I always feel a little sad at the end of every semester when I go to post my last announcement. In a way I feel a great deal of pride knowing that I facilitated in the learning of others. Education is a noble profession. I like to reflect at the close of each semester, where did I shine the light and help my students succeed and where could I do better.
This semester I found my students (who are educators) to be more risk takers. This to me was very encouraging. I want educators to find joy and creativity in what they teach and the way they teach. When educators are creative I believe students are more engaged. My risk takers did more video projects which made me happy.
Even though no one wanted to try Twitter, which I personally favor. They were willing to explore other social platforms. Pinterest was a big hit. Most were unfamiliar with blogging so that I take as a bright spot. Whether they continue it’s not known but at least they were exposed to this medium.
Where I think I need to work on is getting my students to be better at their presentations. Those who did not create videos fell back to the boring powerpoint mode. Even after using the text Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds they had trouble with creating engaging content that was not text heavy. After reviewing my directions and expectations making sure I am clear, I still get the same result.
Of course I conclude each semester with a feedback portion. I give my students the opportunity to evaluate me and the course. This is the only way to get a true picture of how effective I have been and if they found meaning in their learning.
What is it like for you at the close of your learning session? How do you reflect on your learning and that of your students? Do you get feedback from your students? Do you have any suggestions on how to break the boring presentations mode?
To close I want to share this image by Darren Kuropatwa which I think sums up how I feel about teaching. 
Photo Credits:
Darren Kuropatwa Teaching is listening, talking is learning. https://flic.kr/p/82yGBo
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