This was my first semester to be on a TEAMS group. I have struggled every semester to find a group because I am moving through the program at a slower pace than most of my peers. Most groups have been formed and they just stay together. This semester I was added to a TEAMS group that had 13 members. This was a great forum because it is always open and most of the time, someone is online and willing to answer questions or give feedback. Several folks in the group posted frequently for feedback and guidance and I was thrilled to be able to give some instruction/feedback/feedforward from previous courses that I have taken as a contributor to the group; specifically to Rose and Rebecca about APA 7 (feedback) and assignment examples that I thought to be helpful. I also had a separate person, Mikeela, that reviews my assignments a little more in depth. Mikeela continually impressed me with her assignments and made me want to dig a little deeper on mine. She offered excellent perspective and I am grateful to her for that feedforward. She also recommended a few things that I didn't do (only due to lack of time) and, of course, that was the feedback that I received from the instructional associate as well. A great lesson to LISTEN to your collaboration group. I also was her direct collaborative partner. I always review the rubric to nauseum and she always felt like she was hitting the mark. I did find some great areas for suggestion to others. I do feel that I met all the requirements for key contributions, even by just reaching out and checking in with classmates.
I think what went well is the discussion posts. I made a concerted effort to post on time and to circle back to give feedback to those that didn't post as timely. I appreciate the perspective of everyone in the group and I always took time to read everyone's posts. Also what went well is the structure of the courses online and the recordings which are readily available. I teach on class night until 8pm so I was never able to attend the live sessions but I reviewed all of them, more than once, as well as the power points posted by Dr. Reed. I am so grateful that everything is digital and readily available or I wouldn't be able to complete this program at all.
Areas for improvement, I think figuring out how to complete assignments earlier so more collaboration could take place is always good; however, this semester I did complete assignment 2 early but wasn't able to get any feedback until much later, it is a bad time of year for my K-12 friends specifically. Also, if I could figure out how to not be assigned to evening labs in my own teaching, that would also be helpful although I fully realize that isn't possible. If I had this program to do over again, besides doing it 20 years ago, I would work out a way to be finishing it at the same pace as my classmates, it is so much easier when you have the same collaborators and you aren't having to search for new ones every semester.
I do feel like I met all the requirements for the supporting contributions as well as the key contributions. Could I do more? The answer will always be yes. Did I find great use in the collaboration I did have? Also, the answer is yes. I would rate myself a 90/100 for this semester. Always room for improvement. Specific examples of collaboration were submitted with the link to this post to protect the privacy of myself and my group members.
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