8 Learning Journal

Part 1 – Journal and share weekly “nuggets” as we go…

We’re fans of learning journals. We know that unless and until we actually jot notes as we go, notes that move “hey neat” ideas toward application and implementation, we often lose many of the details that could help us transform ideas/thoughts into action. So, you’re asked to record what you are learning and want to remember in the form of a journal. As you go, you’ll encounter some readings that you think are terrific (and some…not so much).  You’ll think some of your colleagues’ ideas are brilliant (and some…not so much). Some of the teaching strategies and technology tools will resonate with you more than others. Get these thoughts down before they get jumbled with others and lose their usefulness to you.

Keep the criteria for self-assessment of participation (FLO Blended Course Self-Assessment Rubric) in mind as you capture your thoughts about the week’s experiences.

You are welcome to use whatever format you like for your journal (blog, paper notebook, Google doc, etc.) – it is your own personal journal.

Each week, review your journal and extract an “aha” moment. This could be a quotation from a reading or forum that made something clear or made your smile. Be prepared to share these nuggets during our Friday in-person session.

Here are some prompts that may help get you started, but feel free to structure your sharing in any way you see fit.

• What are you learning (from discussions or readings and resources)? What holds special promise to your practice? What have you noticed that you want to avoid?
• Record key ideas, strategies and resources.
• What facilitation skills/strategies have you noticed being employed by others in the course this week that you might want to highlight or try yourself in the future?
• Jot proposed next steps or tasks that will help you move from thinking about it to doing it. How can you apply this to an upcoming course you will be teaching, or supporting someone else to teach?
• How has your participation been this week? How is your self-assessment method working? Record your thoughts; give yourself some constructive feedback.
• What have you noticed related to the workload of learning (or teaching) in a blended course? What questions might you have for your course colleagues about workload?
• Are you taking anything away from the feedback cycles in FLO? Are you having any “ahas” about giving or receiving feedback?
• Think about the design and flow of the course this week. What is working? What isn’t?

Part 2 – Collect for Final Sharing Activity

During Week 3 you’ll be asked to participate in a final reflective activity called “Looking Back, Looking Forward”. As you progress through the course, collect resources that you might use to illustrate or communicate your final reflections in a unique and creative way. That might include short videos, images (drawings or photographs), and/or snippets of a particularly eloquent argument you put forward in a discussion forum.