As the semester is slowly winding down and coming to a close in a couple of weeks, I've been spending the past week or two contemplating all the changes that I've made this semester and struggled through. Change is hard. Period. It's so hard to break away from any type of tradition, and I have concluded that I have somewhat accomplished this in 4 classes. Were they all successful? No. Do I still need to make changes? Definitely. It's a process. In my eyes, a good teacher is always trying to better (change) their class so that the students can not only be successful, but learn in the process. During this reflecting process, I began to think, is THIS worth it? Is it worth all of the change and hard work from a traditional lecture to an electronic type classroom? With an electronic class, a whole new slew of problems occur when using a computer, which I wouldn't have to deal with in a traditional class. I didn't have the answers to these questions until I surveyed my classes. Here are some of the responses I received:
“At the time I did not know I was enrolled in an electronic class, but I much prefer the electronic class over the traditional class.”
“I have learned more in this electronic class than the traditional class. There needs to be more electronic math classes.”
“You can work at your own pace, without feeling rushed or that you are just a slow learner.”
“The best part of this course for me is that I learned.”
“For once I feel I can succeed in a subject that I despise. It provides multiple ways to keep your grades up, even if you don’t do well on the test. Overall, this provides me with a glimpse of hope and positive moral to learn and succeed.”
“I really enjoyed the course, and I have nothing bad to say about it. I have struggled in math forever and this class has seemed to help me get through it better.”
WOW. I was speechless reading some the responses from my students. This was only a few from the bunch (and 1 response out of 7 questions). The positivity that I received back had me overwhelmed. I had the answer to my questions. I'm happy to report that I will continue teaching electronic classes this summer and coming fall. In fact, after this semester, I will be in charge of an electronic math course. I will be creating everything for other instructors across the college to use for this course. I'm very excited about this new method of teaching class and am looking forward in tweaking the course each semester.
Thank you God for a little bit of encouragement, because these little bits can go a long way and make a huge impact on me and the future of my students.
-Miche
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
MIA?
Hello again fellow bloggers/readers! Wow...it's been over a month since I've blogged. March was a very busy month for me. In the spring semester, March = Midterms = lots of grading! (especially when you have 8 classes) My best friend got married, and I was so honored to be her Maid of Honor. The wedding was a great celebration of their love and union. I couldn't be happier for the newly weds! I had a blast participating in all the wedding festivities. During the Mardi Gras holidays, I spent my time visiting family and working on school stuff. I also spent a little bit of time on my favorite hobby - scrap booking! Every weekend was booked with something, but it was all good, fun things - my mother's bday party, West Side Story, and a wedding shower to name a few.
HOUSE update: Well, to be honest with you, there is nothing to update. We are currently waiting for houses to come on the market. Although there have been some moments where we have felt impatient, I think I'm finally ok with the waiting. An advantage of waiting is that my trip to Africa is now 5 weeks away, and I couldn't imagine being in the middle of trying to purchase/move into a new home when I'll be gone for 2 weeks. So updates on the house I'm sure will come after my mission trip.
AFRICA update: 5 weeks and 1 day and counting. Last week was our first training. I must say, when I left the meeting I had a mix of emotions. I was refreshed with the sense of excitement, nervous about all the traveling, sad about re-realizing I'll be leaving my hubby for 2 weeks (we haven't been apart much since we are married), but SO happy to be a part of this amazing mission opportunity. As I sat at the table, I thought, wow...God called someone like me to travel to Africa to serve, pray, and encourage the people of Africa. What a privilege!
During worship time at church this past weekend, God brought to my mind Be Still. This semester has been the busiest and most trying semester since I've been teaching. I THOUGHT I was a flexible teacher, but I learned a whole new meaning to that word. I'm very grateful for this semester though, because now I know what I can handle and how to handle certain situations. It has definitely been a growing time in my professional world. I'm looking forward to this mission trip, just for the fact that I will be able to Be Still. I am not particularly looking forward to 16 hour plane rides and 8-12 hour bus rides, but what an opportunity for life to slow down. The semester will be over and work will not be on the brain. My prayer right now is that I use these opportune times to focus on God, take it all in, and grow as a person and spiritually.
Prayer request: The team continues to stay healthy and that our immune systems stay strong, the team continue to bond over our trainings, the families of the team members - give them peace while we are gone, that we would be sensitive about what God wants us to do.
Thank you for the prayers!
Miche
HOUSE update: Well, to be honest with you, there is nothing to update. We are currently waiting for houses to come on the market. Although there have been some moments where we have felt impatient, I think I'm finally ok with the waiting. An advantage of waiting is that my trip to Africa is now 5 weeks away, and I couldn't imagine being in the middle of trying to purchase/move into a new home when I'll be gone for 2 weeks. So updates on the house I'm sure will come after my mission trip.
AFRICA update: 5 weeks and 1 day and counting. Last week was our first training. I must say, when I left the meeting I had a mix of emotions. I was refreshed with the sense of excitement, nervous about all the traveling, sad about re-realizing I'll be leaving my hubby for 2 weeks (we haven't been apart much since we are married), but SO happy to be a part of this amazing mission opportunity. As I sat at the table, I thought, wow...God called someone like me to travel to Africa to serve, pray, and encourage the people of Africa. What a privilege!
During worship time at church this past weekend, God brought to my mind Be Still. This semester has been the busiest and most trying semester since I've been teaching. I THOUGHT I was a flexible teacher, but I learned a whole new meaning to that word. I'm very grateful for this semester though, because now I know what I can handle and how to handle certain situations. It has definitely been a growing time in my professional world. I'm looking forward to this mission trip, just for the fact that I will be able to Be Still. I am not particularly looking forward to 16 hour plane rides and 8-12 hour bus rides, but what an opportunity for life to slow down. The semester will be over and work will not be on the brain. My prayer right now is that I use these opportune times to focus on God, take it all in, and grow as a person and spiritually.
Prayer request: The team continues to stay healthy and that our immune systems stay strong, the team continue to bond over our trainings, the families of the team members - give them peace while we are gone, that we would be sensitive about what God wants us to do.
Thank you for the prayers!
Miche
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