My journey through MindLab started with a bit of a push in the right direction from a keen colleague who thought it would be a great idea to help us in the . Admittedly the scholarship and the chance of furthering my education was also a factor, and while sitting in her classroom during a CRT session she helped me fill in the forms. After I pushed send I felt a little nervous.. would I be accepted? Would I get the scholarship? Was I prepared to going back to assignments and late nights? After much soul searching I had decided that I did in fact really want to start this course, even though I was going in totally blind and had no idea what to expect!
When I finally turned up to the first Monday, nervous even about where to park, what door to use and where I would sit I finally plucked up the confidence to walk in. What met me surpassed my expectations! I always thought technology was my weakness (even mentioning it in interviews) but I had no idea how behind I was or where the world was going.
Throughout my first 24 weeks I have been amazed, shocked, scared, and in awe of what technology is doing and how it will impact our lives (DRIVERLESS CARS?????). My journey has definitely changed the way I look at the world and more specifically the way education needs to continue to change and the need for me as a teacher to keep up.
A survey in week 3 (which I had even forgotten I had participated in) showed responses about where we see ourselves within the Key Competencies. I had responded that my strengths were in Thinking and Managing Self which through reflection I came to the conclusion that if asked again I would respond the same. I still feel that these are my strengths but they have improved further throughout my time at MindLab.
Thinking is probably my biggest area of improvement even though I have used it as my strength. A favourite quote that I have heard quite often recently is "You don't know what you don't know". Changes in this key competency area were especially in the are of reflection. It has always been an important part of being a teacher, how we reflect and what we reflect on, but I now find I am much more inclined to use Driscol's Three W method of critical reflection focusing in a lot more on the what next? Deeper thinking into this model has really affected how I think about my practice.
Participating and Contributing has also been an area of improvement for me. I have always been the teacher at the staff meeting who always thinks they have a really good idea but wasn't quite confident enough to actually say it and hear it coming out of my mouth in a shared forum. After attending the MindLab I have found that I am more willing to share what I know and be called upon by others to help explain processes. When discussing our impending move into and ILE (although I did hear this week this term could be changing again) I feel more confident that in this environment I won't let my voice get lost in the crowd.
One area where my practice has changed has been my thoughts on the difference between group work and collaboration. I now take a lot more time explicitly teaching my students how to work collaboratively rather than just sending them off in a group and expecting collaboration to happen. This has also changed the way in which I also work with my colleagues. It was a big eye opener for me as I actually thought that they were the same thing!
Another area where my practice has changed is thinking about the authenticity of the tasks I set. Questions I ask myself include: Is this relevant to my students lives? Are they going to be interested in what they are learning? What do I know about my students that will help me to create or find authentic tasks? Can my students help me to plan these authentic tasks? I have found that the students are much more engaged in the learning process when they see "the point" of a task rather than setting something "just because".
I think the term lifelong learner, really sums up this course for me, and has really encouraged me to keep pushing boundaries, researching and reflecting on my teaching practice.
No comments:
Post a Comment