Summary Post

Schoe (1983) contends that reflective practice uses many methods for one to understand the difficulties of decision-making in the organization. What’s more, Cooper et al (2017) believes that reflective practice is a core competency and is necessary for effectiveness within the organization. As such, organizations who employ critical reflective practice will see to the goals being met which will lead them to be successful.

This course has lead me to the realization from sitting in the student’s seat that there is a need for further development as a teacher. Being unsure, unclear, not confident and frustrated are all signs that my knowledge, skills and attitudes must be developed further. I have knowledge in understanding the key terms associated with reflective practice; I am aware of the core values or standards of reflective practice, but there is still a necessity for me to acquire a greater understanding of how to effectively integrate technology into reflective and reflexive practice. Though there is some knowledge there is still a need to know when and how to use them to be a teacher, whether in the classroom or the workplace, with reflective practice.

Critical reflective thinking maybe considered as my strongest skill as I am able to self-assess, self-correct, monitor and problem solve. An example of my critical reflective thinking is, I was faced with a dilemma where an employee had forwarded some documentation to be checked and approved, when I saw it my first reaction was, “seriously after all this time and you still can’t get it right”, but knowing that this is not the correct way to proceed with it, I went away to reflect on why it maybe that it was presented this way and what can I do differently to ensure it does not happen again. Well, I must say that days later I had not spoken to the person, but eventually I did and informed her of what is expected informally, I further intend to guide her as she continues to do the job assigned.

They were many lessons learnt and benefits to be derived from this course. One of the things that stood out to me most is that one of the primary task of being an effective teacher is to unlock the potential of others, the butterfly story demonstrates that sometimes we have to step back and let others do what they need to do. In practicing effective reflective-reflexive practice this is one of the things I intend to do by having my employees prepare action plans to be used to guide the process and see the weaknesses and areas where there is a need for improvement in an effort that we can be successful within the organization.

At the beginning of this course we were asked to conduct a VARK test and the BIG 5 personality test. What I have gathered from this exercise is the fact that we need to understand that everyone learns differently and as such we must be able to understand their needs and be able to effectively cater to everyone. Additionally, people come with all types of personalities and therefore we need to “know” who is who and how to treat each person. This is especially way beyond reflective practice whether in the organization or the classroom.

I clung to the Kolb’s Experiential Model as I saw how it was beneficial for me in the organization as we could engage in the entire cycle before completing our reflection and putting plans in place to improve. However, my colleague, Raylene was quick to point out that perhaps another model could also be used in my instance. This led me to realize that not all models would fit a particular situation and in some instances more than one model can be used. To emphasize this point further as I created my lesson plan for my grade 5 students, though Kolb’s Model is considered my favorite model, it is not quite relevant for children at that age and so I leaned towards the Rolfe’s Model as a guide to their reflections.

When I commenced my journey, there was little technological competency and I had no idea what were some of the tools, let alone technology, that could be used to promote reflective/reflexive practices in education. As I extended my knowledge, by putting myself to the test, I came up with many ways of allowing for critical thinking to be present. The “Hmmm” board and the Reflection Wheel are two of the tools which can be used for younger children for them to discuss their feelings and their thoughts. What I have learnt as I interacted with my colleagues is that they are many and depending on the audience targeted they can be retrofitted to suit. One such that I will take away is that of blogging, no longer will I frown on it as being something that a “geek” would do but see the benefit of how it can allow for others to share their experiences and knowledge with others.

As I took a look at the technology, I see how the Edmodo tool can be used not only for younger children but it is well suited for all ages. Even though Michael, provided us with a good explanation on how twitter can be used and Lorraine as she demonstrated the benefits of Instagram, I am still unsure and that would be as a result of me not changing my mindset on what I perceive their purpose to be, that of informal interaction. Flipgrid, Vlog and Wikis are some of the technology used by my colleagues that I will definitely investigate further as I attempt to broaden my scope of all types of technology that can integrate reflective practice. One of the reason this is especially important to me, is recognizing the climate we are currently in and the fact that the teachers are so lost as to how to use the recommended Google Classroom, even though it is not for reflective purposes, it has led me to believe that you must be well versed in numerous ways of getting the tasks done, noting further that all students are different and learn differently. I believe that reflecting is continuous and as such moving my competencies from emerging to transforming will occur overtime.

