Blog about your own goals relative to the goals of the program.
I want to help make this world a better place for everyone. I know it sounds cheesy. But I believe that if we do not strive to improve, we will stagnate or, worse, fall behind. It used to be education that promised to lift anyone out of poverty. I wanted to give back for what I was privileged to get. I wanted to learn how to be the best teacher I could be.
What hopes/thoughts do you have on how fellow cohort members can support you with completing your capstone and how you can support them?
I am thankful for the support my cohorts have given me. Sometimes I get stuck and overwhelmed, and I have trouble asking for help. I try to help my classmates by listening and trying to help them when they ask.
How will you work to support positive cohesion among your cohort?
I will follow the model we have built to support one another as critical friends. Everyone has been very helpful when anyone in our cohort needs some positive affirmation or encouragement. Positive cohesion is a by-product of the work we are producing.
What is important to you in terms of group norms?
That we continue to respect one another’s time and effort.
On the EDUC 792 page of your Weebly site, make notes about your thinking and driving question for your capstone website.
Is your driving question the same thing that you wrote about in your capstone paper?
I am still interested in looking for opportunities to internalize learning and using what I have learned in my classroom. I want to be the best teacher I can be. My driving question led me to be interested in the structure of PD. Is there a backward design? Is there a plan for the flow of information? Are there opportunities for teachers’ voice and choice? Is the PD expected to be integrated into an overarching theme? Throughout this pandemic, it is obvious that we need to analyze the flow of information to determine the impact on student learning and teacher efficacy.
Or has your focus changed?
My focus has changed slightly because I saw that the pandemic had the power to transform education in fundamental ways. We have all worked very hard to learn how to teach remotely. Then I remembered that the tendency to return to old ways, where we were before, we were thrown out of our comfort zone, is powerful. I read that most people who had lost a home to fire chose to rebuild their home EXACTLY like it was--complete with the avocado-colored appliances (which were very hard to find as they have been out of style since the 1960s). So will this pandemic be a blip that we try to forget as soon as we can? Before you answer, I want you to know that we have been using distance learning for many years. Hurricane Katrina saw the biggest rollout of distance learning in this country before the pandemic. Natural disasters and wars have been the main drivers of distance learning. Simultaneously, there seems to be little analysis of what works and what could be improved upon in distance education. This has left me to question why we were inventing the distance learning model from scratch in the first place. We have learned a great deal, and I don’t want to forget when the pandemic is over.
What is your statement of inquiry?
How will we keep what we have learned during the pandemic to improve our teaching when we return to the in-person classroom full time? What have we learned? Do we have evidence of success? Or do you write the whole thing off as a failure? What can we do when this happens again?
Who is your audience?
My audience is teachers that need to get a better work-life balance while teaching effectively and supporting their colleagues at the same time. Meetings (PLC, COP, staff, leadership) need to be targeted and layered to yield the most impactful learning. This is where people’s time needs to be respected, and the amount of time spent on PD needs to be worth it.
Don’t forget to tag the blog 792.
NOTE: This semester you are expected to write one blog a week, 6 total. Weeks 1, 2, 3 & 5, 6, 7.
Please comment on two other people’s blogs.
I want to help make this world a better place for everyone. I know it sounds cheesy. But I believe that if we do not strive to improve, we will stagnate or, worse, fall behind. It used to be education that promised to lift anyone out of poverty. I wanted to give back for what I was privileged to get. I wanted to learn how to be the best teacher I could be.
What hopes/thoughts do you have on how fellow cohort members can support you with completing your capstone and how you can support them?
I am thankful for the support my cohorts have given me. Sometimes I get stuck and overwhelmed, and I have trouble asking for help. I try to help my classmates by listening and trying to help them when they ask.
How will you work to support positive cohesion among your cohort?
I will follow the model we have built to support one another as critical friends. Everyone has been very helpful when anyone in our cohort needs some positive affirmation or encouragement. Positive cohesion is a by-product of the work we are producing.
What is important to you in terms of group norms?
That we continue to respect one another’s time and effort.
On the EDUC 792 page of your Weebly site, make notes about your thinking and driving question for your capstone website.
Is your driving question the same thing that you wrote about in your capstone paper?
I am still interested in looking for opportunities to internalize learning and using what I have learned in my classroom. I want to be the best teacher I can be. My driving question led me to be interested in the structure of PD. Is there a backward design? Is there a plan for the flow of information? Are there opportunities for teachers’ voice and choice? Is the PD expected to be integrated into an overarching theme? Throughout this pandemic, it is obvious that we need to analyze the flow of information to determine the impact on student learning and teacher efficacy.
Or has your focus changed?
My focus has changed slightly because I saw that the pandemic had the power to transform education in fundamental ways. We have all worked very hard to learn how to teach remotely. Then I remembered that the tendency to return to old ways, where we were before, we were thrown out of our comfort zone, is powerful. I read that most people who had lost a home to fire chose to rebuild their home EXACTLY like it was--complete with the avocado-colored appliances (which were very hard to find as they have been out of style since the 1960s). So will this pandemic be a blip that we try to forget as soon as we can? Before you answer, I want you to know that we have been using distance learning for many years. Hurricane Katrina saw the biggest rollout of distance learning in this country before the pandemic. Natural disasters and wars have been the main drivers of distance learning. Simultaneously, there seems to be little analysis of what works and what could be improved upon in distance education. This has left me to question why we were inventing the distance learning model from scratch in the first place. We have learned a great deal, and I don’t want to forget when the pandemic is over.
What is your statement of inquiry?
How will we keep what we have learned during the pandemic to improve our teaching when we return to the in-person classroom full time? What have we learned? Do we have evidence of success? Or do you write the whole thing off as a failure? What can we do when this happens again?
Who is your audience?
My audience is teachers that need to get a better work-life balance while teaching effectively and supporting their colleagues at the same time. Meetings (PLC, COP, staff, leadership) need to be targeted and layered to yield the most impactful learning. This is where people’s time needs to be respected, and the amount of time spent on PD needs to be worth it.
Don’t forget to tag the blog 792.
NOTE: This semester you are expected to write one blog a week, 6 total. Weeks 1, 2, 3 & 5, 6, 7.
Please comment on two other people’s blogs.