Personal Learning Plan

• Add to my portfolio of educational ideas and resources to reflect on and access in the future when I have a classroom of my own. I have organized both a written folder that I maintain in my home office and also keep a database of useful tips and resources in an electronic form on my office computer for easy access. While my organizational style and methodology might not be most efficient or “cutting edge,” I find that it works for me when I need it!
• Update and maintain my database of useful webpages and resources for both future class work and for when I have a classroom of my own. Resources come from not only the assignments and personal research, but also the postings from classmates to the discussions and the blogs reflection pieces. I’ve set up my blog to follow the blogs of several classmates and have been enriched as a result by my classmates’ efforts.
• Become more comfortable with utilizing social networking sites such as Facebook and blogging in both my personal and professional lives. Putting information “out there” on the web has been a learning experience and continues to be a great tool not only for staying in touch with family, friends, and colleagues, but has also resulted in some unexpected events like Wendy Drexler commenting on my Module 3 discussion posting. Learning to not only post relevant ideas and issues, but to keep up with the dialogue seems to be an art that I’m still acquiring—it seems to me that the more comments posted by others is a good way of gauging the relevance and interest of the topic;

• Begin utilizing a wiki both for this class and perhaps in the future in a professional setting—there are so many ways in which it could be used, the challenge becomes how best to utilize it and when. Since returning to school, I’ve often used projects in the office for class assignments and vice versa. It has helped me to get in the mindset of passing on knowledge acquired and watching for knowledge to acquire!;

• Become more skilled in the use of rubrics. Throughout my experiences in undergrad and then in law school, I often found myself wondering what the professor was seeking in an assignment or project. After taking education classes, I have come to very much appreciate the use of rubrics and have incorporated rudimentary rubrics in my professional life with my staff. It has become very clear to me that a rubric is an excellent tool and I seek to learn more about how to incorporate it further.