Though finding the time to connect and working through some Skype issues delayed our first meeting, chatting with my learning partner was turned out to be even more beneficial than I thought. As we were chatting and getting to know each other, I discovered that Valerie and I shared similar teaching philosophies. During our discussion on our teaching styles and issues that we had to face within our respective classrooms, I discovered that even though I am a relatively new instructor and Valerie is a well established instructor, the issues we faced as educators remained the same.
I was encouraged by her professionalism and no-nonsense attitude to use some of the techniques that she and I had discussed in relation to conflict resolution and student motivation. Though my first attempt to motivate my literacy students to read more failed, I kept trying. I discovered that, with my students, asking them to talk about why they were either enjoying the novel they were reading or not in a group discussion was too intimidating for them. With under 10 students in that class, I was fortunate enough to be able to sit down and have a moment to talk one on one with each student, and they started to open up. I believe that it is thanks to these peer discussions and the research we have been doing that I am starting to feel more confidant.
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