Critical Reflection 5

Lauren Glasser
30049003

This week I had an interesting experience, Professor Bene asked me to work 1 on 1 with
one the students on her critical reflection. English is not this student’s first language, so Dr. Bene
was struggling to understand her ideas and wanted to give her an opportunity to rewrite her
assignment. I am not an English major or ESL teacher, so this was a large challenge for me. In
class, it was clear this student was very intelligent and understood the material she just struggled
to present her ideas clearly. She had previously, spent time at the student success center and had
worked with a tutor in high school to improve her English competency. I tried to give her tips,
such as, having friends review and suggest edits for papers before handing them in or having
people at the student success center edit her papers, as well as using online resources. Then
together we worked on rewriting the first paragraph of her reflection, so that she could resubmit
her assignment.
This semester we have focused a lot on student directed learning but when helping this
student who didn’t understand proper English grammar, I struggled to not step in and takeover. I
tried to remember Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development ZPD and Scaffolding where he
states is, “learning that happens when students have instructional support and are taught to do
something just out of their grasp and with practice, they can eventually do it on their own”
(Lake, 2012, p. 11). Using this technique along with the evaluation questioning technique in the
Classroom Activities for Learning (2009), I began asking her each individual question, she
would write a response and together we would edit it. It was a slow process but after explaining
some basic grammar rules such as past tense, I saw her begin to attempt to use them as we
continued writing, and even when she used it in the wrong context, we were then able to discuss
it so that she understood.
This was a very successful teaching moment for me because sometimes I struggle to see
how the readings can fully translate into my practicum. Scaffolding was a great technique to
ensure that deeper learning occurred for this student. Creating a solid writing base for her is so
crucial as it extends to her future learning and success in school. I spoke to Rose yesterday about
this students assignment and she had asked me what I had done with this student because her
resubmission took her from a C- on the original assignment to an A-, which was very rewarding
for me!
Using this technique when teaching students I think is the best way to ensure deeper
learning occurs, whether it is student to student or student to instructor learning, the best learning
seems to occur through interactive group/ one on one learning. Overall, I believe that my main
goal moving forward is going to be to use the above techniques to essentially slow down the
students projects. Everyone is so giddy to propose a solution, which is awesome to see but I have
found that by inquiring deeper on things such as costs, possible downfalls and practicality, that
students haven’t thoroughly researched all areas of their issue and solution yet. So, moving
forward this semester I will work on really breaking down questions and being as specific as
possible. Taking things step by step should force students to look and think deeper. By having
groups break their proposals down into small pieces it should force them to consider all the pros
and cons of their idea, which will allow them to propose the best thorough solution possible to
their problem. Teaching these students to be very specific and intentional should also create what
Groff (2012) calls, “horizontal connections” that extend this learning to other aspects of their life
and school. The creation of these horizontal connections will allow for deeper learning and
understanding and will help them to be more successful in their future learning. Using
Vygotsky’s scaffolding technique and the evaluative questioning technique I will push kids to
the edge of their learning by asking complex questions that will force them to work together and
strengthen their proposals, with good research. I will know these techniques are working when
they present their proposals and I can see the deep methodical thinking and research that went
into their pitches, as well as the thorough solution they propose at the end.

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 References

Center for Faculty Excellence, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (2009).

Classroom Activities for Active Learning. For Your Consideration…, November 2009.

Groff, J. (2012). The nature of learning: Using research to inspire practice - for the Practitioner

Guide., 1–12. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/edu/ceri/50300814.pdf

Lake, R. (2012). Vygotsky on education primer (Peter Lang primer). New York: Peter Lang.

Chapter 2, 37-70.