More excited and less overwhelmed
After conducting my own course review, I think I am pretty good shape overall. I spent a lot of time creating rubrics and assignment directions in the past few weeks and I think the time I spent doing it paid off. I did need to update some of my older documents in the course information area, which I did today, because they were outdated already! I had made changes in the actual module structure and changed my mind about how to grade the students from when I had originally created my document, which I think is expected. I also had to change the titles of my modules in the course documents areas and refine my learning activities so that they matched up with what the students would see in each module.I tried to make my tone more inviting and conversational. I also took some time to add a parental permission form because Alex had suggested it back in the beginning of this course. I wasn’t really sure what to say in the document at that time she suggested it, but I think that now I understand that I just need to let parents know what their child will be doing on the web and be sure that they approve of what I am asking for. I also added a portion to the permission slip for the student to sign telling me that they understand that this course is to be used for learning and that they understand that they are responsible for what they are doing online.
I had my 16 year old brother review my course using the peer review checklist and boy did he do a thorough job! He didn’t miss anything. I asked him to review the course because I wanted to make sure that he understood what he was supposed to do and in what order. I figured that if he understood, the students using certainly would! He said that he liked the composition assignment the best because he wanted to use Finale notepad. He also liked the links to the rubrics and asked me to show him how to make a rubric. It was a teachable moment. 
My brother is good at spotting mistakes in spelling and grammar and finding inconsistencies in wording, so I appreciated him helping me identify where I needed to make revisions.
The next step I am working on in revising my course is making explicit directions about how to participate in assignments and discussions. I have done ok with the assignments part so far, but I think I need to be more clear about the discussions. I need to add a generic page before each discussion that details which buttons to click and add a link to the discussion rubric. I also want to add “milestones” to my course after each module that congratulate students on their work and provide them a chance to play an online game, or do something fun, almost like a reward or incentive for their work.
What I have learned about myself so far during these revisions is that I am really proud of the time I have spent thinking about and evolving my course. It was so much fun to share the course with my brother and he really enjoyed looking at it. He understood that it takes so much time to develop a site and it made me feel proud of the hours I have spent tweaking every little thing. I have also learned that I am becoming more confident in what I am asking students to do and becoming more consistent in my presentation. I am always thinking of new activities to add if I ever revamp this course. There are so many things you can do online, the limit is your imagination and the student’s techno-savviness. I am feeling less overwhelmed and more encouraged to make the course better and better!
One last thing- I feel like every discussion, article and assignment I have done in this course has really made me question why I do things the way I do. This course has helped me become more open and receptive to new ideas and ways of thinking and I believe it has strengthened my teaching ability. There is a certain amount of vulnerability that we each open ourselves to by sharing our courses with our peers. This vulnerability forces each of us to do our best work and think through the reasons why we choose to do what we do in our courses.
What I have learned and considered in this course makes me excited to go back to school in September and work with my students. I have been realizing more and more that I do have a student centered classroom, but I still need to work on improving the student to student interactions and learn to let students take more control, while still steering them in the right direction.
I’m looking forward to reviewing my classmate’s courses and getting feedback on my own! (4)
