Excercise 2 - Student-Centered Instructional Activities

Exercise 2:

F = Familiar
E = Effective Used by a Teacher
L = As a student, the activity was enjoyed (liked)

F,E,L: Brainstorming
- Buzz Sessions
F,E: Case Study
F,E,L: Committee
F: Cooperative Learning
F,E,L: Debate
F: Discovery
F,E,L: Discussion, whole-class
F,E,L: Field Trip
- Fish Bowl
- Forum
- Inquiry
- Jury Trial
- Learning Activity Center
F,E,L: Panel Discussion
F: Project or Independent Study
F: Role-Playing
F,E: Roundtable Discussion
F,E,L: Simulation
- Sociodrama
F,E,L Symposium

Some of my most memorable Student-Centered Instructional Activities are as follows:

Debate: In my high school law and public speaking class, each student had to randomly draw a topic and a position (in favor or against) then debate another student (the one with the opposite position) in front of the class. The class would then vote on the winner of the debate was by whether or not their original opinion had been swayed. This was memorable for me because it took me out of my comfort zone. I did not agree with the position on the topic that I received, but I had to research it and then make valid arguments to convey my position. This was very challenging, but ultimately I learned infinitely more about the topic then what I had known about it when I formulated my original opinion. Additionally, because it was generally peer reviewed, the critique was far different then what might (and ultimately did) come from the teachers of the course.

A second Student-Centered Instructional Activity that I have fond memories of are whole-class discussions. In a ACP Literature Course, the class read Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky. A challenging read, but it actually is one of my favorite books. But, ultimately, I remember far more about the class discussion afterward then I actually remember of the book. The class would get into feverish debates over what the perfect crime was, the human mind and its conscience, and generally what Dostoyevsky was trying to accomplish in writing this novel.

I think many of my fondest memories from classroom activities are group centered and discussion based.