Classroom Resources - Mini-Lectures
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Introduction to iFALCON Mini-Lectures
L1: Tell Your Story -- Introduce the habits of mind to your students by sharing your personal experience with them. Tell them how you struggled with these as a studentand eventually came to understand and apply them. Suggested outline:
- This semester we will be spending some time talking about habits of mind.
- Habits of mind are the skills and practices that you need to develop if you hope to experience success in college and your professional career.
- Share your personal story related to habits of mind.
- We (the faculty and staff of Cerritos College) want you to be aware of these skill because we want you to be successful.
- Review the six habits of mind (see summary of habits).
- Let students know that at various times throughout the semester, you will be talking about these habits in greater detail.
L2: Show Video and Website -- Show students the introduction video (2-3 minutes) and walk them through the program website (www.cerritos.edu/ifalcon). Conclude by letting your students know that at various times throughout the semester, you will be talking about each of these habits in greater detail.
L3: Tie the Habits of Mind to Your Course -- Go through each of the six habits of mind (see summary of habits). Talk about how each habit relates specifically to your course. Conclude by letting your students know that at various times throughout the semester, you will be talking about each of these habits in greater detail.
L4: Modify an Existing Assignment to Demonstrate the 6 Habits of Mind
When we faculty instruct students on how to complete an assignment effectively, we're talking iFALCON--even if we don't always the language tied to the campaign. One way to integrate the iFALCON campaign into your course is to revise an existing assignment (or create a new one) to integrate the language of the 6 habits of mind, helping students recognize how practicing iFALCON is really about being successful in your course. Below is an example of an assignment created by Steve Clifford for his 200-level English survey courses. Feel free to use it as a template for ways to modify one of your assignments. As we gather other examples from Cerritos faculty, we'll share those with you, as well--and be sure to share your examples with us at firstname.lastname@example.org!
L1:Review the mini-lecture, "Focus: Studying, Memory, and Success."
L2: Review the mini-lecture, "Recognizing Procrastination."
L3 Watch the student video on Focus in class. After each student clip, pause the video and discuss the technique or idea presented by the student.
L4 Watch the student video on Procrastination.
L5 Review the College resources available to students. Discuss the resources that are particularly relevant to your course. Explain where the resources are located and what students need to do to take advantage of the resource.
L1Help students understand the levels of successful learning with our straightforward lesson on advancing through Bloom's Taxonomy.
L2 Watch the Advance Advance student video. Have students identify the traits or techniques students use to advance in their goals.
L3 Review the Advance Advance college resources. Have students identify which of these resources can best help them improve their skills and reach the upper levels of Bloom's Taxonomy.
Help students link up with the college community in a mini-lesson on independence and the benefits of interdependence.
Watch the Link Up student video. Have students identify benefits of making connections and seeking assistance in the college community.
Review the Link Up resources. Have students identify which of these can best help them develop skills relevant to your class, to their major, to their academic goals.
Review Daisy's story as she has been given an essay assignment and breaks it down into steps to better comprehend it.
Review the Study Skills for College Success guidelines.
Watch the Comprehend student video. What steps and strategies do successful Cerritos College students take to better comprehend their class material and assignments?
Review the Comprehend college resources. Have students identify which of these will best help them advance their comprehension of class material and assignments.
Consider the problems of multi-tasking and how students can benefit from creating a daily schedule to organize their classes, study time, and work obligations.
Watch the Organize Student Video. Have students compare their own organizing strategies--or lack of them--to the ideas they hear in the video.
Review the Organize College Resources. Which resources can help you best organize your time?
NEW IDEAS Mini-Lectures
New ideas may sometimes cause us to feel threatened, since they may cause us to reevaluate old, comfortable ways of thinking that may suddenly seem incomplete or even wrong. Consider the experience of three fictional students and the need for creating a "safe" environment for exploring new ways of thinking.
In "The Idea of a University," John Henry Cardinal Newman claims there is a difference between "instruction" and "education." Think about Newman's reflections on education and how your goals might benefit from them.
Watch the New Ideas Student Video. Have students consider the ways they discover new ideas in both their major and general education classes, and how it might affect their education and their lives.
Review the NewIdeas College Resources that will best help students discover and develop new ways of thinking, new skills, and new knowledge.