Article Reflection

In reading the article from Katie Martin, I came to the general conclusion that much of

teaching is a process, and to excel you must put it in work to reap the benefits. The tips in the

article were very well organized, and while some may appear easier in my eyes, there are some

things I will have to work on to fully get the swing of things.

While the tips may seem simple to someone from the outside, they provide clear benefits

to the teachers. As listed on the website for Washington University in St. Louis, studying in

groups and assigning roles in the classroom has a few benefits in studies. One of the benefits is

giving students a better sense of responsibility since they are given a role that they must fulfill

within their groups. Another benefit is that the process produces more quality in terms of work

due to talking out ideas with those in their group and working out what would be best for the

given situation. Lastly, due to the communicative nature of group activities, it furthers the

student's communication abilities, which may help them in the future with processes such as

analyzing data or talking during an interview (Washington University, 2020). In building these

connections and assigning them roles in the classroom, you instill a sense of pride in learning

and motivation to create the best work possible.

In my eyes, some of these tips seem relatively simple and easy to follow given my past

experiences and tendencies in observation. One of these tips that I found easy to do is greeting

students at the door. Oftentimes when I was observing in prior education courses, I tried to

properly engage with students whenever it was proper. Whenever I greeted someone or engaged

with them, I always tried to do it compassionately and never in a way in which I was talking

down to the students. When you engage with students and try to build a connection with those in

your classroom, it cannot be done when you view yourself on the higher peg in the classroom.
Instead, you must see eye to eye with the student to see what thoughts or issues they may be

carrying on that day. From there, you can properly assess the situation, the roles in which you

want them to fulfill during the class session, and assisting them if it may prove beneficial. In

performing tasks such as these, you provide a means to connect with students where u wouldn’t

build that connection otherwise. In my mind, this appears simple, but the same may not be true

with all the other tasks.

When it comes to my immediate memory, I have a confession in that I have a hard time

remembering names. Even when I have a visual and mental map of remembering the name, I

sometimes just forget someone’s name out of the blue. I blame this more on my immediate

mental capacity because if given a week I can get the hang of the names of everyone I’ve met

and am close with. As such, just as I must do, we must acknowledge our potential weaknesses

for us to work on them and improve them with time. Once I work on overcoming these potential

setbacks, I can further my advancement in building proper connections with students in my

classroom.

In conclusion, providing pride in learning benefits students in more ways than one, and

while I may have strengths in certain areas, there are certain aspects that I want to improve on

myself. In learning these tasks and implementing them in the classroom setting, we can ensure

that students are taking the most away from their learning and are set when it comes to tasks in

the future.

Source:
Washington University in St. Louis, (2020) Using Roles In Group Work,

https://teachingcenter.wustl.edu/resources/active-learning/group-work-in-class/using-roles-in-

group-work/