Sunday, December 13, 2009

Journal Entry

So….I like this program, it is very pertinent to my goals, so that is good. I am thankful that I am able to pull it off and work multiple jobs and run a business.


Strength – Thus far the strongest learning experience has been realizing that we must accommodate the various learning styles. I knew this before, but did not realize the importance of it. I also like the whole blog scene.

Improvement – I am always striving to improve my game. There are some concepts that do seem a little over whelming, but I am a little apprehensive about asking questions cause I feel that the concepts are elementary and I should already have a grasp on the subject. So this being said, I am going to ask questions no matter what. I am also going to work on time management. I think I may have already talked about this in prior entry, but my time management skill suck. I have a blackberry and that helps. I think I take on too much and have the inability to say no. So…..I will work on this also.

Insight – As for real world application, next semester I will attempt to build an online program that encompasses all the different learning styles. This will be a challenge since I teach online and it is hard for the student to prove accountable in this setting. I much prefer traditional learning from the instructors stand point.

I do want to clarify a point that I made in my blog. I am not suggesting we give away education, I am just merely stating that we are paid for a service and we need to provide the best service. Now, I understand some people will do nothing and they get an F. This week I gave a student his fourth “F” that I have given him since 2006. He chooses what he gets as a grade through his work. However I cannot write him off, I still need to give him the best product just in case this is the semester that he is to shine.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Learning Styles

Everyone learns differently. That is a fact....no way around that one. I have said this before and I will say it again, we need to ensure that people get what they paid/came for. As adult educators, we provide a service and we should strive to have people want our service. So if we discount learning styles that differ from our way of teaching, well that is bad business sense. This person is putting their time and money on the line in hopes of gaining some knowledge. This being said, we need to ensure their needs are met. Sure, it may be hard, but that is life. If you want an easy job go do something else, but dont be an educator that cuts corners. An adult educator must atleast aware of every learning style so that they may be useful should the need arise.

My thoughts.....................

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Survival In the College Arena

As an adult educator, I feel that it is my charter to ensure that the student gets the best product for their dollar! I look at is a business, if people do not like my product, I potentially could go out of business. So it is important that the instructor brings their A game. It is my opinion that if one student fails and everyone else does fine, you can argue that, this student didn't try. However, if the majority of the class fails......it is you that is the problem. In the last few weeks, we have learned a few theories and that is very interesting. All this being said, we need to make accomodations, and even go further than the law requires and make sure that everyone that wants to learn is able to. We need to take some time and try to appreciate how each person in our class learns. Now some may say this is too much hand holding or what have ya, but in the end our goal is to make a contribution to society. So I guess the point of this all is, take a day to learn your students to help the be successful.

-Sean