Dwiyana Hill McLean

Utilizing a ruberic is a very helpful tool that helps lay the groundwork for expectations of behavior and participation in the class, and provides specific details about the assignment(s).  The ruberic also helps the professor provide a fair grading system that makes it easy to defend in my opinion, because its all written out in the ruberic.  I also learned the term netiquette.  I had never heard it used before.  I will now use this terminology too when addressing online presence.

I learned about the different age groups and how we all communicate a little differently based on our life experiences with technology and life events.  Because we have these differences, it's important to understand how to connect with students in each age group to be effective at helping them have success in the classroom rather in-person or online.

It is important to have clear and detailed communication from all parties (I2S, S2I and S2S).  Having a detailed outline and using a tool such as a ruberic really helps provide a resource that allows others to check their progress as they move through the assignment to ensure they are not missing any pieces of important information.

I learned that instructors are now utilizing social media platforms as tools to help with teaching and engaging students.  I think that's pretty cool since most students are familiar with the different social media platforms and are probably well versed on how things work.  I would imagine these options keep the learning process interesting.

I've learned three creative ways to further help students feel motivated by utilizing role modeling, affirmations and visualization.  I look forward to using these positive ways of connecting with students to help them further see themselves achieving their goals successfully, while using techniques such as Cartesian Questions to help them think through ways to solve their own challenges.

Being an attentive listener and responding with feedback that makes the student think about what they can do to resolve their situation rather than telling them what to do is very important.  When having a discussion and sharing feedback, its very important to be careful with the words we use to "soften the blow" as to not discourage the student.

It's important to have an open mind and a willingness to share my own experiences to be relatable to the student in order to knock down any guard they may have up.  Having empathy without judgement allows us to have open and honest discussions which leads to greater success.

I just learned that the Career Services representative may have to write the job description out when working to verify employment to ensure the job description is clearly represented and duties are understood.  Otherwise, in some cases the job could be deemed as non-placement.

Employment verification processes are something that we should be evaluating on-going to help improve processes and efficiency, reduce errors and bring additional best practices to incorporate.  I plan to do just that; pay attention to what works and what isn't working so well, if anything.  If there are areas that I can make suggestions and share best-practices learned from others, I definitely will.

It is most effective to have a written policy defining what counts as an official placement when considering placement opportunities for graduates.  If there is a written policy, that cuts out the confusion of what counts and what doesn't, and all will have a clear understanding of what is eligible.  It also helps to utilize a third party to help with verification such as a verification agency or consulting service.  This helps to further confirm that the information gathered is accurate and consistent.