Written by
I feel as though I am not finished yet!
Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could be enrolled in Cohort 21 for our entire teaching career? Think of all of the goal setting… and goal crushing that would occur if this were the case?
Hold on… Cohort 21 has taught us that once you are apart of the family, you always will be! The quality collaboration, continuous reflection on our teaching practices and risk-taking in our classrooms is something I know I will be taking with me moving forward because I truly enjoyed this journey that has not ended quite yet.
So, what have I learned?
Firstly, I learned the true value of collaboration. Our Head of School, Dr. Leanne Foster, always indicates that “the smartest person in the room, is the room” in our staff and faculty meetings. Cohort 21 is a direct example of the wealth of knowledge we as teachers have available to us, as long as we are brave enough to take that first step in sharing our practice. I found that this also applies to my student’s learning. When my students are given the opportunity to participate in a “crowdsourced inspiration” activity, it is evident that they are able to see how receiving feedback from their peers can enhance their own personal designs.
Secondly, I have always been a reflective person, however, the busier you get – the harder this practice becomes. Cohort 21 has taught me the pertinence of slowing down and reflecting. As I take the time to reflect on this experience, it remains important to continue to practice what I preach while valuing quality over quantity in various aspects of my career. For example, for my Media Studies Students, I minimized the number of projects they would be handing in, however, through the use of design thinking activities, I tried to enhance the process and depth of learning each student would experience. In my previous blog post, you can read about my student’s experiences with design thinking and it is evident they were able to recognize this depth. Similarly, as teachers, we tend to be very hard on ourselves and never feel like we are doing enough for our students. The more we reflect on our practice, the more we realize the small differences that we are making each day.
Lastly, I learned to take risks in my classroom! Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. When it doesn’t work, at least we learn! We are modelling best practice when we show our students that we are life-long learners as well. I have been meaning to implement design thinking in my classroom for a while and Cohort 21 gave me the extra push to try it. I am very glad I did.
Moving forward, I plan to integrate continue collaborating, reflecting and take risks in my classroom. My first step is to implement more design thinking activities into my Media Studies students’ final project.
Media Studies Final Project: BIG Question
Final Project: Students will be able to analyse a particular media issue or aspect of popular culture of concern or interest to them. They will use this analysis to draw conclusions about the influences of media and communication technologies on society, culture and/or the economy and present their findings by means of their choice (e.g. film, poster, documentary etc).
Perhaps, I can share the culmination of this project via twitter?
Please take a look at my Action Plan Wrap up, as there are many “Thank Yous” that I owe to many people. I am extremely grateful for this opportunity and experience.
Until next time,
Danielle