The Grant
I really appreciated
having the opportunity to write a grant. I have always been apprehensive
of grant writing. This was a great learning experience from the beginning.
For me choosing a specific grant and topic seemed to be one of the more
difficult aspects of the process. I needed to figure out what I wanted
from the grant. After choosing the grant, filling out the application
seemed to go smoothly. I also appreciated being able to view my classmates
progress on other grants. My budget was very simple, I was glad to
be able to look at more complicated applications as they were completed.
My Team
This is the second chance
that I've had to work in a group, and it is the second time that I've had
a successful experience. I enjoyed conversing with them in chat room.
Points that were made often triggered another idea. We had instant
feedback on each other's comments, rather than waiting for someone to possible
respond to a posting on webboard. We also worked very well together
when it came to the assignments. One person would be a recorder (using
a screen capture program) and send it to the person writing the summary.
The Readings
The
readings for this course were very encouraging and inspirational.
The changes going on in many of the schools (real and imaginary) were very
exciting. I would like to see similar projects going on in my district.
My school's new School Community Council is trying projects that are remotely
along the same ideas as some of the readings. After this class I
will try to become involved to help with the reform.
I am pleased about the
possibility of receiving a grant for the hands on science materials, but
the curricular reform projects being created by my fellow classmates have
motivated me to work on two curricular reform ideas for my school.
In my opinion a class
has been beneficial when I am excited about taking what I learned and putting
it to good use for my students.