I am extremely grateful to work in the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). My favorite part of the job is getting to work with the students and faculty, especially in my courses and the learning communities. Personally I LOVE to learn, especially in social settings. One of my favorite experiences during my workweek is the Faculty Learning Community (FLC). This community is a weekly meeting that is hosted, guided, facilitated, and led by the CTL’s director and education guru, Libby Scheiern.
In these meetings, Libby will model best teaching practices and often encourage us (the faculty) to be reflective and help us overtly draw conclusions. By allowing us to verbalize these connections, she is helping us realize that our students also need the opportunity to connect the activity or what they’re learning with the outcomes or purpose of the course.
Yesterday I was co-teaching the Student Learning Community, and Libby asked the question, “Why are we doing this?” to the students. In my mind, I already knew that and was about to share, but then I realized that I needed to know what the students understood or gleaned from the activity. So I directed the question to the students. I was blown away by their responses. In fact, they got more out of the activity than I thought or assumed they would.
So as you’re working with your students and planning your lessons, I want you to think WWLD, which is What Would Libby Do? How would she help direct the students to make the connections or encourage the students to dig deeper with the material being presented? I know in the future I will build a WWLD factor into my lessons to encourage me to use the tips and tricks I learn from Libby (and my peers) each week during our FLC.