Website

This is very interesting and useful to me. The school where I work has a website that only one person can access totally. She is usually so busy that she cannot respond to e-mail or phone calls. It is very hard to manage. I wish that I could use this kind of website which is totally accessible and useful. I hope to work on this, and convince the school to make changes.

SpicyNodes

Today we are going to learn about SpicyNodes, and I hope that this will be something colorful that my students will like. I really liked Hannah's presentation using this technique.

Duplicate Suggestions

In creating activities for the syllabus, I found it interesting that some groups offered the same suggestions about how to address the needs of the class. This to me shows that the idea is important.

Interviews and Trust

I was very surprised to read in the journal Language and Society that one of the most important aspects that interviewers value is the sense that they can trust the candidate. I was surprised that this old-fashioned value was even mentioned. Unexplained gaps in work history or a lack of frankness turn employers away. This was very refreshing to learn!

The Gains of Group Work

I have learned so much from working on group projects. My former group members taught me about SpicyNodes and Digital Storytelling, in additional to wonderful sites which generate perfect APA style in documents. I was actually reluctant to move away from my former group. I had just gotten used to working with these very nice young women, and I felt comfortable with communicating with them and sharing information. They were so resourceful! It was difficult for me to move on to another group after having found so much to gain from my working relationship with these women.

I am very fortunate that my current group partner also has a very rich background as is very easy to work with.

I would like to keep contact with my group members, although I know that this is hard to do after classes are finished. Life is just to busy.

On-Site Visits to Potential Employers

Our group established an on-site visit as one of our activities. I think that this is very important, especially for undergraduates. Many students complete a course of study without knowing the real employment opportunities that are available for them later. They are very disappointed after completing many costly years of study and then finding that their employment prospects do not match their original goals. Many of my former students expressed an interest in studying psychology. Even though they were warned that in many cases they would have difficulty in securing employment after completing four years at the university. In later years I learned that they were required  to return to the university to complete a different course of study. I am not against the study of psychology, by any means, but I think that young people must be made more aware of their study and career choices.

Sometimes students complete degrees with which they are truly fascinated. Then, when they begin to work in the field, they find the actual work distasteful. I know of social workers and employees in mental institutions who really loved their studies, but then found the actual employment very discouraging. I know one woman who returned to the university and completed an entirely different B.A.

Although the downturn in the economy has been very painful, perhaps it is encouragement for young people to choose their majors very carefully and to look seriously at the actual job prospects waiting for them upon completion of their degrees.

Group Work

I have learned so much about group work from this class, especially about the constant need to be very flexible. It has been very educational. I especially liked the rubric, and I am introducing it to the school where I work. I also have introduced peer assessment as part of the grade in one of the classes that I teach. I think that it has greatly improved the students' sense of responsibility to others.

Schools are usually very complicated workplaces, very intense, with various personalities. So, practicing working in groups is a great preparation for work in schools.