Nobody Has The Answers #IMMOOC

Week 6 – #IMMOOC – Last part of the book

What a nice close to the #IMMOOC learning experience. Thank you #IMMOOC Team and Guest Speakers for making my first experience with a Massive Online Open Course AWESOME. “Nobody has the answers” – George Couros. This captures the BIG IDEA that we are all learners. In light of tonight’s #IMMOOC episode on YouTube, I will only be doing one final blog post for #IMMOOC instead of two. As Kayla Delzer had mentioned, “we all have the same 24 hours.” I have not read other people’s blogs during the past 6 weeks and I might not be able to attend tomorrow night’s Twitter chat. That said, I will write my final blog post for #IMMOOC Season 3 and its impact on me.

I used the Innovator’s Mindset as a recommended reading for a course that I taught a couple of years ago. I returned back to the book post-dissertation with hopes of looking at this book with new eyes and #IMMOOC was an excellent opportunity to engage with others as giant book club. The impact that #IMMOOC has made on me is VALIDATION. I loved the guest speakers and I loved the challenge of writing blog posts with the Innovator’s Mindset. I feel comforted and inspired. I wished that I had the #IMMOOC PLC 10 years ago. I might have taken a different direction. That said, I am so happy to be a part of #IMMOOC (Season 3) today and with its influence on me and my practice.

I appreciated Kayla Delzer as “the closer” for #IMMOOC Season 3. I liked her attitude and her willingness to do what she feels is best for student learning. In this case it was “flexible seating” like Starbucks. I never realized that Starbucks had flexible seating… I have always liked Starbucks for the background noise and audience for accountability to get things done. Come to think of it, I do choose what seating I prefer over others. I like sitting at the big wooden table (as seen in the photo) that’s close to an outlet for my laptop and I have room to spread my stuff all over. Oh… and a triple grande non-fat latte to compliment the learning experience (no product placement here, of course).

I love the idea of using your teaching practice as a form of research. I’ve just completed my dissertation and I loved how I was able to look at my practice in a critical way while doing research. That said, I did research at arms length from my practice such that distancing my emotions from what I was researching was critical so that I could look at what I was researching with some objectivity and make recommendations to practice and research that were viable. Action research in the classroom… and observing what’s around you… as mentioned in tonight’s video… are key. We need to be always changing and trying something new to see if it works or not. This makes teaching fun.

This is not necessarily an opportunity to TRY EVERYTHING but what resonates with you and your educational philosophy. Whatever you implement or try, it must be aligned to your core values and what you would like to provide to enhance the student learning experience. In doing so, you become the learner. Students love that… especially if they know they are part of the learning experience and can contribute to your learning experience. Students are amazing and I would agree with Kayla Delzer that students do/will exceed your expectations. Focus on the learning and the results will  come. I have always believed in that as a mathematics teacher and now sessional instructor.

I am choosing to be bold in my classroom. I will continue being the researcher. I will take-risks, make mistakes, and learn from them. My students are at the heart of what I do and student voice matters. #IMMOOC was validating. I had always felt this way about teaching and learning. It’s nice to know that there are members of my tribe out there. I am not alone. I love how Kayla Delzer said that “you choose to be isolated.” As mentioned, it’s easy to feel isolated or alone pre-Twitter. For me, Twitter has opened my eyes and broadened my PLN to find and connect with likeminded people. For that, I am grateful. To all the #IMMOOC participants and facilitators… THANK YOU!!!

#IMMOOC Season 3, Episode 6, with Kayla Delzer