They were two highlights for me in this course, creating the lesson plan and engaging in the group presentation as we contributed to the development of our very own model. As I speak about the lesson plan, I see why it is absolutely necessary that you prepare these as this can act as a guide to what is expected of you and how you will get these things done. Funny enough, for me this lesson plan can then be used to aid in reflection at the end of the course, as you revisit based on results coming from students, that is, if there is a need to add more assignments or perhaps “cut” back on the number that is given. What’s more, I am extremely proud of the video which I created to demonstrate the lesson plan. My proudness comes as I was able to utilize technology to complete the said assignment. One may laugh and say “ammmm” what about it, but the fact that I was able to use something more than power point is in fact a great accomplishment for me. The model that was created by my group was done after extensive review of various models, considering the target audience and what it is that we would want them to reflect on. I thoroughly enjoyed working with my group members, Michael, Raylene, Lorraine and Janine in developing the below model.

At the end of it all I understand the importance of reflecting and how it is critical for the success of any organization and I plan to adopt it not only professional but personally in making changes based on what went before.

I will not let my life happen to me, I will happen to my life. – I will ARRIVE.

Cooper, L and Trubanova Wieckowski, A (2017). A Structured Approach to Reflective Practice Training in a Clinical Practicum – Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Training and Education in Professional Psychology 2017, Vol. 11, No. 4, 252-259

Schoe, D (1983): The Reflective Practioner. New York, USA

Social Learning Tools - Blogs, Twitter and Videos

As a budding educator, I must admit that there is so much more that I need to learn in order to be most effective in providing the necessary skills needed to integrate technology into lessons in an effort to enhance learning. What’s more, as I think about using technology in reflection, I believe there is a little more understanding as to how I can achieve this with the sole purpose of allowing my students to engage in critical thinking reflection no matter the age group. I hope to get to the place where, through reflection in technology I can engage students and allow for collaboration among them which would provide an environment for learning.

I always considered myself to be an expert in PowerPoint and that was the extent of my technological capacity which I know now is not quite enough especially in aiding in reflection. This module spoke to blogs, videos and twitter which can assist in reflection. Before commencing this course, none of these technology tools to which this module referred, would have meant anything to me when speaking about reflection. In one of my classes in my undergraduate studies, I had the opportunity to complete reflections every week, but, these reflections were done the old fashion way, pen to paper.

Out of all these tools learned in this module, blogging remains the way I can definitely see being very useful in reflection. This may be so, as this is the only one to which I am familiar with. I see how it can allow for students to publicly share their thoughts and effectively collaborate with each, all the while learning from each other in a controlled environment.

What was most impactful to me was the article by Boltivets et al. (2018), in which they questioned blogging and its ability to achieve “curricular goals”. Blogging for me, can play an active role in reflection as students are able to provide information and their thoughts on a particular topic in a creative and fun way. In an article by Azizineshad and Hashemi (2011) they sum up blogging as being of a benefit as a teaching tool as it leads to collaboration, discussions and even portfolio material by the student which not only shows what they have learnt but also provides others with their knowledge and experience. On the other hand, it was made clear from some researchers that they do not believe that blogging can lead to individual reflective learning and collaboration as all persons may not have a sense of belonging in a blog space. I laugh as I think about this, because, if not asked to do this in this course, I for one would not have ventured into what I would consider to be the unknown, that of blogging. Being knowledgeable about what it can do, I intend to educate students on the benefits to be derived from such a tool in reflection. Below I have a copy of my blog which I am very proud of, which shows my thoughts on various topics and some of the artefacts that illustrates who I am.

