EEND 679 Reflection

Throughout this course I was presented with a variety of online assessments that have been on my list of resources to explore, but I never got around to them.  This course forced me to not only take the time to look at the resource, but also to test them out and analyze them.  Analyzing those assessments has set me up to expand me bag of resources to utilize in the classroom.  Of all the discussion and articles from the course, I particularly connected with the module on personalized learning.  The articles helped me realize the importance of being a facilitator rather than a lecturer.  Classmates did a great job responding, supporting, and offering good ideas to be even more successful with personalized learning in the classroom.  I feel that through all the discussions and activities I am better prepared for the topic of assessment.  Assessment is a very difficult topic in my opinion and something that all of us teachers strive to improve to meet the needs of our students.  I now feel prepared to speak on the topic of assessment using technology more so than prior to taking this course.  I will keep the great information, ideas, and resources gathered during this course and share it with my colleagues and offer my assistance to help foster a better learning environment for students.

EEND 679: Genius Hour

Genius Hour is a way to get students to want to learn and showcase a passion they have wanted to learn about.  We always talk about giving students more choice and genius hour gives them that and the power to really do whatever they want. Students motivation will increase as students take ownership of their learning but still master the skills laid out by the teacher.
As I have been going through the Genius Hour project, some of the struggles I have found are when I find one solution, I notice something else I want to address.  I feel that as I dive further into the rabbit hole of my project I find more that I want to do and quickly become both excited and overwhelmed.  I am focusing on the creation of a more detailed vision for my student led technology group, the Tech Ninjas.  I found some victories in communicating better and trusting these students to want to make their new group be successful.
I plan to introduce genius hour to my classroom next semester.  As the communications teacher, this is a great opportunity for students to become experts at something and share it with the whole class through a presentation.  I am looking forward to watching them go through the process and create something their proud and excited to present to the class.
You can read about my genius hour process on the Genius Hour tab above.  Below is the logo of our students led technology group.  Branding ourselves was one of the first steps to get students motivated and excited to be a part of this special group.