October Monthly Summary:

During October, the big course projects were the program of practice paper and the syllabus design.  Working on the program of practice paper, I found that I had to put in a lot more hours completing the observations/information gathering section than I realized.  I set it up so that I could observe a section of both the classes I used in the paper, which was a clinical class in a medical assistant program and an advanced income tax class.

  In addition to the observations, I interviewed two faculty members who teach in both programs.  This process took a week longer to complete than I had planned for, so I felt rushed to complete the final project on time.  However, now that it is all said and done, I am really glad I chose to visit these classes in person and interview faculty.  I was able to get pictures of the classes in action and quote the faculty members in my final paper, which I think added to the final product.  Also, I now have two perfect individuals to use as experts in the field to review my syllabus design. 

The second big project due was the actual syllabus design.  Designing the syllabus was easier than I expected due to the fact that the course has built upon each project leading up to this point.  I have made notes along the way as we chose a theory to focus on and based on that chose a program to study prior to designing our own.  I am sure these notes will help me polish up the final project faster than if we started from scratch. 

I have enjoyed the class up to this point including being able to read the blogs of my classmates and share examples.  As I mentioned in the course reflection, one of my favorite aspects of this course is that after we learn the theories and concepts, we also discuss how to put those concepts to work in the classroom or during facilitation.  I really like being able to see the big picture as well as being able to drill down and make these theories work in real life. 

Looking forward into November, we have two projects due.  We need to complete the syllabus design and the project demonstration.  As I mentioned, I now have two great facilitators to choose from to complete my syllabus evaluation.  After we receive feedback, do we need to change the syllabus based on the evaluation?  I will find that out.  We are also completing the project demonstration.  I am looking forward to tooling around with the various formats to use suggested in the syllabus for this class in creating the final project.  I have never used some of these resources before, but I might use something new if one of these resources proves to be better for my project demonstration than powerpoint.  I do plan to use some pictures, powerpoint or presi might be the best tool.  I will make that decision in the next week.