Education Background: Still Helpful
June 4, 2021 is listed in my Google calendar as “Last Day in the Hellmouth”. That was my final day as a teacher before I spent the summer transitioning to instructional design, and I take a moment to recognize the anniversary every year.
Although I move further from the classroom, there are some things that will stay with me. My education background continues to inform my instructional design practice.
Here are a few examples:
I delivered a workshop on Thinking Routines last month to our Delivery Experience group at CSG. Thinking Routines are short and easy-to-use activities to deepen learner thinking and make thinking visible. These come from Harvard’s Project Zero and I still use them when hosting retros and debriefs today.
Curriculum development is still at the heart of my work. Whether I am starting from scratch, or transforming existing content, I can independently build a learning program from start to finish, including all resources and assessments.
Learning theories like constructivism continue to inform my practice. Knowing that learners use their previous experiences as a foundation, I gather information on their prior knowledge during the needs analysis and figure out what modalities and content will be the best fit for that audience.
My decade as a teacher may be further and further in the past, but I will continue to leverage those professional skills in my career moving forward.
