Life offers its wisdom generously. Everything teaches. Not everyone learns. Life asks of us the same thing we have been asked in every class: “ Stay awake.” “ Pay attention.” But paying attention is no simple matter. It requires us not to be distracted by expectations, past experiences, labels and masks. It asks that we not jump to early conclusions and that we remain open to surprise. Wisdom comes most easily to those who have the courage to embrace life without judgment and are willing to not know, sometimes for a long time. It requires us to be more fully and simply alive than we have been taught to be. It may require us to suffer. But ultimately we will be more than we were when we began. There is the seed of a greater wholeness in everyone.
- Rachel Naomi Remen in “My Grandfather’s Blessings”
This week we are asking you to explore your own learning over the entire course as a way to prepare yourself to write the final assignment. We would like you to slow down, and pay attention to your experiences on the course and to "quest" through your own learning. We want you to gather your ideas, questions and learning and we want you to be an artist in putting those learnings together in meaningful ways. The first set of tasks are optional and the second set are mandatory.
In our online zoom sessions on May 13, 14 and 15 we’ll be asking you to share some of your reflections with us.
Sit and reflect on the work you have done and witnessed (in the zoom meetings, in your reflections, in the readings and videos, in your journals, and in the WhatsApp groups). Go back through the webpages for this course and review the material. Make a list of the ideas, themes, and questions that stand out for you.
Read/listen through your journals and assignments and highlight or underline what jumps out at you. What is most remarkable/interesting/useful about your learning?
Think about your learning on this course as you do a creative project - write a poem, make a drawing, put on music and move, freewrite, or anything else you do that feels creative.
Call a colleague, friend or family member and tell them about your learning on this course. What stories do you tell? What is meaningful about those stories?
Go to this Padlet (https://padlet.com/maryss/3j4d4kkc87xzzcbk) and click on the small pink circle at the bottom of the right side of the page. A box will appear and there you can create a post. You can write, upload photos, videos or even draw somethings. Create 1-3 entries about your learning. After you post, please comment or respond to others' posts! You can also return later in the week to see what others have offered.
Create a few metaphor or similes that help you understand your experiences learning on this course. Share them with a classmate.
Make up a task that would help you explore your own learning.
Re-read your pre-course assignment. How have you grown or changed? What answers for you have changed? Shifted? Stayed the same? If you are still finishing the pre-course assignment you can imagine how you have grown, changed, shiftd and stayed the same.
The goal of this course is the following: As an outcome of this course supervisors will be able to set a foundation for and co-create a coaching relationship grounded in effective communication practices that support teacher development and student learning. Think or write about the following questions: How well did I reach the goal of the course? How do I know this? What evidence do I have that I can do these things? What else might I need or want to do to know that I have reached this goal?
Go to the reflection form (link will be sent to your Whatapp group) this week and fill out your answers.
In your whatsapp group share 2-3 insights about your own learning from this course that are meaningful to you and explain why they are important to you.
Come to your zoom meeting ready to reflect together about the tasks you have done, both mandatory and optional, and your learning on this course.