Week 13: Thank you!

I was wondering why I was hesitating in posting my Final Synthesis Reflection. And then I realized why. Following the lead of Stephanie and Jen, I wanted to say thank you somewhere…so I will do as others have done:

In the words of Isaac Newton: “If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” I think this statement describes well the learning community that existed in this ETEC 565 course. Whether we were responding to each others postings on VISTA, or trouble shooting a Moodle glitch, I felt that we contributed to each others’ learning, and helped each other progress in our abilities. Our interactions on VISTA were allowed to play out as we learned from and with each other, with John as mentor, guide and mediator, but not as the ‘sage on the stage’. Our questions were always answered or reviewed, while at the same time our minds were not viewed as empty vessels needing to be filled. This is a skill I still need to constantly remind myself of while teaching a traditionally didactic course such as Chemistry.
Thank you John, for being enthusiastic, timely, while modeling how important it is to hang back once in awhile and let the students “play out” the discussion before throwing out the lifelines. The story telling nature of this course with the summative conclusions at the end of each Module was a very effective learning environment for me. Thanks everyone in the class. The key is collaboration and inspiration. Without all of you, it would not have been possible to see a little further.