The value of preparation and forward thinking

Next Saturday is the last class for the Grad Dip in Tertiary Teaching and I'm feeling nostalgic about that. In all it's gone a lot faster than I expected. Starting in July 2015 I expected to finish in July 2017, but in September 2015 it was announced that no more enrollments would be accepted. This meant I had to do double courses as there was no further opportunity. My first thought was how pleased I was that I had finally signed up! I'm still considering what to do next, I have an idea but need to look more closely at the actual direction.I was speaking with someone the other day who took on an MBA more for the sake of the learning, and it was really interesting to hear how he was dealing with the pressure and how he would miss the learning once his studies were finished. This sounds familiar, it has been a busy year for me too with continuous updating of curriculum, study and then the learning curve with Canvas and more recently, making all of the videos and planning the group work for my study and then translating that into my teaching.

TPA

That has been truly beneficial and the intention for today's blog entry was to discuss the progress of the group work and how students are experiencing that. While I write these words I become aware once more that the project is about my own professional practice, and that is what I should be writing about. Students have responded well to the structure I put in place - so what that means to me is that my more conscious approach to a structured group activity has been focused in the right direction, and taken as intended: that groups that come together under careful guidance find the worth of the work intended and are able to collaborate with the good of the whole in mind, thus putting their personal agendas aside. 

What I observed last Wednesday in general were two large groups (12 in each) that were respectful, listened to each other and were interested in what needed to be accomplished. My impression was also that those who  would usually be less involved actually paid more attention than they otherwise might have.

As for my teaching practice - as a result of that I am spending some more time each week refining the day's intent and looking out that the online instructions are clearly set out so they can be found and followed easily. I do still forget to publish the video page for the next week's viewing, but at least it's ready to go. I'm able to prepare the homework announcements in advance again which allows me to adjust when needed, and they publish at the time I set.

So I'm building up a nice well prepared course delivery once again ready to repeat for the next trimester, so I'll be able to update the theory workbook which is very much needing attention, and after that look at more video presentations for various tasks. 

I'll get some more student feedback tomorrow, this time looking for how they feel about working in their groups and if they feel they are working effectively - and why that is the case - or not...

Goals for this week:

1. Write the reflection for Saturday's Mobile Teaching class 
2. Write a summary of Teaching Practise progress
3. Recording for my Teaching Excellence PowerPoint due on Friday - I now have all the attachments in the right places and also made sure all the evidence I wanted is in there.
4. Update my mobile spreadsheet site according to feedback given where I think it will benefit the learner experience and fits my vision - I do always leave gaps and some I can fix easily, others need a bit of attention.