Friday, March 19, 2010

6th CESTL Evaluations by EDI 15A Psychological Perspective of Teaching & Learning

How did I feel about the CESTL? I felt nervous, anxious, honored, excited, acknowledged, and supported. One thing I learned from CESTL is that trust in a student/faculty relationship is most vital in creating an ideal learning environment. I was very prepared for the CESTL conference after working on my research paper and slide show. I worked incredibly hard because I knew I would be presenting in front of a large group of people. I wanted my knowledge on my topic to be supreme. I learned so many new ideas from my classmates and Dr. Forestell yesterday at the CESTL conference. I do not feel like I am the only one with questions about teaching. I feel confident, empowered, and more knowledgeable.

The CESTL learning experience is incredibly rewarding. I hope Dr. Boyanton will continue this conference for her EDI 15A students for many years to come. I will absolutely recommend the CESTL conference to other LIU students. It is a great way to acknowledge oneself and build confidence. I feel very accomplished and proud to have participated. I would have loved to see some of the graduate students also participate. I think students should encourage their past inspiring teachers to attend as well. My advice for future students are: work very diligently and know your material! The questions at the end of your show are challenging and require a student to be very aware of their presentation.

(Hailey Feldman)

I was very excited for the CESTL conference. I was not nervous at all to present my research. I learned that there are many different techniques to use in a classroom if you are experiencing behavior management with your children. I have worked very hard for the CESTL conference. I wanted my powerpoint to look professional and well down, so I worked a lot to make it complete. This course experience helped me a great deal with my confidence of becoming an effective educator in the future. I was able to speak in front of the whole audience and I am now prepared to speak in front of my classroom.

I learned a great amount of information from the CESTL conference. I would recommend this conference to other LIU students. I learned a lot of information by coming to the conference, especially if you are in the field of becoming a teacher. I really enjoyed going to the CESTL conference. Although I was only there for three hours, I learned a great amount of information. The presentation that really struck me as interesting was the girl who did it on teen pregnancies. This was very interesting because she admitted that she was a pregnant teen and was so open about it. I do not think I would have been as open as she was, especially in front of a group of strangers.

I’m glad I worked so hard for this class because it really showed off in my presentation. I am very sad that this semester is ending. I have enjoyed this class very much, especially because of your professor Boyanton. You were a great teacher and a great inspiration for me. I hope to make my classroom just as great as yours is. You are one of the best teachers I have ever experience thus far in college. You really care about your students and want them to strive to their fullest potential. Thank you for making this class so much fun and so enjoyable. I will miss your class a lot next semester.

(Brooke Melzer)

At first when I knew it was getting close to my turn I was nervous. However when I got to the front of the room I was more excited and confident about the presentation. As I started speaking I realized I knew the information and had a great time presenting. One thing that I learned from the conference was always be prepared. There were a couple of people that I felt weren’t necessarily ready for their presentation or just very nervous. If a person is prepared then their nerves will calm and they’ll seem more knowledgeable.

I was very prepared for the conference. I had looked over my slides many times, practiced my presentation. I made sure I knew all of the information, timing, sequence etc. so I was confident and seemed more knowledgeable about my presentation. I didn’t want to look like a fool presenting in front of a group of well educated men and women.

I worked really hard on my presentation this semester, editing my slides and paper. I did this because I am very motivated by getting good grades but also by showing people that I am capable of doing a great project. I worked hard on my research so I’d be able to spread the information I learned to other teachers.

I was very satisfied with my performance. I felt like I knew my information very well, used my time efficiently and sounded very confident. One of the viewers asked me “if I could teach them how to do that” (present) after I had finished.

This course has helped me by boosting my confidence in public speaking as well as helped me learn about misbehavior. I also learned that if I want to do something with my class I should research the topic so I know exactly what it is that I’m talking about. The CESTL conference was really great and I had a lot of fun. I think it was a really unique experience to learn from prospective teachers, present teachers and students. I would definitely recommend CESTL to other education majors I think the conference was a great way to learn more about different teaching topics and experiences. I wouldn’t recommend the conference to other majors simply because it is not something that many other majors would be interested in. Some suggestions I may have about the conference is to give professors more time to have discussion and the high school students less. I only say this because I thought the professors had a lot of information and a lot to say about each subject and questions while the high school students gave the shortest answers they could. A suggestion that I can give students for the future is to not stress the conference. It is a great learning opportunity and a way to practice your professionalism and public speaking. If you do your research correctly you should be prepared for the presentation.

