Reflections

Description:

Reflection has an important role to play in learning and self-development. By regularly reflecting on your experiences, those experiences - whether positive or negative - will contribute to your development and personal growth.

Assignment: Skim the suggested readings and online resources to develop an idea of the theoretical concepts behind reflective practice. Then access the Blackboard Discussion area to respond to the following reflective writing prompts. Answer the prompts as a learner in this course. Respond to the prompts of at least three others as an instructor. Remember what you learned in Mod 3 about the "voice" of the online discussion facilitator. be sure to add comments that invite responses that deepen and extend the interaction.

    • Describe any experiences in this course that were personally meaningful.

    • How will you use the experiences in this course to shape your online teaching practices?

    • How does participation in this course help you with your professional goals?

  • What suggestions do you have for improving this course?

Resources:

1. Learning and Teaching: Reflection and Reflective Practice

http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/reflecti.htm

2. Teaching Assistant Reflective Practice

http://www.ehow.com/howzzz-5538226_teaching-assistant-reflective-practiceinformation.html

3. Reflective Practices to Improve Schools

Chapter 2

http://books.google.com and type in the name of the book

and select Search Books

Online Resources:

4. Kolb's Learning Cycle

http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/experience.htm

5. Reflection and Reflective Practice

http://www.medslearning.leeds.ac.uk/pages/documents/resources/reflective_practice.pdf

My Work:

Describe any experiences in this course that were personally meaningful.

This class was my first online class with no face-to-face component, and truthfully I selected it because I thought it would be interesting. Even though I have been taking hybrid online classes, I hadn't thought abut the framework of the online learning environment.

I do have a new appreciation for the online learning platform and its application in K-12. After writing my "scenario" for my own online teaching, I actually think it is very doable. I have read so much about online learning, and now I am noticing articles everywhere outside of my coursework talking about K-12 online learning. Online learning is working its way into mainstream K-12 education, and now I have quite a lot to add to that conversation.

How will you use the experiences in this course to shape your online teaching practices?

If I ever have the opportunity to teach an online learning course, I have this awesome online portfolio to which I will be able to refer. I thought the structure of this course was developed and presented in a logical and well-sequenced manner. It was filled with interesting and meaningful projects with several opportunities for students to work together literally from coast to coast. I would hope any course I developed for online would also have these traits.

How does the participation in this course help you with your professional goals?

Although I am not an online educator, I have learned about so many new applications and methods for collaborating on line that I would like to bring into my classroom and maybe into my school for teacher collaboration.

I think education is finally moving away from the NCLB/"teach to the test" mentality we have experienced in education during the past decade. I have thoroughly enjoyed the student-centered project-based learning that I participated in during this class. If I can bring these strategies into the classroom, it will make school so much more interesting for the kids and for me.

What suggestions do you have for improving this course?

I thought this course was great. I really appreciated that the modules were all available to look at from the beginning of the course. There was structure given to the timeline by requirement dates for assignments and postings. I also appreciated that none of the readings and resources seemed dated, which tells me that the course is reviewed regularly. (It has not been so for "all" of my Lesley courses.) The bottom line is...maintain the status quo!

My Scenario:

Students in my Literature Circle book discussion course will also have the opportunity to reflect upon their experiences with online learning and also reflect upon what they learned during the course. It will be my goal to get them to focus on the "big picture", which can sometimes be difficult for young learners. Can they say that they learned to carry on an effective written conversation? Did they think deeply about the underlying motives and feelings of those they read about? This type of reflection will help them develop and grow as learners.