Saturday, July 30, 2011

"No man is an island....."

"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”  John Donne

This journey we are on is reminiscent of a travelogue.  We are sharing with each other and collaborating on assignment clarifications.  The ripples are landing all across the field of education.  At first, I was extremely hesitant to share and post my assignments in fear of rejection.  In my past, education had a one right answer for the teacher type of instruction.  Opening my writing to my colleagues as empowered my thoughts and also allowed me to reflect deeper on the research. 
My audience will be special education teachers in the secondary area who are trying to use handheld electronic devices to engage students and increase student achievement.  I am beginning to gather the appropriate background information about the iPods and their use in secondary schools.  
I hope to be able to share my research through the blog, the campus I am working with, and possibly through others in the field.  In my current position as a consultant, I am accustomed to oral presentations and feel extremely confident when asked to present information orally.  But, when it comes to presenting in a written form, I remain hesitant.

It is my desire to achieve confidence in participating in the Masters program which requires sufficient amount of writing and reflection. 

4 comments:

  1. Hi Mary,

    I was also very hesitant about creating a blog and also a wiki. I think because I didn't want to sound to out of the ordinary or dumb. Great Post....

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  2. Mary, I haven't known you for very long, but I can tell you are a very passionate person. You display that passion in your writing, your research, and your collaboration with all of us. You are a very strong person and even though you don't feel comfortable creating written documents, I feel you will soon find that this will be a new passion for you to explore. I too have difficulty posting creations as well as my thoughts and ideas on a blog and wiki. I am afraid of putting myself out there and being rejected or criticized, but I believe our classmates are compassionate enough to be nice and provide constructive criticism. I figure as long as we are in this together, that the majority of us are feeling the same way. We just have to remember that we are in this together.
    Allison

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  3. Mary--
    Thanks for posting one of my favorite John Donne quotes! If I have mentioned this to you before, forgive me, but we have a parent at my school who is active in a group called Snapps4Kids (Special Needs Apps for Kids). The info. on their website may be helpful for your project. . . http://www.snapps4kids.com/

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  4. Mary,
    You have such a wonderful way of expressing your feelings which is our feelings too but at least I could not express it the way you did. It takes courage to admit that I am hesitant to share my thought because people might judge me. Thanks for putting all of our feelings into words. Good Luck!

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