(Laura Powell)

First off, I’m sad to say that this is my last class with Professor Boyanton. She is the best. She may be a hard teacher but she is very sweet and sincere about her students. She encourages and inspires them to become teachers. Her passion for teaching is unbelievable, and I am/was proud to have her as a teacher.

When Professor Boyanton told the class about the CESTL conference, I was a little skeptical because I’m not a big fan of public speaking. However, when I got there all the butterflies I initially had went away because I was surrounded by my peers. The conference was exactly like how Professor Boyanton described it to be, helpful and a learning experience. I was very prepared for the CESTL conference, because my Professor put a lot of pressure on the class to be well organized and professional. So I had to do what was right to make her and myself look good. I worked hard. I put a lot of effort into my work, because had to make my project a reflection of me.

The most interesting part of the CESTL was when the professors’ panel was talking. The advice they gave to us future teachers was very helpful. It was a reality check, for most of us though. They gave us pointers on how to conduct a class when there are children who swear or curse. For instance, Dr. Yen Yen said to make up a word like “hamburger.” This word would deal with the students’ frustrations towards something. Overall, though, this conference was good. Students were able to see the teaching view from two different perspectives; the teachers view and the student view, and shockingly enough the students’ view on how teachers teach was sad because they were always able to give a negative feedback on a teacher before giving the positive. And it showed that teachers seem less enthusiastic about teaching materials and that’s not good. A teacher is always supposed to keep her students engaged, because if she/he doesn’t they become bored and unmotivated.

(Tisje Pediford)

I was extremely prepared for the CESTL conference. I felt that it was necessary for me to be prepared to my fullest potential so that I could perform my best. I worked immensely for the CESTL conference, It was necessary to work this hard to do a great job. At some points it was overwhelming because this is not the only class I need to do work for but once it was finished I felt accomplished. In the end, I was fully satisfied with my performance at the CESTL conference. I am very proud of myself. This experience defiantly helped give me confidence, it shows you when you do not think you can do something, you can as long as you put your mind to it. The CESTL learning experience was helpful to see many different points of views. This is great way to learn. I will absolutely recommend it to all LIU students, the CESTL conference helped me grow as a person, in both knowledge and confidence. My advice for future students is: Do not wait until the last minute, if you have Professor Boyanton follow her lead, when you should do assignments. It is not as overwhelming as it seems.

(Erin Sorger)

I was excited to gain knowledge from the conference from other students and teachers. That all students and teachers have a different outlook at situations, not one is right or wrong. But you have to approach every situation with an open mind and form your own opinions on it after gaining knowledge about it.

I worked very hard. I worked hard to get a good grade and to please myself and my teacher. I am a perfectionist and do everything the best that I can.

The CESTL experience has helped me to open up more in a classroom and participate more. I am more comfortable with public speaking now then I was before. I will need this skill later on in life as an educator. Although I was only able to attend the conference for a limited period of time, I thought that it was a great experience to be a part of. I thought that everyone had something great to say and everyone was very passionate about what they were presenting. Both of the panels that I listened to were very intelligent and answered every question truthfully.

However I do have some critiques on the conference, nothing terrible, just some comments. First off, I noticed that the conference was not advertised much. When I walked into the elevator a girl asked me if I was going to the conference, I said yes. She then explained to me that she had been driving around the campus for an hour looking for where it was being held. When she asked public safety they had no idea where it was and that it was even going on. I also noticed that there were very few signs around campus and that it was not advertised in the paper or online much. I think with more advertisement it would be better attended by both current teachers and students. The one major comment I have on the conference is about the posters. I think it is a great idea to allow students to present their research on a poster instead of a power point presentation. However, with that said, I do not think it is fair that they receive the same grade as someone who presented a power point presentation. A power point presentation contains a lot more information than a poster and requires much more work; it is also more stressful to present to a room full of people than to a few people one on one who stop at your poster. Truthfully, if I had known that doing a poster and presenting it to a few people at a time was an option, I would have chosen to do that. However, after spending four hours creating my power point presentation I was not going to throw that away to do a poster. I do agree that making a poster and presenting it to a few people still takes work and is still stressful, but not the same amount of work required when putting together a power point presentation. I think that posters should still be an option in the future but I think that something else has to be added to that assignment. For example, maybe they have to create a short power point to present in front of the class in addition to showing their poster at the conference. Or maybe they have to present their poster in front of the class, not only to practice, but to show their peers and teacher what they worked on and what they learned.

