Module 8: MVMs

My husband and I have been together for nearly 30 years and we really do not have a good concept of what the other does. We see the hard work each puts into the job. He will often take me to a grand opening of the office or restaurant he has just finished and I can ooh and ahh with the rest of the visitors. He does fabulous work. Each time I take an extended trip to some remote part of the world, I will return to a remodeled bathroom or bedroom, a new deck, or a rock garden. However, I often don't participate in the process.

Last night I showed my husband my EDU 762 Final Project. It was fun to listen to him ooh and ahh over my work. Web pages are still a mystery to him and the idea that his wife builds them is as amazing to him as his work is to me. I don't think we will ever truly understand how the other does what we do, but it is so much fun to view the finished product together.

My learning moments this week came through self-reflection based on the climate of my workplace and something my husband said to me as he reviewed my project. Both require me to dig deep into my psyche and determine what I want to do when I grow up. At this point in my life, that really means what I am going to do with my skills and aspirations now that I am on the verge of retirement.

What is next for me?

Module 7: MVMs

This week my most valuable learning moments came from a variety of sources. All are related to the class but only a few are directly in the class.

• I was blessed to have conversations these past few days with some of my favorite colleagues about teaching and learning. 
• I have been involved in reviewing candidates for the directorship of the new Faculty Commons. Watching their presentations and hearing their vision for the direction of teach at BC are stimulating. 
• I have taken one part of a project in my BTS 168 class apart. It was exactly what I was having the students do in the project when they take a finished report and deconstruct it. I took a project and deconstructed it into the various pieces that should make up a comprehensive whole. I was pleased. I think I accomplished that goal. If you would like to see for yourself, check out my BTS 168 Team Initial Design Project. 
• I reintroduced myself to Teaching Online: A Practical Guide by Susan Ko and Steve Rossen. It is a great reference book. 

In the past two weeks I have spent at least three 10 hour days working on my project and have added a bit nearly every other day. I am so hoping that I got the concept right and that major revisions are not in store for me. I'm tired. It was been a long, hard haul since January.

I started January enrolled in one class and teaching three. By the time mid month came around, I was enrolled in two classes, teaching three, totally inundated by tenure issues, and had been without power for four days. I ended up dropping my BI class and am still bummed about that.

In mid February I was enrolled in one class, teaching three, still totally inundated with tenure issues and my father passed away on my 24th wedding anniversary. It was all I could do to stay on my feet and focused. My students, my classmates, and my professor were all incredibly kind. My family stepped up to the plate and we all got done what needed to get done.

In March I was enrolled in two classes, teaching three, still deeply immersed in tenure issues, spending 20 hours per week on a hiring committee, and preparing to teach one class I have never taught before and one I teach only once a year. 

When April comes around, I'm thinking things will be easier. I am still enrolled in one class, teaching three, still deeply immersed in tenure issues, now find I am on the Pluralism committee, and am working on my third request for public disclosure. In all the years that I have been at BC, I have gotten three requests for public disclosure. They have all been within the last two months.

I have gained a great deal from this course. It is rewarding to understand that what I have been doing is pedagogically sound and to be able to put language around it. It is also great to have the opportunity to dissect a class and put it back together in better shape. I am just ready to have a life for a few weeks before I start my next class for summer quarter.

The Art of an Authentic Apology

Blogger Cynthia Morton writes, "An insincere apology can be almost as much of an insult as the upsetting event.   If you don't mean it, don't say it is how many of us feel when it comes to hearing the words 'I'm sorry'."  Is there really an art to it? I will answer a resounding Yes. If not an art, at least a methodology.  

So, how does one apologize? 

First, we need to take ownership of the apology. An apology uses I language.
Correct: I am sorry I ...
Incorrect: I am sorry you...

It is appropriate to say I am sorry that my explanation was not clear. It is not appropriate to say I am sorry you were confused. First of all, we don't know the other is confused unless we are told so. It is not appropriate to project our feelings on another person. If I am the one who wrote the the confusing explanation, then I need to take responsibility for it. In other words, do not blame someone else for what you did incorrectly.

Second, never call someone names during an apology. Better yet, never call someone a name. We are all clear that saying, "Xxxxx is a loser" or "Xxxxx is an idiot" is name calling. One can lessen the impact by taking ownship of the opinion, "I think Xxxxx is an idiot." However, that kind of name calling is still inappropriate.
Correct: After rereading my comment, I see how it could it raise all sorts of questions.
Incorrect: You are confused.

Third, do not project thoughts or feelings on another person. We don't know how that person thinks or feels unless that message is communicated to us.
Correct: Thank you for your question. I'm happy to explain what I meant by my earlier comment.
Incorrect: You are reading far too much into my comment. 

Fourth, ask what can be done to apologize. The person may want something specific or nothing at all. However, try referring back to what the other person originally requested. That may still be all the person really wants.
Correct: I'm sorry. What can I do to make this up to you?
Incorrect: I'm sorry I hurt your feelings. Let me tell everyone how sorry I am.

All in all, it does not take much to say one is sorry. The point is to say it, mean it, and try not to make the original issue any worse by adding additional insults through placing the blame on the other party, name calling, and incorrectly interpreting thoughts or feelings. 

