Archive | April, 2015

My Planning Process

Constant Iteration

My method of planning is very much based off a constant iteration process. I’ve been teaching delivering classes for 20 years now in mostly the same location so I have the luxury of those experiences (and contact with colleagues) to pull from.

So I iterate each semester. I use what worked the past semester and throw out (or re-tool) what did not. Each end of semester whether summer or Christmas is a reflecting time for me.

Pick One (or two) Changes

This picture has nothing to do with planning, I just love the bunny. Original @ Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/xwd/3551390013/

I often make a large change each year and sometimes even each semester. Last January I switched to full-on flipped master (see post here),  and this year I made a massive switch to fully open content in the style of a #connectedCourse (see blog post here).

Learn from Others

I am the teacher #facilitatorOfLearningExperiences that I am from working and talking with so many colleagues in my institution as well as the large internet (thank you Twitter). The time I spend on networking with other teachers is more important than time spent looking for yet-another-assignment.

Find people that interest you or that will at least listen and answer your questions on teaching. Don’t be shy, get out there and blog/tweet/network.

How do you Plan?

Your turn, what is your planning process?

#DMLCommons – Introduction

Hi everyone!  We’re VERY excited to participate in the learning.  We are Cara and Sarah, two Ph.D. students and former classroom teachers and instructional coaches.  We work at the College Level doing some preservice teacher education work, but the bulk of what we do lies in job-embedded coaching in classrooms with teachers and students.  In our new positions at the University, we’ve been thrown into the world of Research One, in the hopes that we can pull those theoretical meanderings out of the clouds and make it practical in our daily work with teachers and students.  Likewise, we seek to bring teacher and student voice into focus as we discuss the issues that are relevant to teaching and learning today.  Thanks for doing this!


#DMLCommons – Introduction

Hi everyone!  We’re VERY excited to participate in the learning.  We are Cara and Sarah, two Ph.D. students and former classroom teachers and instructional coaches.  We work at the College Level doing some preservice teacher education work, but the bulk of what we do lies in job-embedded coaching in classrooms with teachers and students.  In our new positions at the University, we’ve been thrown into the world of Research One, in the hopes that we can pull those theoretical meanderings out of the clouds and make it practical in our daily work with teachers and students.  Likewise, we seek to bring teacher and student voice into focus as we discuss the issues that are relevant to teaching and learning today.  Thanks for doing this!