Action Research Poopooed

My action research learners are all teachers and they are good at being bad students. I honestly believe that they are genuinely interested in what I am trying to do, and not to help me out. They are willing to discuss and contribute ideas to make it better, but they have not been willing to invest the time daily, to try something different that could potentially improver both their practice and student achievement as well. While they continually say that it takes too much time to sit down an enter what they taught in their last class for others teachers to read they will not trust me that in the end it will actually save them time. I think this is the case, because they are trained in doing it the old way simply not ready for change. It was illustrated in an article that we read in the first smester, where change was represented as a guitar. One could pull a string, and it would bend. When the force was released, the string snapped back to its original position and no permanent change occurred. Real institutional change happens when one moves to the next string up. I just have to figure how to begin playing at a higher note.





Blog: In your ARP, are your learners engaged in their learning? Why or why not?

JIT Learning

When I think of were I have learned the most or made the biggest stretches in my learning, it has not been from reading a book and discussing or even blogging reflectively. My biggest gains have come from assignment with little explanation or boundaries- just a desired outcome with a few parameters. There was no how to or where to find, just do and its due on the 10th. The lessons from Virtcamp and Stagers class (Margaret's Data assignment in Orlando too) are good examples. I/we made our assignments missions, where we sought information, worked our way through problems, and found a way to get it done. I feel that this design is most effective for me, because I can trust the outcomes. You are not relying on some study or outcome data. You can actually feel the learning, and the sense of knowing that you did it- plus what you learned and created is yours to keep and it's authentic. This course has for me been a very effective confidence building exercise, because I know that I can do it, and that translates into my personal and professional career for an added bonus.

Blog: From your experience in OMET thus far, what design practice has resonated with you the most? Why