Personal Growth
I must say that it has in fact taken me the entire year to get the concept of it being about the “process”. My life until very recently has been about the end game or the product. In general I begin things with this thought in mind, “what is the outcome of this going to be”? I decide what I want and then normally figure out what set of actions will allow me to attain my goals. However this year due to many circumstances this has just not happened. What is that familiar saying? We plan and God laughs. I think this year I provided Him with some deep belly rolls.
I started this program because of the level of interest it spiked in me when I began researching it online, the tools I knew it would provide me with, the philosophy of the University itself and the advice of my Boss. Once I got to Cadre camp and began trying to program Lego-bots and edit videos I began to think “what in the heck am I doing”, and “Can I really do this”? After meeting all my fellow Cadre mates and learning about all the wonderful things they did and planned to do I think I felt like an amateur in a room of professionals. I soon learned we all felt the same way and realized I had somehow found myself in safe place to try new things and express different thoughts about learning. I found out (though I’m still working on it) If you let them people will do there best to help you. I changed my research place of practice from my job to my church (when I thought my position wasn’t going to get refunded) and back to my job again (when I realized I would need more than a year to conduct Action Research there). Then some very big personal issues with my daughter’s health took me away from the level of participation I desired to have.
Besides learning that it is about the process, I also learned that in regards to my practice I have something to say and that my voice is important. I have been motivated to become or remain a life long learner, continually looking for and absorbing new information and knowledge. I believe that in education, specifically student services significant changes in communication with students are required. What I feel this program gave me in addition to valuing my own expertise are the tools to inspire my colleagues to also become lifelong learners, particularly with the pace of technological advances and accessibility of information. Most importantly though I think this process has taught me to be a better reflective practitioner. I will continue to think about my practice, my lessons and interactions with students and colleagues. I will continue to strive to improve my performance by applying the new theories of learning I have come to agree with such as Constructivism. I believe that by asking students to individually and socially reflect on what they already know or think in regards to transferring and then apply that to the information I provide or ask them to research, they construct there own understanding of how to transfer. Constructivism explains that each of us generates our own rules, which we use to make sense of our experiences. Learning is simply the process of adjusting our rules to accommodate new experiences. I believe that this idea appeals to most of my colleague’s view of learning but conflicts with traditional student services practices. We need to reflect on our practice in order to apply these ideas to our work. It is my hope that using this knowledge will positively impact my own practice, and services to students will improve.
I started this program because of the level of interest it spiked in me when I began researching it online, the tools I knew it would provide me with, the philosophy of the University itself and the advice of my Boss. Once I got to Cadre camp and began trying to program Lego-bots and edit videos I began to think “what in the heck am I doing”, and “Can I really do this”? After meeting all my fellow Cadre mates and learning about all the wonderful things they did and planned to do I think I felt like an amateur in a room of professionals. I soon learned we all felt the same way and realized I had somehow found myself in safe place to try new things and express different thoughts about learning. I found out (though I’m still working on it) If you let them people will do there best to help you. I changed my research place of practice from my job to my church (when I thought my position wasn’t going to get refunded) and back to my job again (when I realized I would need more than a year to conduct Action Research there). Then some very big personal issues with my daughter’s health took me away from the level of participation I desired to have.
Besides learning that it is about the process, I also learned that in regards to my practice I have something to say and that my voice is important. I have been motivated to become or remain a life long learner, continually looking for and absorbing new information and knowledge. I believe that in education, specifically student services significant changes in communication with students are required. What I feel this program gave me in addition to valuing my own expertise are the tools to inspire my colleagues to also become lifelong learners, particularly with the pace of technological advances and accessibility of information. Most importantly though I think this process has taught me to be a better reflective practitioner. I will continue to think about my practice, my lessons and interactions with students and colleagues. I will continue to strive to improve my performance by applying the new theories of learning I have come to agree with such as Constructivism. I believe that by asking students to individually and socially reflect on what they already know or think in regards to transferring and then apply that to the information I provide or ask them to research, they construct there own understanding of how to transfer. Constructivism explains that each of us generates our own rules, which we use to make sense of our experiences. Learning is simply the process of adjusting our rules to accommodate new experiences. I believe that this idea appeals to most of my colleague’s view of learning but conflicts with traditional student services practices. We need to reflect on our practice in order to apply these ideas to our work. It is my hope that using this knowledge will positively impact my own practice, and services to students will improve.