Running Head: Class Session Response #2 1

Class Session Response #2

Richard Gist
Ivy Tech Community College
Class Session Response #2 2

In class on January 27th I found that Professor Wylie’s style of teaching is very thought

provoking. The activity of using the cube to exercise our process of thinking “outside the box”

made me think and think. Even today, three days after class I am still thinking on using my entire

brain to examine the big idea. Instantly when I walked in the room and read on the board “Rule

1: DO NOT TOUCH THE CUBE” I knew class would be a good one.

I have quite a bit of experience in a classroom and working with youth. So, while our

class worked on our murder mystery, I kept a keen eye on Professor Wylie. What I found most

interesting was Professor Wylie’s reactions to how our class, which started as four small groups

then morphed into one large group working together, was working together to solve the mystery.

She let us have a lot of freedom in our investigation while at the same time helping us to think

about what we were coming up with. Her ability to direct us, with questions, towards our goal

without giving us the answers we were looking for was refreshing. In classes that I help with in

schools most teachers get impatient and eventually just give the students the answers. This does

not allow the students to “learn” but rather gives them something to “memorize.” Just as our

book talks about, Professor Wylie was helping us make connections with the big idea of the

class. Also, Professor Wylie was allowing us to give incorrect answers, but instead of telling us

we were wrong she would give us questions so we could then question the answer we’d given

her. This led us to be more confident in speaking aloud while not being afraid of being wrong.