When I saw twitter as a tool used for reflection, I could not possibly understand how, not sure if this is because I do not even have a twitter account or is it because I am thinking this is more a personal form of socializing and may not have a place in education?

Recognizing, as stated by Dewey (1933), that reflection leads to "an act of searching, hunting, inquiring to find material that will resolve the doubt, settle and dispose of the perplexity", I stepped outside of my readings as I dug deeper for an understanding as to why and how to use twitter in reflection. What I learnt was, it can be used to scaffold learning and engage students in critical thinking as noted by Mistry (2011). Hmmmm, though I understand and appreciate that it could be beneficial, I am still not convinced that this is a method I would consider to be used for my students. Twitter for me - not yet. What I need to first do so that I am not one who is considered as stifling students, would be to engage in this form of social networking to gain a better appreciation for what it can do and what I can do to incorporate it in the best possible way into teaching and by extension reflective practices.

I have had the opportunity to prepare and complete many videos, what was confusing to me was how do I reflect on the videos that I did, and similarly, how would I expect students to engage in reflection after completing a video. The Gibbs model, came to mind as this would be able to look at our reflection through the cycle. This would be accomplished by describing what happened, taking a look at what the feelings were at that point, being able to see the good and the bad in the experience, analyzing the situation and concluding by seeing what could have been done differently before putting the plans into action.

As I take a look at this model, one of the elements that stood out to me most is the bad experience I got in completing the video. This was so as I struggled with the form of technology used, this led me to analyze the situation, recognizing that I need to familiarize myself before assignments are due with various forms of technology in an effort to be knowledgeable with these tools. I have shown also what I would do differently as I await the next assignment to put these plans into action.

Below I have shared with you one of my videos that I have created. This video led to much reflection as there is so much that needs to be considered in how this was created. Colleagues, using the Gibbs model, share your thoughts on the reflective cycle using the video as your reflection exercise.

Azizinezhad, M., & Hashemi, M. (2011). The use of blogs in teaching and learning translation. ProcediaSocial and Behavioral Sciences, 28, 867–871.

Boltivets, S., Acharya, S., & Santos, A., (2018) Educational blogging: Implications, benefits and challenges to pedagogical practice.

Dewey, J. (1933). How we think: A restatement of the relation of reflective thinking to the educative process. Chicago, IL: D.C. Health.

Mistry, V. (2011). Critical care training: using Twitter as a teaching tool. British Journal of Nursing, 20 (20), 1292-1296.

Implementing Reflective-Reflexive Learning in the Digital Classroom

This module’s reflection is somewhat a little different from my previous posts. What I reflected on this week was my assignment and how I did, what I could have done differently and how I intend to go forward from here, my thinking is consistent with the Kolb’s theory as I looked at the what, so what and now what.

As I started this assignment it was important that I first got an understanding of what is reflection, a simple explanation. In the article by Reed & Koliba (nd) they provided me with this explanation by first stating that we reflect everyday by looking in the mirror. By looking back in your mind and your experiences you can make decisions based on what has happened. I then took a look at the article by Pavlovich et al (2009) to see the various assessment that can be used. Understanding these two articles fully it led me to think about my audience for whom my lesson plan was catering to, recognizing that the assessment to be given is determined based on the audience.

My area of expertise is that of HR but I wanted to come from within my comfort zone and apply my knowledge of reflection and how to relate it to assessment for my students and hence I looked at grade 5 students to see how I could achieve this. Whew, what was I thinking? First of all, I had no idea what activities, not to mention what types of technology, I could possibly use for these children at that age. This is so, as I know that in adult learning, blogs, wikis, discussion forums and e-portfolios can be used for students to reflect on various topics. I laugh now as I type this as I ask myself why would you think to go outside of your scope?

