The awareness in the practicum is bringing all of your previous components together from the other classes in this certification.  I am learning more and more and more about how to be a better classroom leader, in students and faculty classrooms. 

Standard one was a surprise to me in that it was not the linear starting line of an online class.  I did struggle a bit during the practicum with these standards order. Looking at the bulleted points I am impressed with the depth of the customs of this standard.

Actively engaging learners is a big deal for me in my teaching method. I always make my classes integrated into the teaching and learning realm. I have a philosophy in my class that, “You are not allowed to be apathetic in this class. You will either like it or dislike it, no in-betweens”. I am constantly watching and monitor students to see how they are doing and trying to pro-actively predict issues and fix them before they become a problem. This is where active engagement for the learner happens. Signing your name to a contract imprints learners’ commitment to the task.
 

I believe in trust and a mutual exchange of ideas and philosophies between faculty and students. I began teaching years ago believing the only difference between myself and students is that I know the information they need and they do not. My goal is to build the relationships between every student to the point where they are comfortable with me and are confident that I am going to treat them and their learning styles with respect.  I am going to honor their time and tell them so each class.  I do not involve activity in my classes that is for my own edification or entertainment.
 

I provide structure to students with an expectation of meeting halfway in the learning path. I am flexible and allow professional and appropriate negotiations in most content and interpretation. I am not to admit that I was wrong. Creating a sense of community builds the safety net that students need in an unfamiliar online environment. One of the top reasons why students drop online classes is that they don't feel a sense of belonging and community in their classes.

I use groups for instruction and focus on outcomes and extender learning. I do this by including each learning step as an aggregate for the rest of the class. Trust and fair play is what I do with communication and showing the class that I am human, I try not to cover up my mistakes but won them and change my opinions and actions on occasion and when it is appropriate. In my group and project assignments I will monitor the activity by checking on posts and messaging. I can tell when the activity s following protocols or not by the communications streams in the project areas. I always build a strong communication component in all of them.

The artifacts below will help explain that philosophy and what I have done to sustain my teaching skills over almost 30 years.  For students or teaching faculty it all means the same to me.

 

For activity analysis and any adjustments that may be needed the "track views" option is always selected. This allows instructors to create a report that has evaluation data on how many students access the items and links in any content.