Week 3- Klein "Reflection #1- Explorations in MBT".

I believe that this course has provided us with many positive strategies for teaching more effectively in our classrooms.  The BTT Model gives us a great insight in the how and why of teaching to the whole child, while engaging multiple methods of leaning. 

One of the main ways that I've personally been able to incorporate my learning into the classroom is by keeping in mind some of the common neuromyths and making sure to avoid them as a teacher.  I often see colleagues looking for that one "magic button" to get through to a child, and have been guilty of looking for it myself in the past on an occasion or two.  I personally feel that finding one way to get through to a student and over relying upon that is often an attempt to take the easy way out, while in the long run it makes it much more difficult to teach the child when they don't respect or acknowledge anything besides your use of that magic button.

 I've also been very interested in the sections regarding how to set the stage for learning, by controlling the environment, making it feel safe and comfortable emotionally for students, welcoming them as they arrive, and allowing them to use hands-on activites and the arts as forms of expression.  I've always incorporated parts of this in my teaching, but I find it wonderful to see the research behind it and am very excited to learn more. 

From a time standpoint, I've been keeping up fairly well.  The discussions and readings are  exciting and easy to stay involved with.  The most difficult portion of the class to keep up with is the group work.  Getting 5 people who are all maintaining families and 40 plus hour work weeks on the same schedule can be difficult.  Our group has reworked some responsibilities to alleviate time issues, however I truly believe that the main discussion and readings have been more benefitial than the group work thus far, even with many in the group putting forth a very strong effort.

Reflections Post

Reflecting back on our very brief journey through the Online Learning Orientation, there are several things that stand out in my mind.  When reflecting upon an orientation program, there are a few questions that one would ask themselves.  Do I feel ready for the upcoming tasks?  Does everybody have an equal foothold at the beginning of the workload?  Did the orientation provide adequate and appropriate training for the systems, processes and expectations in front of you?  And did the orientation provide an opportunity to reach out towards something new and different, taking one out of their comfort zone?

In my opinion, the course ran very smoothly and should provide an easy transition into our regular workload in this cohort.  The use of multiple forums (blog, discussion, group discussion, quiz, chat) was helpful not only in learning the navigating systems but also in getting to know colleagues in the group.  There are some in the group that are freelance writers and more familiar with blogger or chats, while others who have published work are much more familiar with APA citation and written work.  The exercises we performed in orientation helped bridge many of those gaps, and allowed participants to work with each other, helping fill in some of the information which may have been foreign to others.

After two weeks working in the discussion forums, and navigating pages in dashboard, everybody should be able to move past the technical issues that often seem to plague the first few weeks of an online course and hop right into meaningful discussion.  It is very helpful that JHU uses a common platform for all the classes in the cohort as this helps flatten the learning curve.  I've been in other programs that allow for changes within each class, and there is often a period of time in which people cannot determine where to post discussion or assignments, and sub-discussion in the forums regarding this causes clutter.

Additionally, I am very grateful and excited to work with such an extensive and diverse collection of wonderful educators and I cannot wait to get started.  In my group alone, we cover roughly 5300 miles, 8 hours worth of time zones, and yet we all have one common goal: to become better at our craft. 

I am very excited to take on the challenges that lie ahead with our cohort and our the group that we have assembled.  The educators in the group bring a variety of unique and knowledgeable viewpoints into discussion forums and teamwork, and I truly believe that this will be an enjoyable and eye-opening ride.  Thanks for the opportunity.