Up is ok until there is someone practising holds in the overhead or doing an over head join.
The best plan is different for each airport and can be dependent on the local rules and traffic situation.
And discussion stimulates thought, which then leads to learning and experence which can be related back to real life.
So crash one your two penny's worth has equal weight as mine or any other pilot. Sometimes instructors focus on items and presume all students will get the other items. PPrune has changed the way I instruct and that is as much from the feed back of students as it is of the advice of fellow instructors.