Donelle Knight-French-EDLM6200-Reflective-Reflexive Practices in Technology-Enabled Environments

Reflections by Donelle Knight-French

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way_engage_retain_employees/msfw_engage_retain_recognize_signs

I started this course not knowing what to expect.  As we have established I am a teacher in a K-12 school and in this environment reflection is not seen as important.  the focus is on exam preparation and reflection is not a part of any syllabus.  As I got into the program and got familiar with the benefits of engaging in reflective activity for the students and also for the teacher, I began to think about how I could encourage such practices in my workplace.  To be honest, I have not been successful up to this point with trying to encourage reflective practices among my peers but I have been experimenting with reflective practices in my grade 7 Introduction to Business Class and also in my grade 10 Business Innovations class.

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Let's a take a look at the reflective activity completed by students in the grade 7 class:

Reflective Activity

Create a Powerpoint or a video this presents the following information:

1.      A summary of the things you have learned in Introduction to Business class.  (5)

2.      The things you enjoyed most. (5)

3.      The things you did not enjoy (be honest but polite). (5)

4.      Things that you would like to do in class in the future. (5)

5.      How you think what you are learning can help in the future. (5)

6.      Make your presentation as creative as possible.  (5)

30 marks

The assignment served two purposes:

1. It gave students a practical exercise to complete as an introduction to reflective practices.
2. It allowed me to reflect on students presentations, and use the information to improve on their learning experiences.

Here are some examples of the assignments that were submitted:

https://pestleanalysis.com/examples-of-pestle-analysis/

• https://www.powtoon.com/c/f0Dj0yQU81X/1/m -(copy the link and past it in the browser)
• https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pzQ6FR4j-GE9gx8ekaFyMSXmQosKH_Iu/view?usp=sharing

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A valuable lesson I learned from implementing reflective activity in my classroom, is that in order for this type of activity to work, there must be a good and trusting relationship between the facilitator and the students.  Initially, students expressed some discomfort with expressing constructive criticism.  However, once I was able to convince them that I would not be offended, they were willing to share.  Overall, I will be implementing reflective practices and activities into my classes.  The next step is to try to help my work colleagues to see the value in reflection as well.

Donelle Knight-French-Reflective-Reflexive Practices in Technology Enabled Environments

Reflections 

by Donelle Knight French

Group Work-I absolutely hate it!  But I get it done.

Some of my worst experiences as a tertiary level student have involved group work.  I am an eager beaver and I prefer to get started immediately and be well ahead of the deadline.  I really cannot comprehend why persons allow the deadline to approach and then as a result I am forced to sacrifice my valuable sleep time to rush to get assignments submitted.  It makes me so very angry.  I feel like the guy in the image wearing the turquoise shirt.  Despite this stress and pressure, I have noticed working in groups is indeed a necessary evil.  Although I an excellent at time management, I do not have a creative bone in my body.  Oddly enough the members of my group who are self-confessed ‘last minute people’ are the very creative ones.  This brings a nice balance to our projects.

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What was my role?

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I proposed the concept of creating a reflective framework designed for entrepreneurs to my group.  In my capacity as a Business Studies/ Entrepreneurship teacher I was happy that they accepted this proposal.  Since I am actually engaged in teaching this course my role in putting together the project was to describe the target learner audience and the related teaching & learning environment as well as the learning processes the new framework seeks to address. 

So what?

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In making my contribution to the project I started to get a deeper understanding of why reflective activity must be incorporated into the field of Business Studies.  While reflection is not a part of the syllabus it supports practices such as understanding customer feedback, dealing with employee relation, understanding market patterns and changes and decision making among many others (Provis, 2015).  It also helped me to develop an appreciation of the fact that reflection on experiences, on self, with mentors and with peers will to a rich and deep reflective and learning experience.   The framework which has been created emphasizes collaborative reflection so that ideas and expertise can be shared and used as an impetus for innovation, incremental innovation as well as the development of a growth mindset.

Now What?

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1.       As requirement of the CAPE Entrepreneurship course students are required to create business concepts.  It is my intention to designate 15 minutes of each class as reflection time where students can share their business ideas with peers and hear their views.  This is meant to cover the element of peer reflection.

2.       During some of the sessions resource persons in the form of practicing entrepreneurs will be invites to hear the students’ ideas and to share their expertise.  This should cover the element of mentored reflection.

3.       In some sessions students will reflect on their own views, those of the mentors and their peers’ views in order to make their business concepts richer.

