Time to reflect like the sun off of a lake

I really enjoyed this class.  Since I have taken more classes than the rest of the cohort I am visiting I have had an epiphany. That epiphany is that I really enjoy the group projects and more likely the case, I really like the discussions we have in our study groups and in class.  

The text book talked about the importance of communication, production and critical thinking.  This is what I liked about graduate school the first time around.  It wasn't all of the worksheets, quizzes and tests. Sure, there were a few tests and quizzes, but for the most part it was baset mainly on various products and/or portfolios we had to do.  This made sense to me.

The things we have been learning in class, applied correctly, would make a much better assessment of student achievement than all of those standardized tests that students are forced to take.  Being from Iowa, I apologize if you ever had to take the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.

This course has firmed up my belief that if we really want to test students abilities, we should be doing digital portfolios that are shared with an authentic audience. The artifact included in that should be authentic work or relevance and not some contrived project that has no real world application or purpose.


I have also discovered some cool new websites that I will introduce to my students so that they can have more options to turn in their work. Even though I am teaching online, it seems to me that some of the software and methodology is outdated.    I will take a moment to again praise goanimate.com because it is so dang cool AND can do Japanese.  That is a pretty rare quality.

Lastly, I will continue to learn from my colleagues and perhaps more importantly, from my students.  Students know a lot more than we sometimes give them credit for.  Just the other day a students showed me a really cool browser app that acts as a dictionary when you hover over Japanese words.  The Chrome version is rikaikun and the firefox version is rikachan.  I would never have found that with out talking to my students.

I will continue on my journey as a humble sensei, knowing I will always have something to learn.