So off I went trying my best to come up with activities and technology to use within the lesson plan. What made it start to get easy for me was when I paused and thought about the fact that students are very much technologically savvy and by introducing them to the Edmodo tool which is quite similar to facebook, I should not have much trouble in being able to accomplish the reflective component of the lesson. Notwithstanding, that I also incorporated parents into this teaching element of my plan. Creating the lesson plan then became quite easy but then came the technology to present the lesson plan. I always thought of myself as a “topclass” technology person, even though I only knew how to do a power point, as I always thought power point was it, but here we were asked to use a different method to present. I could have used the same power point and then recorded with screencast-o-matic, but being the sucker for punishment that I am, I went ahead and tried something new, powtoons. Can I stress more how this whole assignment was truly a learning experience?  Clueless to powtoons I still approached it with all that I had and was able to successfully complete the assignment.

Coming out of this whole experience, what I must remember as a facilitator, is that I must be able to cater reflective practices to the intended audience, to have a 10-year old do a blog post would not be as effective as having an adult do a blog. What I also need to do is to start using different technology to do things and stop using what is comfortable. What made me say this? I do not know who your audience will be, I may have to teach Secondary school students Management of Business and as such I will need to be able to equip myself with all forms of technology. This becomes a bittersweet topic today, as we look at the fact that with the COVID-19 everything now has to go online, you may be asked to assist and lend your knowledge of online learning as we are forced now to go online. I can now boast as being that facilitator who knows how to integrate reflective-reflexive practices in learning.

Below is the link to my presentation, which demonstrates my ability to use the readings to effectively create a lesson plan with incorporates reflection catering to the appropriate age group. Please copy and paste the link in google for the best result.

Lesson Plan with Learning Resources

https://www.powtoon.com/embed/crUd4DSKQNS/

References

Pavlovich, K., Collins, E., & Jones, G. (2009). Developing students's skills in reflective practice: Design and assessment. Journal of Management Education, 33 (1), 37-58. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.119.2821&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Reed, J., Koliba, C., (nd). Facilitating Reflection - A Manual for Leaders and Educators. http://www.uvm.edu/~dewey/reflect.pdf

My interpretation of a digital technology that can be used in Reflective-Reflexive Practice

Oh what a week! This week has been the most difficult for me as a student and a key player in my organization. It has caused me to reflect first and foremost about my time management skills which were put to the test as I scrambled to get my assignments completed. One thing I am always quick to say to persons is that you must not wait until the last minute but try and do a little bit each day. Being under a tad bit of pressure has made me realize that I need to more consistent in how I manage my time if I am to be successful in my weekly assignments.

“Sometimes you have to think about something to fully understand it”, hmmm. This statement resonates with me most as during the week I have had my staff members question me as to why they were required to do a particular task. As I tried to explain to them one thing that struck me was, maybe I should have them all reflect on what happened at the event. The Rolfe model immediately came to mind as I want them to think about the what, the so what and the what next. I want them to be able to explain what happened at the event, how they thought who we catered to felt about it, how they themselves felt about it and finally I want them to be able to come up with ways that can improve what was done. This is me incorporating reflection in my day to day operation.

 I do agree with Reynolds (1998) and his notion that “reflection is not a process but an integral part of what it means to lead and to manage”. The article proves that reflecting is not only to be done individually but it is necessary for all players involved, to see the organization reaching its objectives. In my organization we need to review what we are doing, how we are doing it and put plans in place that it does not happen again, this however cannot be a one-time thing but constant reviewing. Through reflection, whether publicly which must be done as we provide a service or productive reflection, employees must be aware of the challenges and threats which can be addressed to create new ideas. Reflective practice helps to think after something has happened, the moment we think back, we start to ask ourselves many questions which aid us in improving in all that we do. We must rely on past experiences to assist us in modifying the way forward to ensure that the organization is able to reach its goals and objectives. Reflection leads to continuous growth which is needed if an organization is to succeed.

I encourage you to take a look at the below video as it highlights the purpose of Reflective Practice in the organization.

