Sixteenth Week Reflection

Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts. Henri Frederic Amiel

Today we had our last class. It was nice to see everyone once again. We got to hear everyone talk about their Literature Reviews. Everyone had really interesting topics. It would be nice to have the chance to read some of the ones that are still in the works once they are completed. After we talked about our Literature Reviews, everyone stood up and said some nice parting words. We had a little party afterwards. The food was really good. Thanks to everyone for bringing something. I hope I get to see my classmates and professor again in future endeavors. I chose the above quote because I am thankful that we all completed the semester together, everyone was really nice to each other, and everyone had good things to say about each other.

May 11, 2012

A friend should be one in whose understanding and virtue we can equally confide, and whose opinion we can value at once for its justness and its sincerity.
Robert Hall

Today was our last class meeting.  We assessed each others oral presentation on our literature review and everyone did really well. We also went around the class and everyone had a chance to say their final goodbyes.  Again, I will like to thank everyone for the wonderful semester and learning experience.  I will surely take my new knowledge and apply what I learned to my teaching abilities.

The quote above describes the new friends I made throughout this semester and thank you again for your positive comments and at the same time taking the time to read and listen to my experiences despite being a new teacher.  Throughout this course, we confided in one another with our personal experiences and thoughts and respected and valued each other's opinions.

Thank you again and I hope you all enjoy your summer! Oh, and thank you for the wonderful food and drinks! It was delicious!

Fifteenth Week Reflection

“Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.” Lao Tzu

This week in class we talked a little bit more about our Literature Review. We also discussed our LiveText portfolio. The majority of the class time was spent on the Positive Experience Approach (PEA) activity. In this activity everyone was supposed to write a couple of nice things about all of the other members of the class. After this, we cut them into strips and turned them in. The strips were then distributed to each member of the class. Once we received all of our strips, we then stood up and read aloud all of the nice things that our classmates said about us. It was nice to find out what our classmates had to say positive about us.  I think that the PEA activity can be used at the beginning and end of a course. It will help the students to get to know each other better and find out what nice things they have to say about each other. I chose the above quote because it relates to being kind and making other people feel better. We have one more week to go. I am looking to meeting again nice week and having our class party.

April 30-May 4 Reflection

"In learning to know other things, and other minds, we become more intimately acquainted with ourselves, and are to ourselves better worth knowing."

- Philip Gilbert Hamilton

        Today in class we met face to face and it was great seeing my classmates once again after a long month of ongoing learning at our own homes. I chose the quote above because of the interesting and engaging activity we did in class today called PEA (Positive Experience Approach).  The whole concept of PEA was to write two positive things about our classmates.  We then cut the names along with the two positive characteristic into strips and the strips were distributed to each of us.  We then had the opportunity to read what each other had to say about ourselves. I really enjoyed this activity, for one I felt very good about myself based on what my classmates had to say about me.  It was a great picker-uper.  I also enjoyed hearing and learning about my classmates even more.  This PEA activity was very simple, but meaningful and a great way to assess our students.  Like we discussed in class, PEA is an activity that can be done at the beginning of the year to see what the students thought about one another on the first day.  The students can then keep these strips and at the end of the year compare what their classmates had to say about them on the first day to what they had to say  after getting to know one another at the end of the year.
       PEA is also a great way to assess collaboration among group members.  Each group member would say something positive about what each group member did to help make  the project a success.  PEA is also a fun activity to help assess adjective usage, nouns, and sentence structure.  Overall, PEA is one activity I plan to do next year with my students.
      Other than the PEA activity, we also discussed our livetext portfolio and the one major artifact we need to upload which is our Literature review.
       Overall, today was a very productive and positive day.  It was great seeing my wonderful classmates and professor once again.  See you all on Friday!