In conclusion...
This course was great! What I think made it great is the people. Content is content, no offense. But what really determines content quality is the people involved in the discussions and the accumulation of works provided. I felt there were numerous times when I genuinely valued another participants input. Perhaps because we had a chance to discuss each others "why." I think this helped give me more insight on this group of educators. I appreciate this course because it makes me analyze the quality of education I am providing to my students and the route I want to take from this point forward. I want to stand out as an educator that is able to reach students in a way that empowers students to be excellent in everything they do. Opportunities like this course are important because it can begin to spark the thoughts and ideas of future leaders that can ultimately improve the way we educate students worldwide. Thank you to all of my fellow scholars! -Coop
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Getting down to the nitty-gritty today. Being relatively new to annotations makes this portion of the course seem slightly intimidating. A lot of great resources were provided, and appreciated, in order to help increase my skills in being an effective student. I feel like my eyes have opened more during this class because before I was not sure what to expect from a Masters course. Previous questions were, "Is it the same as undergrad work?" "It should be more difficult, but in which ways?" I feel I now understand that this program is designed to make me a better scholar and researcher and should empower my reasoning and ability to intelligently debate with knowledge of confirmed research. I am curious to see how my skills develop over this short amount of time in this class and if the brevity of this course will be of benefit or detriment to my overall performance as a student.
-Coop My thoughts on today's class relate to the structure of our educational system. After having conversations with other educators, it can be agreed that there needs to be a reform in how education is distributed, as well as, how we assess and think of valuable knowledge. Also thoughts of how learning occurs were stemmed into this topic. Overall, I feel that it may be more productive as a whole for students to pick their teacher or instructor based on the skills they exhibit whether those skills are directly related to liberal arts or not. Math teachers, and all others, have more skills to offer than that of just one subject. Why should they only teach a skill in one subject in a manner that is not beneficial to life-long learning and also not applicable to life itself on a regular basis? Liberal art concepts can be weaved into a "curriculum" the instructor deems important in a way that is useful in an activity or art instead of trying to do the reverse. It seems as though we are expected to weave contemporary ideas and relevant technology into educational traditions that were never impactful from the beginning. Even though adding these factors does not dramatically improve the overall quality or engagement of the classroom. All in all, schools and educational systems in this country should be focused on developing the "whole child." This includes learning and systems that promote not only academic proficiency but lifelong improvement in the overall health of that individual and the people around them.
-Coop After reflecting on today's class I feel excited about other teachers wanting to make changes in our education system and how we ask students to learn and display evidence of learning. I've been saying for years that the education system needs major changes but without actually taking time to dive deep into what the real problems are and potential solutions to these problems. Today I had the chance to hear what other teachers thought and it mostly seemed like we had similar interests and complaints. Thinking about my own life, as a student before college, I felt that I was not given a true opportunity to express my unique brilliance as a young scholar. I can remember times when I felt uncomfortable to answer questions because I lacked confidence to express my true thoughts and feelings or times when I felt dumb because all the other students understood a concept but I felt confused. Along with numerous difficult tasks that seemed tedious and pointless, I was not getting my educational cup filled. Most subjects did not interest me because I did not see the value in the standard curriculum. I was interested in making money and being a leader. School taught me neither of those. The little knowledge I have about both now I can attribute to life experiences I gained on my own after high school. This makes me wonder why society puts such an emphasis on education when we aren't educating students with knowledge that is useful or broad enough for kids to realize realistic career and life paths. Our education system should not only make better students, learners, and leaders. Our schools should be molding better PEOPLE. People who appreciate differences, have critical thinking skills, can read, write, perform basic arithmetic, express empathy, and communicate with large and small populations without prejudice. Today I reflect on the importance of teachers and what we as society deem important to learn and the many hurdles and veils that need to be removed in order to improve society as a whole.
-Coop |
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