Looking back to how I felt or what I expected at this time last year I have a couple of takeaways.
Having not been in school (as a learner) for 7 years, the thought about starting a Master's program made me uneasy. I was excited but incredibly nervous. All these self-doubts floated in my head. Could I still write at a high academic level? Could I manage my time appropriately to get the most out of the courses? Was the content presented in class going to motivate me to improve my classroom instruction? What I found in the Innovative learning program was a supportive environment, one that wanted each of us to succeed. Through the cohort model, we were able to quench each other's self-doubts while growing our educational tool-kit. The cohort model worked so well for this type of distant-synchronous programing. I would not have wanted it any other way. I am leaving this program with strong connections and insights into various people's practices which ultimately will help create change in my own practice. Each one of us in the cohort is an individual. We all have our own lives that come with their own set of struggles and strengths. Talking with a coupe of members of our cohort last week and listening to how they manage their time to work on their website and video, while caring for young and teenage children is beyond my frame of reference. This dedication is why we are all here. We want more from ourselves and our educational journey and seeing the products created throughout this year is motivating. Hopefully, these connections we made will not just end with the finish of the program and that we can at times rely on each other for ideas, feedback or just a person to vent to. Well done Touro for creating an inclusive, supportive program that allowed us to reach beyond our comfort zones!
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I never have given much thought to video production. Yes, I like movies and slightly pay attention to the videography that goes into a video project but now, completing our 5th video for the program I have a new found respect for those that can make their videos look amazing. Viewing several of the sample videos that were excellently crafted makes me want to do better. I wish I had more video editing skills and a more skilled eye within composition of film. Even though I understand that there is a balance between meeting the assignment requirements, creating a good product and using the time that we are given, I still want a bit more from my video. I think that's normal, right?
So for now, being able to string together various tools we have used throughout the program such as Screencasts and Adobe Spark, has but the ideas of the video into action. I have also really enjoyed using Photobooth that is built in on a Mac for recording myself, to have interview like clips within my video. This tool adds a more personal feel and recording in short intervals allows the videos to be uploaded to spark (which has a 30 second limit per slide). I cannot wait to see everyones video on the 18th! Growing up my mom always told me to lead by example. After reading through the Touro values, there are a couple that I find myself gravitating towards. The first being, Intellectual inquiry, discovery, and passion for life-long learning. As educators we are charged with the task of promoting learning, curiosity, discovery and critical thinking. If we are unable to to do these things ourselves, what message does that send to our students? The expensive piece of paper that hangs on my classroom wall (Bachelors degree) is not a finish line but merely an accomplishment. The soon to be paper from Touro, with the Master's of Education imprinted on it, is an artifact from a journey and should not be considered a stopping place. Learning is on-going and the more students see that what they are doing is part of a lifelong journey of collecting, connecting and synthesizing knowledge, the more the process of education becomes less about a separate institution and more about an ingrained part of being human.
The second value that shouts to me is student-centered education. Often times I think back to my first couple of years in the classroom in which I felt that I had to be the source of knowledge, the classroom oracle. As my journey has progressed, I have been more intentional about creating an experience that is not about me and what I know, but about how students access and apply the information. This connected with much of what Ken Robinson writes and speaks about, curiosity. Curiosity is ingrained in each one of us and as educators we have the power to foster that curiosity or squash it down. What I will bring into my classroom is providing students the chance to investigate, discuss and make mistakes. This program is so applicable to this facet of classroom ideology by giving us the tools to put the learning back in the students' hands through lessons that incorporate creation and independent thinking. Hyperdocs and other digital tools help to expand this but by no means are meant to be stand alone items. Much like a recent email from ISTE stated in the heading, Discover how to lead with learning, not tech. The end is near. I can smell it (or hear it, or see it?). Just the final bits and pieces to wrap up including the poster, hook video and some tweaks to the capstone site.
While the executive summary seemed more painful than expected when it was originally assigned, it was incredibly useful to dig back into the action research paper. Having been 7 months since I shoveled the research paper away in a long-forgotten EDUC790 Google Drive folder, deciphering the main points seemed so distant from where I am at currently. For a moment anxiety struck me, "how was I going to summarize a process that I no longer felt connected with"? Then I realized, I wouldn't be in my current mindset if it wasn't my past experiences that had called out for the shift. For some reason, this connection has previously eluded me. The innovative learning program is designed to push you, encourage you to reflect on your pedagogy and ultimately allow you to integrate new skills and thought processes into your classroom. The program did exactly what it was designed to do, create change. In this respect, it is encouraging that how I am thinking about education is different today than it was 3,6,9,12 months ago. That is the purpose right? I am excited to begin my poster after completing the executive summary. Sifting through my collected data and analysis has really helped boil down what it is I want my viewer to get and to know about how this program has shifted the way my classroom operates and why this is important to my students. |
AuthorHello, I'm Joe. Welcome to writings about my thought process throughout the journey of Touro's Innovative Learning Graduate Program. Archives
July 2018
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