Here are just a few of my thoughts about different parts of this class.  I enjoyed the class, but I am looking forward to the three week break to get all caught up on my reflections for the embedded hours and my internship!

Lectures:  The lectures are informative and I really like the way Dr. Arterbury and Dr. Jenkins try to mix it up and have fun with their lectures.  It is quite a difference taking classes online instead of being in the classroom with your professor.  I like that they try to keep it interesting.  I have looked forward to each lecture every week.  It is also nice to have the lecture notes so that I can take notes and read along as they speak.  This reinforces both of my styles of learning, both auditory and visual.  I especially liked the lectures in this course that included the guest speakers that spoke about their research projects from their dissertations. It is really great to hear and see former students talk about their projects.

Readings:  I am really glad I chose to invest money in these books, Leading with Passion and Knowledge by Nancy Dana and Examining What We Do To Improve Our Schools by Harris, Edmonson, and Combs.  I have highlighted a lot of information in both books as I read.  I intend to refer back to them for years. All of the Tools in the Examining book will be very beneficial.  In the Dana book, I felt that the nine passions for inquiry was very helpful to understand that there are many places within a school system where research can be done.

Searches:  I did not really understand this part of the class that well or understand that I was supposed to use these links to help me with my research project.  I am not sure where I missed understanding that these were links to aid in my research. I am only going to hope that the reason I missed it was because I already thought of something to research on my own.  My principal had suggested that I read the books she had from author Richard DuFour.  Once I started reading these books, I started to recognize some of the things that my principal was starting to implement very slowing into our school.  She then told me what she had done in her previous school and what she was planning to do at our school.  Since I wanted the common assessments to be my first research project, I didn’t look through the search links in depth.  I did save the list to my personal computer so that I will always have it for quick reference.

Assignments & Activities:  I felt all the assignments and activities were very appropriate for the class and gave me good experiences for the future.  I think the research project is going to be a huge assignment, but will be a good experience to put in my vita and be able to talk about during an interview.  I am glad to have to be forced to participate in the project or otherwise when I do become a principal I would have been less likely to ever do an action research project at my school.  This will definitely take away the fear.  I can get the first time jitters out and be more likely to continue to do action research over and over during my career.

Discussion Board: The discussion board has been one of my favorite parts of all my classes.  I like the way it is set up.  I have never participated in anything like this before starting my master’s degree.  It is easy to see when and who posted something and read all the replies.  Unlike the blogs, I feel it is way more user friendly.  I enjoyed reading everyone’s comments and answers to their discussion questions.

Web conferences:  I also really enjoyed the web conferences with Dr. Mason.  I am an older student returning to school and this is my first time to participate in an online course.  It has taken me time to warm up and learn all the things that go along with online classes.  The first class had web conferences, but I was a little scared and wasn’t quite sure what I was doing.  Now I am much more confident in using the web conference website.  Dr. Mason was really nice and I felt much more connected with this class because of the web conferences.

Blogs:  I appreciated being asked to make a blog because otherwise I probably never would have done one.  I have friends that have blogs, but I do not read them.  They use theirs to write about their days and their families.  I do not have time to sit and read all that.  I never thought about teachers writing about their classes or teaching experiences.  That kind of writing I do have time for, but I do have to watch myself.  If I find something I am interested in I can spend many hours on the computer and before I know it I have nothing done in my personal life!