(Kristen Zimmermann)

I was feeling nervous in the beginning, but felt excited and rewarding. It’s might be kind of hard for me to present in English with others. However, the truth was not hard like I thought before. After I finished I feel really happy and glad for my works. I felt a little bit more confident in myself. I felt great during my presentation. When people came to my poster. At first, I really nervous, and did not present so well. After I repeated again and again, I became less nervous. And when I felt people were interested in my work, I wound like to talk more about it. At that time I felt like a more confident person who was eager to show off her work with others. I have to say that I learned a lot and got many useful experiences in this course. The knowledge with very great experiences with this course give me more confidence and led me more close to a effective educator in the future. I would. Especially the students who major are education. They can benefit a lot in this CESTL. (Luchun Chiu)

I was very nervous about the CESTL Conference, but it went better than I had expected it to. I worked very hard for the conference because I didn’t want to let Professor Dengting or myself down. For some reason I felt like my poster looked like a fifth grader did it, but everyone who came to look at it complimented me on it saying that it was well organized and neat and that the color made it stand out. I was very pleased hearing all the positive feedback. I’m glad it came out the way it did considering I was up late the night before making sure it was correct. Having my classmates near me helped a lot as well especially with being supportive. At the end of the day I was glad that I did a poster and presented at the CESTL.

I think that CESTL is a great way to get your students out there and more involved with their learning. Although I only did a poster presentation not a slide show I still feel that being there and seeing all the other presentations was an awesome experience. To be honest I thought this class was going to be the worst with the amount of work that we had to complete but it wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be which I was very happy about. I think that this course experience helped me with my confidence of becoming an effective educator a lot. I learned so much from my peers and from Professor Dengting that I will definitely use in the future. I am definitely going to miss Professor Dengting and my classmates because I honestly think that they are the reason that the class ended up turning out the way it did. Hearing what everyone else had to say and their opinion made the class into what it was and I couldn’t have asked for a better teacher or class.

(Nicole Okeefe)

I was a little nervous about the conference but I was mostly excited to show off my poster presentation. I learned how many experienced people there are out there in the world who we can utilize if we have questions about anything when it comes to teaching. I was very prepared for the conference because I knew the topic in and out. I was able to explain my project and answer any questions that the people had. I have worked very hard because it takes a lot of time to prepare a poster presentation and have it come out successful and look good. This experience has helped me with my confidence because I realize that I am knowledgeable when it concerns educating others. I also got a lot of good advice from listening to others who are experienced.

I think CESTL was a great experience and I was very happy that I decided to go. I would definitely recommend the conference to other LIU education students because you definitely learn a lot by listening to others as they explain their views. tactics, and experiences.

(Patricia Ury)

I was very nervous before the presentation but once I got there I felt more relaxed because I knew I was well prepared and that it was irrational to feel nervous or fearful. I went around to all the poster-boards and was surprised to see how much information everyone had come up with. Sonias poster was especially great because she talked about students with disabilities and I want to be a Special Education teacher, so hearing about her observations were very beneficial to me. I was very prepared. I made sure to have all the necessary information that I would need for my poster-board. I made handouts that explained all the graphs and charts I had found and also talked about my observations on the handout as well. I didn’t want to look foolish so I made sure I knew everything relevant to my topic.