Module 6: MVMs

This has been one crazy week. And I am legally prohibited from talking about it. Oh well, been there before. Hopefully telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth will prevail again.

Our readings this week were very interesting. I particularly enjoyed the readings on scaffolding. The article on scaffolding from wikipedia only whet my appetite and I found a particularly interesting article at the University of Georgia on Scaffolding - Emerging Perspective. The concepts of both scaffolding and cybercoaching just made good sense to me. I don't know where I learned to do scaffolding, but it I find that I do it often in my classes.

We also created a pre-course survey. I did one on SurveyMonkey that incorporated several elements that I already use in my classes. I normally have students write an introduction, do a self-assessment, and write a computer plan. Each of the items gives me a valuable piece of information and utilize a different tool in our LMS. I will likely continue to use them for most of my classes; however, I may rewrite this one and use it in my Web 2.0 Tools class. I invite you to give it a try.

Click here to take survey

Module 5: Plagiarism in an Online Class

Plagiarism is not a big problem in my technology classes, for the most part. It is huge in my Web classes where students will copy and paste an entire Web page into their own page. Not hard to catch because they cannot create the code that is present in those pages.

In my database classes there is a whole market in selling homework. I'm sure this is an issue in other classes as well. In order to try to stem some of the trafficking, I have a methodology that the students must follow when they create their databases. When the databases are created as I require, the name is stored in the module code for the database. I can find it and verify who created the database. The students are not sophisticated enough at this stage to find the code and I don't tell them where it is. I don't even tell them how I check.

I also customize the data files for every quarter. I cannot tell if someone else is doing their homework, but I can tell if the database is one of mine or one that was obtained from a different source.

I have a YouTube channel where I give demonstrations of the techniques in the textbook I use. Someone contacted me though my channel and offered me $100 for one of my databases. He told me that he was turning it in as homework. I didn't answer.

Module 5: Taxonomy of Assessment

Guiding Objective
Working as part of a small team and given an example report and feedback from the project owner, the student will analyze and deconstruct the report to design and build a database capable of producing that report.

Module Objectives

1. After completing Tutorial 01 in the course textbook, a student will list fields from an example report containing 20 or more fields with 100% accuracy using the team wiki.
2. After completing Tutorial 02 in the course textbook, a student will discuss with team members the relationship of each field in a list of 20 or more fields to all other fields using database specific terminology and create grouped lists (tables) with 90% accuracy using Elluminate.
3. After reading Appendix A in the course text book, swill analyze each table, add necessary fields which are not shown on the sample report, and and classify the Key field(s) in each table according to its specific function with 90 – 100% accuracy using the team wiki.
4. After reading the supplemental material on Many-to-Many Relationships, the student team will illustrate the relationships among the tables using the team whiteboard with 70 – 100% accuracy.

The table is using only activities from objectives 1 and 2 at this point.

Bloom categories	Learning objective verbs	Activity
Knowledge (recall, list, define, identify, collect, label)	Identify, list	Students will open the sample report at the class site and using the example in their assigned course textbook, they will identify and list each field in the report on the team wiki.
Comprehension (summarize, describe interpret, predict, discuss)	Discuss, describe	Students will discuss and describe the relationship each field listed has to each other field in the list using Elluminate.
Application (apply, demonstrate, illustrate, classify, experiment, discover)	Demonstrate	Students will demonstrate knowledge of the difference between a label and a fields by listing only fields in their field list on the team wiki.
Analysis (analyze, classify, connect, explain, infer)	Explain	Students will research two database specific terms, explain their meaning, and post examples on the team wiki.
Synthesis (combine, integrate, plan, create, design, formulate)	Combine, create	Students will combine their own list of fields with those of their team members to create a master list of fields on the team wiki.
Evaluation (assess, recommend, convince, compare, conclude, summarize)	Assess, compare	Students will assess their own list of fields, compare it to those of their team members  on the team wiki.

Module 4: MVMs

This week was about team projects. But my MVMs for this week are not about team projects. I headed an audit team when I was 25 years old and have been a group leader, supervisor, manager, team leader, committee chair, and team player since then. Teamwork is a necessary part of business. I don't like it and I don't dislike it. It is simply a part of life. We participate in teams at work, school, sports activities and volunteer community work. When I was young and trying to make my mark the corporate world, I was quick to volunteer to lead a committee. Now that I am old and have no need to be in the spotlight, it is my purpose to support the efforts of younger members looking for opportunities to prove themselves. I consider it my responsibility and privilege to help them become better. I hope I do that by delivering my part on time, helping others when needed, stepping in when asked, and by not taking over when the team struggles.

The project team of which I was a part for our assessment toolbox did a very nice job. Everyone pulled together and stepped in as needed to do what was needed. I am pleased to have worked with Mare, Martha and Karen. I hope you will visit the Team Sprocket Assessment Toolbox. 

My most valuable moments this week came in doing the research for my own portion of the project. Sir Ken Robinson states at the end of the video that I have embedded below that we should tread softly when others lay their dreams at our feet. He reminded me how important it is to encourage students to achieve in all our interactions with them. How we behave towards and communicate with them can impact their faith in their own ability to achieve.