As stated in my last post reflection needs to be incorporated directly into course materials and course time so that students can have every opportunity to practice developing their reflective skills.  Reflection leads to the development of analytical skills, which are transferable to many situations (Quinton & Smallbone, 2010).  This further encourages me to incorporate reflection in my classes despite the fact that it is not a syllabus requirement.

References

Provis, C. J  (2017).  Intuition, analysis and reflection in business ethics.  140 (1), 5-15.  Retrieved from https://link-springer-com.library.open.uwi.edu/article/10.1007/s10551-015-2688-z#citeas


Quinton, S., & Smallbone, T. (2010). Feeding forward: using feedback to promote student reflection and learning - a teaching model. Innovations in Education & Teaching International, 47(1), 125–135. Retrieved from https://web-a-ebscohost-com.library.open.uwi.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=46de78d9-568c-4ac2-9f5d-8ee57acfb173%40sessionmgr4007&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=47992453&db=ehh

Document for Peer Reviewer:Lesson Plan & Presentation

Individual Assignment: Lesson Plan Presentation

by Donelle Knight-French

Individual Assignment: The Lesson Plan

Section 1: Lesson Preparation

Teacher Name:	Donelle Knight-French
Grade Level:	10
Date:	21st October, 2019
Unit/Subject:	Marketing/Business Innovations
Instructional Plan Title:	The Marketing Mix-The 4 Ps of Marketing
Lesson Summary and Focus:	The lesson will help students to understand the marketing mix with the end result of applying it to a business that they have previously conceptualized.  Students will engage in Reflective/Reflexive group activities based on findings that were garnered from market research activities.  In addition, students will be required to reflect on the marketing mix concept with the aim of determining how this knowledge can benefit them in the future.
Classroom and Student Factors/Grouping:	There are 5 students with on ILP and IEPs in the class.  This lesson will be proved to the Learning Support Coordinator who will work with me to coordinate any accommodations of modifications
Specific Learning Target(s)/Objectives:	By the end of this lesson students should be able to: Define the elements of the marketing mix Apply the marketing mix to various products and services Given findings which have been collected based on the group’s proposed businesses students should be able to reflect on data in order to create an effective marketing mix for their proposed business/service.
Resources, Materials, Equipment, and Technology:	Canvas Learning Management System Zoom conferencing software Findings which have been collected with regards to marketing research Tic-Tac-Toe board Rubrics Student laptops

Section 2: Instructional Planning

Anticipatory Set ·       I will use an explanatory video about the marketing mix concept ·       Students will lead discussion based on what they have watched.	Time Needed 10 minutes
Multiple Means of Representation ·       I will use an online graphic organizer to illustrate the core elements of the marketing mix. ·       I will provide an article regarding how popular companies develop their marketing mixes ·       A video which delves into the importance of identifying the target market to determining the marketing mix will be used. ·       I will allow students to conduct research using the Internet to share information about areas of the Marketing mix as it relates to popular companies and products.	Time Needed 25 minutes
Multiple Means of Engagement 1.     Students will engage in collaborative group work over Zoom in breakout rooms in order to create and discuss a marketing mix based on research findings that have been collection with regards to the product/service concept that was developed in a previous lesson. 2.     Students will be required to reflect how the marketing affect them and submit a reflective piece	Time Needed 30 minutes
Multiple Means of Expression Students will use the following Tic-Tac-Toe board to choose the assignments they would like to complete over the course of the unit. In this unit you must complete the center grid for 60 points.  This is the only MANDATORY assignment.  In addition to this question you will then two other squares to equal the other 20 points you may not earn more than 80 points in this unit.  You will find detailed instructions on Moodle for each assignment. Use the 4 Ps of marketing to create a short marketing campaign for a product/service- written, video, podcast, presentation  (10 points) A song about Marketing (10 points) Marketing: Artistic presentation and interpretation (10 points) Critique an existing marketing campaign-written, video, podcast, presentation (10 points) Reflection:  Part A Reflect on the data collected through conducting your market research and create a marketing mix for your product/service concept.  Reflect on the marketing process and focus on what went well, what can be improved and what you will do differently next time. (35 points) Part B Submit a reflective piece entitled How does the marketing mix affect me?  (25 points) Call a community business and discuss the company’s marketing plan.   (10 points) How does marketing affect me? written, video, podcast, presentation (10 points) Role Play-As long as we have a good product marketing is not important. (10 points) Read chapter 5 (marketing) of your text book and write a summary of each section.  (10 points) Students will complete part A of  the compulsory question by the end of this lesson.	Time Needed
	55 minutes
Extension Activity and/or Homework Students will complete two additional assignments from the tic-tac-toe grid for a total of 40 marks.  All activities relate to the learning outcomes.	Time Needed 1 week