A hands on experience

This last class we met on campus as CF was on vacation.  In this class, we learned about cooperative groups and we did it in such a way that I felt was truly useful.  I enjoyed the hands on aspect of cooperative grouping.  This experience will certainly help me as a teacher when I use this technique with my students.  I also felt that the make a square activity that we did could be a good way to introduce the concept of cooperative grouping to my future students.  I think sometimes the application of teaching techniques and strategies is missing from our education classes.  We learn about an idea or method but we do not always experience it.  This activity not only taught us how to do cooperative grouping but it showed us how it feels for the students to do it and showed how it works when done right.  I have struggled a lot in the last year in 406 and 407, I have felt a little overwhelmed and stressed out about my coming practicum and student teaching.  I have not always felt that I was learning something useful for teaching but just learning about useful things.  This last class was my favorite so far and I felt I learned a lot about grouping and classroom management from the class.  It was fun and informative and I wish there could have been more hands on learning like this.  I think I also learned a bit more about how I learn as well from this experience, I have always felt I learned well from lectures and reading but this activity was much more memorable for me as I look back on it then lectures on a similar topic I have had in the past.