September's Monthly Review 631 - Group 4

Vince commented on groups 1, 2 & 3 summaries.
Darcey commented on Carrie, Jan, and Sarah's summaries.

September's Monthly Review 631 - Group 4

As the challenges and the newness of starting class gave way to the routines of online discussion, and the realization of all the course projects and deadlines looming ahead, it seemed that the choices to me made about group blogs were upon us before we knew it. 

Group four formed in the midst of a flurry of other groups forming. While class was focusing on understanding the history of adult education, classmates began to discover common interest and get excited about some specific schools of thought and educators who shaped the course of adult education. It seemed that some were forming around specific interests such as the Highlander Folk School and others around their own commonalities. As Group 4 began to discuss our first individual projects for our joint blog, we both realized we wanted a better understanding of the most recent history and its influence on today's challenges for adult education. So I chose the 90's and Darcey focused on the 2000's. Though our group seemed to form out of the practical need to pull together a team, we soon found a common focus on the love of learning  and on discovering how to practically connect what we are learning to practice.

What We Have Done

Working in groups can often be a challenge, but right from the beginning Group 4  was able to find an almost effortless division of labor and ease of scheduling. Of course since the group is only made up of two members, it shouldn't be hard to coordinate right? The first tasks were easy. Setting up the blog fell to Vince, and Darcey added support and oversight of the initial direction of upcoming projects. We will both build on these foundations going forward. Initial communication has been primarily through phone calls and email. Our first joint project is due at the end of the week, though the group still seems very new. We divided up the task for this first project by each choosing an educator to review, and then dividing the remaining tasks up among each of us. Vince would write the introduction, Darcey would write the conclusion, we would each provide an edit, and then touch base on the finished paper for final approval. We made the following  timeline as a game plan, but have continued to remain flexible as the challenges of balancing work, families, and classes have made managing this project a challenge:

•  9/17/2014 Each Select an Adult Educator and Submit Name
• 9/24/2014 Gather Research on Selected Educator
• 9/26/2014 - Write Background/ Profile/ Perspectives/ Contributions/ Impact/ Implications for Each
• 9/27/2014 - Submit Work to One Another
• 9/29/2014 - Edit/Review each others Work
•  10/4/2014 - Write Title Page, Intro, and Integrate Backgrounds for Intro (Vince) /Write Conclusion, Integrate Impact and Implications and Add to Table (Darcey)         
• 10/4/2014 - Each Revise and Edit (Darcey 1st then Vince - Finalizing References)  and Touch Base to Finalize
• 10/5/2014 - Submit to BlackBoard (Darcey) and Blog (Vince)

We have adjusted the exact dates through text and phone calls, but have kept a focus on the goals of each task for completing the project before this weekend's deadline.

What's Next

Following a similar division of labor for each of the next projects, we will begin to map out assignments for the next projects. Over the next 10 days we will select our Unique Program and will also establish some additional means of managing assignments in a more efficient manner. We realize the final E-Archive will be here before we know it, and will be reviewing our programs with a view towards how to best accomplish that final goal by building into each projects some components we can use to complete that work.

Vincent Stults' Individual Summary

Returning to School after 25 years has been a huge challenge and a few of the areas I never took care years ago (like actually learning to type and not what I am doing now ) are proving to be a big hindrance. I am learning a lot about an area of study I honestly knew very little about.  Since we are just starting out in our group work, I don't have a lot to say about this blog or the activities we have been assigned to do, but I can see a lot of opportunity to use the knowledge that I am gaining in the rest of this course to examine the adult educational programs we will select in a different light than before starting the class. The paper on a decade in adult educational history and the examination of couple of adult educators is deepening my appreciation and my understanding of the challenges and opportunities in this field of practice. I'm looking forward to the new discoveries and opportunities in the next few weeks.  The amount of work honestly looks daunting, and makes me aware of the need to break down each project into manageable components and to have a plan of attack divided up in reasonable ways for the group work.

Darcey Mitschelen Individual Summary

A month ago as I sat staring at the computer screen and “freaking” out, I was questioning why I was starting this journey.

And even more so, why was I freaking out!!?? And then I remembered what Captain Jack said. It had nothing to do with the computer, the syllabus, the class, or the professor. It was simply my attitude. I knew that I needed to enjoy the journey and to not let the journey freak me out.

I needed this little moment to remember that many of my students experience situations like this all the time. I have since created lesson plans dealing with stress, discouragement, and lack of confidence with hopes to help them be prepared for freaking out.

So tonight, sitting in front of my computer, I reflect back on the month and realize that I needed that freaking out moment to get my mind around the challenges in front of me, to chart the assignments’ due dates, to breakdown the goals of each week’s work, but mostly to gain an understanding of why I am on this journey …and to get my attitude on line.