This class was very challenging and full of new and interesting activities. I was not aware that we would be working on an internship as well as an in-depth action research project. I am excited and nervous about doing this work as I have never tried something like this before. I hope to be able to find time and do the plan at the best of my ability.
I think the research I have chosen will be a good thing for schools in the long run. There is never a bad reason to cut down on consumables, even if it does not end up being 85% but somewhere around 10%. Anywhere there is a marked drop in using paper wil benefit the school as well as the bigger picture, the environment. I am hoping that this will encourage other teachers to do the same. After all, if the school district is spending the money on the iPads/iPod touches, it needs to be for an impact other than downloading apps.
The discussion board assignments were very helpful because it was nice to have insight from my classmates as to different ways to look at my research and I appreciated every comment that was made that will help me become successful. When I started my ideas process I was thinking of a very different project, but because of the comments my classmates gave me, I ended up changing my idea to better fit the process and the expectations. First it was too broad, and I narrowed it down to a more workable situation.
I also enjoyed looking at the different blogs that are being created. Seeing other classmate’s work allowed me to feel more confident in the work I was doing and reassured me that we are all feeling the same way about the research project. I think we can do this, but I also understand that we are all busy with work and families as well as school and with this as well as the internship, especially those of us in the ET cohort who need 300 hours so it becomes a little scary thinking that we may not be as successful as we would like. This is not a complaint, I am excited to be able to say I did this when I am done, I am just stating what others are either also stating or at least thinking.
I believe all five weeks of assignments have been very well prepared and are getting us ready for the plan we need to finish. I like the way the assignments are put together allowing a little work at a time, but yet connected to each other so we can see how we are building upon the research each week. I feel as if I have learned quite a lot about research and what it entails as well as having an opportunity to plan a project that will only better my school and in effect the world per se. This was a good class and I am excited to take it’s teaching and continue to apply them in my work as well as my life.
