Reactions to Day 3 Readings

“Students [tend] to misinterpret early praise as a guarantee of success."

This idea surprised me a bit. My first thought was that early praise would put confidence in the student's ability as a writer and encourage him/her to work hard in their assignments. But according to this author, early criticism fosters an attitude of revision. Criticism right off the bat might also acclimate students to the college atmosphere; not all their first drafts are going to be "A" material. Break 'em in rough, right?

“Anything can be made fun and interesting by simply mixing the old inner child into an otherwise dull lesson plan."

I completely agree. I want to have fun in the class just as much as the students, after all! I think some teachers discount so-called "goofy" pedagogy as just being fun for fun's sake or a grovelling attempt on the part of the teacher to be friends with their students. And I think in some cases, this is true--I remember a teacher I had in eighth grade whose lessons were often simply half-hour long stand-up comedy routines. Sure, the guy was hilarious, and I left class most of the time with my stomach hurting from laughing so hard, but often his monologues served absolutely no purpose other than to entertain. "Goofy" teaching techniques like that ones suggested by Diesenhaus and Leary in IOV can be extremely effective...so long as they serve an educational purpose. And when they do, this is where a teacher stands the possiblity of being a truly innovative pedadgogue.