activity 11: Encouraging Learners to ask questions

Students should be encouraged by teachers to ask questions.  It is through questioning that they may be able to improve their knowledge and the way they interact with others.
Asking questioning can help students to improve their power of thinking, it is one of the best ways to overcome shyness within the classroom and questions raised by some students can make students more active and attentive in the class.

As teachers we sometimes fail to admit to our students that we do not know the answers to the questions they may ask during lessons. We need to devise strategies and tactics that will address this issue. We must allow them enough time and we should also teach them to be tolerant towards others questions that they may ask.

1-Activity 10- Promoting Discussion

Discussions must be meaningful and properly organised by the teacher or groups of students in order for them to be effective. It is important to think about what kinds of questions to ask, of whom and at what point in the discussion.  We must allow our students to feel comfortable and at ease when they are sharing ideas and we must not rush them off into finishing their view point but allow them the necessary time to do so. We must most importantly, learn the names of our students so that we can help to motivate them. Four characteristics of good discussions are 1. they are prepared in advance 2. are purposefully led, 3. are assessed, and 4. lead to more discussions.

Please read the following quote by C. Roland (“Chris”) Christensen, who pioneered teaching by the case method and taught at the Harvard Business School for 50 years: "Effective preparation for discussion classes takes more time, because instructors must consider not only what they will teach, but also who and how. And the classroom encounter consumes a great deal of energy; simultaneous attention to process (the flow of activities that make up a discussion) and content (the material discussed) requires emotional as well as intellectual engagement. . . . The discussion teacher is planner, host, moderator, devil’s advocate, fellow-student, and judge-a potentially confusing set of roles. Even the most seasoned group leader must be content with uncertainty, because discussion teaching is the art of managing spontaneity."

4-Activity 5- Self Activity

This activity has broadened my outlook on assessment tools. It made me realised that we just do not select assessment tools for name sake but we should have a criteria from which we should carefully select these assessment tools so as to ensure that they measure exactly what we intend for them to measure and that students fully understand them.Our students should also be given the opportunity to use some of the assessment tools to assess themselves and their peers.

1-Activity 9: What questions do I ask and why?

Asking good questions involves more than merely asking students to recall information from specific content. We must develop questions to suit our lesson objectives. These questions may be narrow or convergent (factual recall of information) or broad or divergent (stimulate thinking). My colleagues have provided some very good questions that they asked and the reasons were quite varied. As teachers we must practice and modify questioning behaviours in order to improve student learning and the social- emotional climate of the classroom. The different taxonomies posited by Bloom should also be taken into consideration when questioning students.

4 Activity 1- Reflecting on your assessment practice

The reviewing of one's assessment practice should be an ongoing effort for all educators. A summary of the results of the both questionnaires was very informative and has caused me to be more reflective in everything I do as an educator. It is very evident that for us to be fair as educators, the entire education process; planning, delivery, and assessment must be a correlated undertaking. If we are going to be effective in executing our duties, the whole idea of individual differences of our learners and strategically catering for them in every way must be our modus operandi, thus equal attention must be paid to our assessment practices.
Based on the results of the Teacher's and students' questionnaires, it is evident that I need to work on my assessment strategies and practices so that I can better cater to the needs of all my students. It is my intention to gain as much knowledge from this module as possible so that I can better assess myself and my students.

4- Activity 5- How we assess- Assessment tools

Based on the readings and from observing the different observational tools, it is evident that not all of the assessment tools that we use are suitable for providing us with the necessary information that we seek. in order to evaluate our students and ourselves accurately. We are therefore encouraged to have clear assessment criteria and standards and develop tools that adhere to assessment tool criteria and then we would obtain results that will inform teaching, learning and assessment .