What I must now decipher, is how, through the use of technology can I have them do this reflection. I took a look at the digital storytelling, but to me that caters to an educational background. May be someone can point out to me how it can be used within an organizational setting to warrant the same results. I will also conduct some more research to get a better understanding of its role in reflection and if it can be incorporated into organizational reflection both for me and my staff members.  Recognizing that all staff members may not be technologically saavy, one way that came to mind that maybe we can use to share our reflections would be the use of Microsoft Teams - Microsoft Office 365. This allows for engaging in a forum similar to WhatsApp which carries a chat. I recently had the opportunity to use it, still fumbling, but will definitely interact with it some more. Below is one of the teams that I am currently a member of.

References

Reynolds, M. (1998). Reflection and critical reflection in management learning. Management Learning 29, no. 2: 183 –200

https://youtu.be/SQcUMAhW5Ts

Reflecting and Technology - What it means to me

As I started this journey, I was expecting to be excited but as I saw what was expected of me I got a little scared and overwhelmed questioning myself, “can I really do this?”, with a little hesitation, I quickly thought and replied to myself, “YES, YOU CAN!’.

When I was first presented with the notion of reflecting, I asked myself “how am I supposed to this, who does that”, sit and think about what they have done. Then it hit me you do, you often think about what you have and what you could have done differently, this made me then realize that all my life I have been reflecting and not knowing that this is what I have been doing. This made it easier for me to put my thoughts on paper.

I am still a bit skeptical about reflecting after completing a course, this is so, as I do not want to be in a position to have to reflect on what I did in a course that I was not successful in, this is me scared of failing and not looking at reflection from the angle of it being there to improve a situation. For me, I think it is quite useful in my day-to-day operations in my organization as when commencing a new “cycle, or year” and looking back at the processes and ways in which things were done, the outcome and come up with new ways to enhance the overall experience going forward. How though will I use technology to do this?

One thing that struck me hard as I reviewed reflection came when one of my colleagues brought to my attention how we could use the Kolb’s learning cycle when building a house, hmmmm, can we build an entire house and then reflect? Suppose in reflecting we recognize that we should have used steel to hold the blocks together, what do you think would be the outcome?

What stood out to me most in my readings this week was how we could use technology to reflect. I must admit I very unsure of if this was possible as I could not think of what type of technology I could use to reflect. I however found that they are many types of technologies that can be used to reflect. But why reflect using technology, here’s why. The past decade has seen the rapid development of technology in education. The learning environments aim at providing a learning process that is more comprehensive than traditional approaches and the environments require communication and technology to help the new generations to learn, especially those who are learner-centered.

Through the use of technology, students can reflect in a more meaningful way where there is collaboration through chats and discussions. For me, I never thought of using the blog to reflect as I always thought that was for those “computer geeks” those similar to youtubers, so I stayed away, but after doing some research I think it would be considered as a good way for students to gain and learn knowledge and experiences through blogging. The Edmodo app is a tool which I truly love and would want to use this with my students to engage in reflecting. Used for conducting informal education, it is considered as education-oriented, supports learning, allows teachers to provide feedback and educational environment accessible to teachers, learners and parents from any place at any time. This look alike to the facebook app is the tool I would want to engage my children with as they reflect on various topics whilst and after completion.

I must make mention though that in Barbados, we are a far away from reflecting through technology. To my surprise, my son is now pursuing the CSEC English and they have been asked to do reflections, nice I said, but sadly these are being done the old fashioned way (writing on paper) and to me, and I might be wrong, does not carry the effect that a reflection is supposed to carry. Maybe I need to enhance my knowledge on reflection before I speak on it, but I still feel that there is much that must be done. Is it a case where we now need to engage our teachers in reflection and the benefits that it would have on the student’s learning? We as teachers need to recognize that students are very comfortable with technology and with the many tools that are available, whether blogs, social networking, WIKIS or my favorite Edmodo, we can encourage students to self-reflect on what they did, how they did it and what they can do to make it better the next time around. After we have done this, do we have the technology within the schools to ensure that reflection is done through technology? As I conclude there are so many unanswered questions which has forced me to continue my quest in gaining more knowledge on reflection and how it can and should be used through technology to enhance collaborative learning.