I worked very hard. I have to say it was stressful at times getting everything together, stressing about questions people were going to ask me, but I think I did a great job and I believe I worked my hardest. I worked very hard. I have to say it was stressful at times getting everything together, stressing about questions people were going to ask me, but I think I did a great job and I believe I worked my hardest. I’m very satisfied. I think I gave 100% with my project. My board looked very professional; it was simple, everything was laminated, and I even made handouts. I was able to explain to the guests about my topic and made it easier for them to understand my points and facts I had come across while researching. It definitely helped me. I feel much more confident in my abilities and know that I am capable of anything and that there is never anything to fear. CESTL was organized great and that there actually wasn’t much to be improved. Everyone did a wonderful job!

(Sara Hijazi)

This past weekend was the sixth conference of Elementary-Secondary Teaching and Learning that we all worked so hard for. The morning of the conference I didn’t know what to expect. I slept fourteen hours the night before and was so ready with excitement but still a little bit nervous to go to the conference.

As I got there around 8:30 am and saw a few of my classmates, I wasn’t so nervous. I think that this conference was prepared very well and the turn-up was great. Everyone in our class presented so well and looked very knowledgeable. Also when it was time to present my poster board, I wasn’t nervous at all and in fact I was pretty confident in the knowledge that I obtained on my research. I was able to answer all question that people were asking me. I had a really great time and I’m defiantly looking forward to attending next year’s conference (only if I’m invited)!…

I know this semester was crazy for me with web ct not working almost all through the whole semester and with the loss of two close relatives, but I wanted to let you know it was a great pleasure having you as a teacher. You always made me smile and though my 2 years at post I’ve never had a teacher like you. I would always look forward to go to your class that’s why I never missed it( only when I had the funerals to go to) but I hope to have you again as a teacher because I know I probably won’t have a teacher ever like you.

(Jennifer Sanmartin)

I thought that once I got to the conference, I was at ease. Whereas before hand I was extremely nervous. I learned a lot about teaching and certain situations that every teacher is going to go through. I thought I was very well prepared with my poster. I knew all the information and once I was standing next to my poster I felt very comfortable. I worked very hard on my poster, it took me long hours and days to get down all the information and pictures and spent a lot of money on my poster board. The CESTL was a great experience that I think maybe Dr. Boyanton should make it mandatory in the future so that all students can benefit from it.

(Calliope Giannopoulos)

I felt extremely prepared for the conference and presenting. I feel that I have worked very hard on my project. It was like my baby and I was very proud of it and I researched it to an extreme. I wanted to make sure everything I said was true and I did not want to look dumb. I researched a lot of things and I actually ended up having too much information. It was hard for me to pick what to include in the conference because I felt that everything was so important and such great information that I did not want to have to cut anything from my slides. By eliminating bulkiness in my slides I was able to go through them easily and share all of my opinions and personal experiences with the audience.

The only challenges I faced were getting rid of a few slides. If there was anything I could change about my presentation I would say it would to be able to add all of my slides and to be able to have an entire class period to talk about my topic. I felt that my topic was very important to every teacher no matter what grade or subject. Without motivation everything else does not matter. I wanted to stress that upon my audience but it was very difficult to make them understand how important it is for teachers to be able to motivate students. I showed way to motivate and de-motivate students which I feel will only help me in the future as an educator because now I know some of the techniques I should and shouldn’t use to help me be the best teacher I can be.

I was very surprised and satisfied with my performance. It gave me more confidence for the next time I have to present, and let me know that I am capable of presenting without being nervous. The CESTL was a great experience. I wish more people and more administration could be there, and that was the only downside in my opinion. I wish there was more administration from other schools and more from our school.

(Morgan Milleisen)

The conference was awesome, I really had a good time. My peers posters were really informative and helpful. I like the topics that were presented. Overall the conference build my confidence. Also I met two special education teacher who help me. I got a chance to ask them question and their experiences. Both of them stated that it is a challenging job but so rewarding as a well. Also they stated that I had good information and they wished me luck. Thank you so much for this opportunity, I am so happy that I went and also did a poster as well. In a way it build my conference and ensure my passion for teaching.

I felt very nervous and exited about the conference. This conference taught me that if work hard for something then it really pays off. This course taught me that I do have a voice and my opinions are valued. I think the conference was a very good learning experience because it builds confidence. I would recommend this to every student, especially education major. I would recommend future presenters to do a lot of research, be prepared and try not to let your nerves get to you.

(Sonia Zaidi)

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