Final Reflection
Running head: FINAL REFLECTION PAPER
Final Reflection Paper
Sharon R. Synan
University of West Georgia
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Final Reflection
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Introduction
Reflection is an exercise in thinking about experiences. I enjoy reflecting on my
learning and activities in many areas of life, both professional and personal. I have found
reflection to be a time when I can back up and clearly see the things I have performed
well, and those things I would do differently if I had the chance. In this process, I make
decisions in an informed and well thought out way.
In this paper, I will share my reflection of learning in regards to the program of
study I have completed to earn my Education Specialist degree in Instructional
Technology from the University of West Georgia. I am thrilled and proud to be a student
at UWG. Although this is a reflection of the program at the finish of the course work, I
am compelled to look ahead, and to set new goals which I will share in this writing. Louis
L’Amour is quoted as saying, “There will come a time when you believe everything is
finished. That will be the beginning.”
Near the beginning of the program I wrote a S.W.O.T. analysis. The S.W.O.T.
analysis forced me to pause and really consider my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities,
and threats. I also set personal and professional goals I wanted to achieve through taking
the courses in the program. Reading over that initial S.W.O.T. I am astounded at the
level of scholarly, intense learning that I have accomplished over the past one and onehalf years. Some of that learning has been mandated through assignments and deadlines,
but much of my learning has been influenced and fostered by exposure to passionate
instructors and professional colleagues.
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Strength
Initially, I identified a strength I possess as an ability to communicate through
writing. The American Psychological Association, along with its published manual for
writing helped to get my self-admiration in check. I learned that voice and expression are
much different when writing in a scholarly style. However, I have not given up on the
pursuit of great writing. Comparing my first APA style paper which Dr. Huett gave
feedback on with a comment something like, “You have an innate ability for writing,
however, your writing is old school” to recent encouragement on some work I shared
with him where the comment was, “great news, stick with it and you will surely end up
published.” I have learned and experienced through the course work how to use this
strength to better inform parents and students of upcoming events. Most importantly, I
have learned ways to make writing authentic for kids through collaboration, publishing,
and sharing and have personally become a better writer.
Weakness
A weakness I had identified was in parent communication. I have addressed that
issue above. Another area of weakness identified was in confidence in myself as a
student and a professional. I have strengthened this weakness by sticking with tough
assignments and making things work. Because there were times I had to really work at
an assignment, trying again and again to get it right, I learned that it is okay to not know
everything. The key to having a solid character and professional attitude is to stay with
the task, seeking answers, knowing where to get help, and never giving up until the job is
done. One example of this was an assignment to interview a technology specialist in an
educational setting and then create a PowerPoint with the interview attached in an audio
format. I must have posted that PowerPoint to the discussion board for review at least a
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dozen times. When I finally got it right, Kevin Mobbs, a fellow student actually gave me
a shout out and many other students in the class followed. Today, I can make PowerPoint
with audio, and flash. I create and use Voicethread and Camtasia. When a student does
not understand something on the summer learning system I capture a quick tutorial video
and send it directly to them. The Networking class stretched me as well. Dr. Bray was
on the phone with me one night when I finally got the commands and settings right to
establish an at-home network through Virtual PC and I just had to holler hooray aloud.
These moments of accomplishment achieved after diligent, intensive work have helped to
mold and shape greater confidence.
Opportunity
The opportunity I was hoping to gain through the program was publishing a piece
of writing. As of yet I have not reached that goal in its fullest sense. I have published a
small commercial piece on Ehow.com. They paid me a whole seven dollars and fifty
cents for the piece. I have also had the honor of working with Dr. Huett and Mrs. Huett
on the Henry County Project a little beyond the required course work. As mentioned
above, I have gained confidence in my abilities and part of that confidence has created
opportunities. I went to Dr. Huett and asked him to find a place for me to work on a
project. That extra initiative has led to this great opportunity and now I am looking
forward to presenting with him and the other project members at iNACOL in November.
Perhaps I will end up in some small way part of a published piece as part of that project.
While taking Intro to Distance Ed., I became passionate about the possibilities distance
learning, with all its various models, can have on student achievement. I found,
proposed, created, and am facilitating an online learning program for one hundred and
seventy-six advanced content students over the summer. There are so many positives
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coming out of this program that I am overwhelmed by the results. Students feel like they
can communicate with teachers better, the feedback is more relevant, meaningful, and
timely. No more useless feedback like “good job” is being used here. Parents are able to
see the work required and the comments. This shared feedback gives parents a feeling of
being better equipped to help out at home, and as if they know what is going on in the
learning and lessons. Students are increasing their knowledge of technology while
engaged in creativity and critical thinking activities. Students are collaborating using
their feedback. Plans to continue this project include sending a proposal into NCTE as a
possible workshop at the next conference.
Threat
The fourth area considered was the threats. I listed: time, budget, and fear on the
part of technology administrators in the central office as my threats. Today the threats
have narrowed to only two. The primary threat to my profession and to me personally is
the budget crises in schools and specifically in my county. This year I was terribly
disappointed to begin the school year only to find that a technology specialist had been
hired for our building without the county advertising the job or going through the
principal to interview for hiring. The technology department at the central office chose
someone and placed her in the position. This was a terrible blow to me personally.
However, due to budget constraints her job and the job of other technology specialists in
our county were dissolved at the end of this year. Not being chosen for that technology
position meant I was a candidate for the advanced content teacher position. The mixture
of taking courses for my degree and working with gifted students provided an ideal
environment to try new methods to integrate technology into the classroom. The students
benefited and I gained real experience in teaching with these tools.
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Goals
The goals I had set for myself personally and professionally are two-fold. I
wanted to increase my use of Web 2.0 tools and to deliver an effective workshop on a
teaching strategy utilizing technology. A primary goal of the workshop would be to gain
the attention of administration in my building and at the central office level. I use Web
2.0 tools on a regular basis with my students now, even though I have to jump some
hoops to get things unfiltered. I was able to do the workshop showing a bulletin board
forum and how it could be used for group discussion in literature. Since then I have
trained teachers to use Wiki’s, the summer learning management system, and
Voicethread.
Conclusion
Is this the end? Hardly: as I finish this degree I will be starting a cohort program
in conjunction with my school system to add on leadership. I have also accepted a new
position, switching from one middle school to another within the same county to become
an Instructional Coach. During the interview process I highlighted my instructional
strategies using technology in the classroom. I was able to talk about evaluation in
education using references to scholars and experts in the field. I articulated my vision for
student learning including Century 21 Skills, which my research review paper covered. I
had an impressive digital professional educator portfolio that highlighted my
accomplishments and goals. These were skills and knowledge I have learned in the
program and put to immediate use.
My future goals remain focused on instructional technology. My new position
will allow me to incorporate technology in instruction in a more subtle, yet effective way.
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Hopefully, when our country comes out of this economic low I will be able to move
toward a more dedicated practice in my specific field. I would also like to add on the
endorsement for online teaching. I know that I will miss taking classes and therefore will
pursue finding a professional community of learners to help stay updated and sharp. I
leave here an agent of change, a proactive educator, a researcher, an evaluator, and a
leader.
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Reference
L Amour, L. (n.d.). Brainyquote. Retrieved from
www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/l/louis_lamour.html
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