The below video gives a clear understanding of how self-reflection can be done through technology. What impacted me most in this video is the fact that they understand that integrating technology into schools remains a challenge and thus have demonstrated to us the SELFIE that can be used with the overall view of improving learning and teaching.

My BIG 5 Personality Trait

Personality – What really is It!!!! When I think of personality, I think of characteristics and qualities that determine who a person is. Each person’s personality is quite different, each person is like a stone but what makes us unique is when we are carved into something beautiful whether it is a diamond, a ruby or even a sapphire, we then become our own individual with our own personality.

I identify as having many strengths including being intuitive, focused, compassionate, thorough, dependable, goal-orientated and efficient as well as being a team player.  According to my own theory I believe that my biggest weakness is that I tend to be too accommodating.

 

To take a look at my personality traits I used the Big Five Model, based on a range of factors, to determine my personality. My highest score was that of conscientious which seem to cover many of my behaviors namely: hard working, ambitious and being able to plan and organize effectively. When these results were revealed I smiled to myself and said I wonder if this is something I always had or is it highly demonstrated at this point as a result of me getting old and needing to be more proficient in everything I do by being totally organized or I should say attempting to be totally organized. Subconsciously, I do agree with the results, that this is in fact me.

My second highest score contradicts who I really am as it speaks to one who is low in self-esteem, sad, insecure and unsure of themselves. How could this possibly be my second highest score, hmmm, this surely leaves me to ponder? On the other hand, the agreeableness trait scored the lowest and this was quite shocking to me. How so? This low score highlights negative vibes which I consider to be quite the opposite to my personality. If this is in fact the case, it means I have a lot to do to ensure that I exhibit positive relationships with not only family but peers and all that I may come into contact with. This trait is very important in all aspects of life as we deal with all types of people, whether personally, professionally or academically. I often hear others say to me, “Carol, you are full of life, always willing to help, always cheerful”, but now I know I need to stop and think about how I am currently doing things and if they are being done in the best interest of others or for my own self-achievement.

Colleagues, do your scores truly represent who you are?

My Learning Style - The VARK WAY

The purpose of teaching is to facilitate learning and to ensure that the learners learn effectively.  The learning style is considered as the way a person perceives, processes and retains new information.  The VARK model which was developed by Fleming and Mills provides learners with a profile of their learning styles. I used this, to categorize my learning preference which saw to my dominant style being that of Read/Write.

The read/write learning style is a preferred mode of both teachers and students as it promotes a student who has the ability to read and write well. This preference emphasizes text-based with strategies that include the use of: lists; headings; definitions; glossaries; dictionaries; textbooks; readings; notes; teachers who use words well and have lots of information in sentences and notes; essays and manuals.

This learning style which is truly my style of learning can be applied for learning in an online environment. The notes, handouts, readings, manuals, definitions can all be used in addition to extra readings available through the internet.  These can be converted by using these tools to allow the student to write out the words again; rewrite the ideas and principles into other words, turn reactions, actions, diagrams, charts and flows into words.  An example of how this style can be used is by making a video and having the student write a synopsis of the what the video entailed.  The video then teaches and by rewriting in your own words the student has the ability to grasp the topic. With the use of the video it takes the attention from the Read/Write and focuses on the visual learning style which I also tend to think that I am. Is it possible to have two learning styles? I know for sure that I am Read/Write but the more I study I realize that there is a need to reach out to other ways of learning, sometimes mainly videos, to assist in my learning.

In both my undergraduate and post graduate studies I found it necessary to ensure that I had adequate notes on a topic. After which I would put the notes in an essay form. Graphs and points were drawn from the essays, internalized and then rewritten in my own words. In preparing for the exam I would review exam questions and practice them, write lists in how the layout should appear and then rewrite essays with relevant points which are necessary to complete the exam. The results prove to be me, but is this a true reflection of my learning style?