R2P Synthesis

One thing that I was very interested in during the whole R2P process was the fact that I would get to reflect on this entire process. This is a new process and activity for me, something I never thought I would be able to do.

While being an education major, one thing that you do almost everyday is observe. Observing in education is a critical skill to have as you will use it in your everyday classroom. Throughout this process, I think my observation skills have increased greatly. Sure, I used to walk around my classrooms and check in with the students to see how they were doing. However, now I believe I am watching for everything, big or small, all throughout the day.

Developing a question was something that was pretty new to me for this project. I have created research questions for papers in high school, but I had never created questions that I would be able to create an entire lesson and activity for students with. For instance, with my group, we were able to create a question, and then create an entire video in order to provide information for our students. Check out our video here!

Research has ALWAYS been a struggle for me. From day 1, this was my biggest concern. I have always struggled with finding concrete and substantial articles that I would be able to use quotes from in my discussions. This project pushed me to continue to work on my research skills. Going back to my first post, I referenced bell hooks quite a bit. She is one influencer that I continuously research because I am always so fascinated with what she has to say. This project helped me to expand my knowledge of APA, to create something that was less formal than a discussion post, while still incorporating all of the important aspects of a scholarly article.

Reflections have been something that I have been doing since I became an Education major. If I am being honest, I had no idea that reflections were such a big deal in regards to Education. Last semester, I remember complaining very frequently about how “all I did was write reflections.” However, if you were to ask me today, I would say that Reflections are one of the most influential pieces of writing to be published. I sincerely think reflections are one of the main pieces to mold and build upon in your classroom.

In regards to technology, I chose something that I felt most comfortable with – writing. The first mistake I noticed that I was making in my first and second blog posts was the fact that I was making it too formal. I had APA citations with an entire reference section at the end. Therefore, in the progress of my next two blog posts, I worked hard to make them look less like a research paper, and more like a personal blog.

Two things that I would do completely differently if I had the opportunity to redo the R2P project would be to work ahead rather than wait until the last night to work on my blog posts, and instead of working with a form of technology that I was comfortable with, expand my horizons and try something new, specifically a podcast. Aside from the R2P, procrastination has always been an issue for me. I think it was specifically difficult in this scenario was because the R2P is an ongoing project that I was continuously reflecting on. Technology is something that I want to stay on top of in my future classroom.

I think one big thing that I am taking away from this project and into my future classroom would be the idea of pushing students to expand their horizons. That was the one thing that I absolutely loved about this project. This project taught me that it is okay to go beyond what you are comfortable with to maximize your learning. I plan to have many choice menus for my students. allowing them to create some crazy projects.

One bit of advice I would give to future 496 students, would be to bounce ideas off other students! I found it extremely helpful to have conversations with fellow students about ideas that I was having for my future posts. There were multiple instances where I would ask my friends if things made sense/if they fit into my posts. I highly recommend to future students to peer edit their posts! One bit of advice that I have for Tatiana would be to continuously review students’ posts with accolades along with some critiques in order to make them better.

Overall, this project has been extremely rewarding. I especially loved to look back and reflect on everything this project has taught me. I think my favorite part was the group post. I really enjoyed being able to come together with a group of people, who I barely knew before this class, to create a fun and engaging video. This project has been a wild ride, but I will carry everything it taught me into my future classroom.