Week Eight: Taking Time to Reflect. . .

Our grand experiment has reached week eight.  If someone you didn't know asked you about the class and what you have learned, what would you tell them?  What proof would you offer that documents your journey, your learning?  As your mentor, or guide, in this process, I have two main places where I go to see your progress, Twitter and your blogs.  I look for reflections on your natural curiosity and what you are learning. . .There should be multiple posts that discuss something you find curious, interesting, or challenging.  I look at my Tweetdeck and the #usdedu and our educ578 stream to find things you have discovered and shared. Is there ample evidence of your learning?  Are you curating content or using Diigo to bookmark your progress.  If so, how are you sharing? Are you fostering your passion? Have you participated in an educational chat?  If so, what was the chat hashtag, the topic, and is there a reflective blog post on the experience?  Have you been commenting on your peers' work?  Have you been sharing your work and your peers work by re-tweeting and adding hashtags that other people/groups would find interesting? Are you already involved in your 20% project?  What have you learned so far and what is your evidence?

Franny the Wonder Dog!

In the name of learning transparently, I would like you to write a blog post, in class this evening (or from home if you cannot make it to class), that captures an assessment of your learning so far this semester. . .please discuss the evidence for your learning. Discuss your successes and your challenges. . .and comment on your peers blogs. 

Then, I would like you to make a list (checklist or diagram, or. . .) that represents what you believe all students should be doing to document their learning in this course each week. . . (wunderlist.com is a great tool for this) and post it in your blog post or link on the side. This process might help you help yourself understand and/or quantify what you should be doing each week. As we have already discussed in class, I think some people really need to see a checklist or some other medium that represents work that needs to be completed. It will also help me understand what you believe learning should look like. I am also trying to find the balance between too much and not enough support. . .I have the matrix, but perhaps one of you could come up with a way to visualize the process. If you want to see some tangible examples of learning transparently, look at the following blogs: Alexis, Angelica, Far, Lindsay, Maureen, and Nour.  I see authentic and continued learning on their blogs (multiple original posts) and on Twitter. . .

Tonight, I will help you with the Pink project, whether it be brainstorming or technical support.  Also, we need to discuss your class visit to Encinitas.  I have heard from Dr. Miyashiro and he is happy to have us and can take us to two schools!  We need to pick a few dates tonight please.

I hope you will all be wearing black tonight to support Maureen as she mourns the death of her beloved Tigers. . .or at least pour out a little of your Starbucks in her honor. . .

Question: Who is your current favorite musical artist or musician?