Final+Course+Reflections-+Dec+09

1. What outcomes had you envisioned for this course? Did you achieve those outcomes? Did the actual course outcomes align with those that you envisioned?  When I think about my initial thoughts when I was registered into this course, I remember thinking that I was going to learn some new programs that would help me, my students and my co-workers. The course has given me much more than I had anticipated. Even though the focus was not learning to use a specific program, it was about shedding light on appropriate or suggested programs and activities to help achieve various goals. This course pleasantly forced me to make a shift in my thinking, planning and teaching style. I have felt like I was being held hostage by this “old style” way of doing things until I took this course. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I have already started implementing the things I have learned and passed on my new-found knowledge to my co-workers who have used it in their classrooms.   2. To the extent that you achived the outcomes, are they still relevant to the work that you do in your school? Why or why not?  I can not think of one thing that I have read, listened to and learned that would not be beneficial to me, my students, my co-workers and my school. As an educator, I should be focusing on the student, giving them choices and more control over their learning…making it more personalized. We are charged with educating a child and more or less, making him/her a productive citizen in our society. With the outcomes I have gained in this course, I feel more empowered to make that charge come to fruition. We are living in a collaborative world now and the more I can teach them to work together, find information, create new information and share that information, the better suited they will be when it is their turn to run the world. In fact, there are many students right now who are running things because they were given the opportunity to be exposed to this knowledge.   3. What outcomes did you not achieve? What prevented you from achieving them?  I thought, erroneously, that through this course I was just going to learn about some cool programs to use in my classroom. Of course, and thank goodness, I was wrong. From that standpoint, I did not achieve that goal because the course was not about teaching a program. This realm of education is somewhat new to me, so my expectations weren’t as high as they should have been. During the course, I was introduced to some programs and re-introduced to others that I never knew had the functionality they had and I suppose that is in line with my original thought, but it was so much more than a program. The possibilities are endless from the host of “jumping off points” that were presented to me during this course. I am actually glad that the course overexceeded my expectations of outcomes. I have already put what I have learned into action and shared it with others.   4. Were you successful in completing the course assignments? If not, what prevented or discouraged you? <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">My teammates and I were successful in completing the course assignments on time. Some of them were submitted right at midnight, but we got them in. Some of the assignments had really vague instructions and the other members of my group and I ended up having to get a lot of things clarified. We worked well as a team and the collaboration seemed to fall right in place. We each picked up the right piece of the assignment or project that fit us and it just “gelled”. When we had questions, we talked about it, tried to make logical assumptions, we emailed our coach, we got on the conference calls, looked at some extra videos or articles on the web, whatever it took to get some understanding of the assignment. We all had a sense of urgency to get the assignments done correctly and submitted on time. No one wanted to use the available grace period. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">5. What did you learn from this course: about yourself, your technology and leadership skills, and your attitudes? <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">I noted in my wiki reflections that I have had many “aha” moments during this course. I have had a major shift in thinking, planning and teaching. I always wanted to do the project based learning, the collaborative efforts, the 21st century activities, but felt chained to the standardization mandated by the state, the school district and my campus. I also could not figure out how to satisfy my desire to do these things and fulfill my obligations to the district and campus. This course has shown me how to do just that. I am looking at differentiation of teaching and learning for diverse learners in a whole new way. I am looking at assessment in a whole new way. I have literally been born again in the career sense. I am so excited for my students because they are going to reap the benefits of me taking this course. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">