No Class Selfie
Day 3 (of 187) – September 6, 2018
Unbelievable. I review my pics and this is what I’ve got. This is one of 3 pictures of course sign-ups. That’s it. I had full intentions of taking a selfie with my EDUC 360 class… my first class at UNBC… but nope. I must have been focussed… or not focussed. This would depend on your perspective. I chatted about stuff that I did not intend to while going through my course syllabus. Admittedly, going through the course syllabus is not one of my favourite classes to facilitate, but it’s was definitely a great opportunity for my class to give me FORMATIVE FEEDBACK on my course syllabus and ask questions. Dang… I did change my mind on some of the course assignments and yes, there were errors in my course syllabus. AWESOME. I appreciated the feedback. No only did I learn how to get stuff posted to BLACKBOARD (a different platform from Canvas), I also updated my course syllabus with version 2. The irony does not escape me when much of my course chatter was about FORMATIVE and SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT. This was nice.
It’s interesting trying to transfer what I know and understand from my teaching and learning experience at SFU (Simon Fraser University) to teaching at UNBC (University of Northern British Columbia). As the saying goes, “you don’t know what you don’t know” but you’re surely going to find out when you put yourself out there and TRY. It’s interesting to hear how other classes went. I shouldn’t be my own toughest critic, but as always… it could have been better. I was orienting myself to how to use technology of the classroom, getting my PowerPoint going, and turning up the volume. That’s still true… except I’m not navigating how to use the TV/VCR (lol). I was getting used to the class orientation, class size, and plowing through my course syllabus in less than 2-hours. I was so used to students not really knowing each other, classes ranging from 28-38 students, and 4-hour classes. It was a shift in momentum for me… but I’m looking forward to more.
Well… that’s the only class that I’m teaching this week, but I have much more to do and achieve. Now that I know the basics of BLACKBOARD, I need to get my other classes on board. I have some prep to do for next week’s classes and I want to get my head back into research with SFU’s Centre for the Study of Educational Leadership and Policy (CSELP). I’ve been postponing that and really, I need to take the lead on that… because I have something to learn. So I really appreciate having an office where I can leave work at work… so that I can get to different work at home. This is the pros and cons of not being with my family. There is a huge part of me that wants to be in Sechelt to be with my kid, man, and dog. On the other hand, this is my time in Prince George to make the most of this teaching and learning experience in Prince George at UNBC. I must stick to my core belief… “anything is possible.” The goal is to make it happen. Onwards and upwards.