eCommerce
Factoid #1: My Masters is in Educational Technology.
Factoid #2: My undergrad is in Elementary Education
Factoid #3: I have NEVER taken a business class before in my life, EVER!
This morning I finished grading the final assignments of my 8-week long eCommerce class. Yes, eCommerce. If you noticed the little factoids about me, you will most certainly wonder why I was teaching this course in the first place. Desperation on the part of the college, maybe? I certainly understand the "e" part of eCommerce. It's just the rest of the word that I have problems with.
Having been my first real class to teach, I was nervous and felt unprepared. I read the entire text book and perused the supplemental website. Developing methods of assessment and the syllabus was the easy part. It was teaching a topic I didn't know that scared me.
My objectives of the class were based on the course description. I stuck pretty close to the text to stay on target. I learned quickly that active discussion helped facilitate learning of the topic for myself and the students as we applied the text in to real world situations.
I am very much an advocate of authentic assessment. Though this requires much more time on the instructor's part, the outcome is tremendous for the students. In this case, the class developed eBusiness plans for company they were involved in and developed an actual web presence for the company.
One student whose grade was suffering during the first part of the term and had already maxed out her absences became noticeably interested in developing her website. Once she made the connection that her eBusiness plan had a purpose, her plan changed and she started putting effort in the class.
If I had known that Aaron was going to come home during this class, I am not so sure I would have taken it on. But, God's timing is perfect and for whatever reason, I was supposed to have this experience. Aaron was sent home from OCS hours before the second class was to begin. This class drained me in that I spent at least 150 hours preparing for the class, being in the class, and grading the work. I am also taking a 9 hour EMT class this semester, teach an aerobics class once a week at my church, and teach children's church once a month. Somehow God has allowed my not to stress out over my schedule and has kept me calm through the last few weeks.
Just as I began to feel I was just holding on to get by until this class was finished, I overheard several of my students talking in the hall one night before class began. Another student had asked what their next class was. My students responded that it was eCommerce and the inquiring student asked how the class was going. I was taken aback when I heard my students respond that this was the first class where they felt they had actually learned something in their two years at the college.
I realized that the effort I had put into this class was making a positive impact on my students. Instantly, every bit of stress had been worth it and I was determined to give the remaining weeks of class my best effort. I've often heard that the best way to learn something is to teach it. If nothing else, I have learned that I can make a difference.
Factoid #2: My undergrad is in Elementary Education
Factoid #3: I have NEVER taken a business class before in my life, EVER!
This morning I finished grading the final assignments of my 8-week long eCommerce class. Yes, eCommerce. If you noticed the little factoids about me, you will most certainly wonder why I was teaching this course in the first place. Desperation on the part of the college, maybe? I certainly understand the "e" part of eCommerce. It's just the rest of the word that I have problems with.
Having been my first real class to teach, I was nervous and felt unprepared. I read the entire text book and perused the supplemental website. Developing methods of assessment and the syllabus was the easy part. It was teaching a topic I didn't know that scared me.
My objectives of the class were based on the course description. I stuck pretty close to the text to stay on target. I learned quickly that active discussion helped facilitate learning of the topic for myself and the students as we applied the text in to real world situations.
I am very much an advocate of authentic assessment. Though this requires much more time on the instructor's part, the outcome is tremendous for the students. In this case, the class developed eBusiness plans for company they were involved in and developed an actual web presence for the company.
One student whose grade was suffering during the first part of the term and had already maxed out her absences became noticeably interested in developing her website. Once she made the connection that her eBusiness plan had a purpose, her plan changed and she started putting effort in the class.
If I had known that Aaron was going to come home during this class, I am not so sure I would have taken it on. But, God's timing is perfect and for whatever reason, I was supposed to have this experience. Aaron was sent home from OCS hours before the second class was to begin. This class drained me in that I spent at least 150 hours preparing for the class, being in the class, and grading the work. I am also taking a 9 hour EMT class this semester, teach an aerobics class once a week at my church, and teach children's church once a month. Somehow God has allowed my not to stress out over my schedule and has kept me calm through the last few weeks.
Just as I began to feel I was just holding on to get by until this class was finished, I overheard several of my students talking in the hall one night before class began. Another student had asked what their next class was. My students responded that it was eCommerce and the inquiring student asked how the class was going. I was taken aback when I heard my students respond that this was the first class where they felt they had actually learned something in their two years at the college.
I realized that the effort I had put into this class was making a positive impact on my students. Instantly, every bit of stress had been worth it and I was determined to give the remaining weeks of class my best effort. I've often heard that the best way to learn something is to teach it. If nothing else, I have learned that I can make a difference.
posted by sejgirl at
12:46 PM
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