Post-Marathon Updates

The second day of Marathoning went very well. I know you are all happy to be finished. This was our largest marathon since the graduation of Cohort 1, and I could check to see if 22 exceeded even that number.

Thank you also for the feedback you provided throughout. The Advisory Board met on Apr 22 and we discussed this further. While changes won’t help you directly, consider your feedback a significant legacy.

Updates:

• Internship documentation is rolling in. A reminder that all is due on May 1. Please submit paper versions and electronic versions (into the WebCT dropbox).
• The course evaluation for this class is available through early May here.
• I will be checking for e-permissions in WebCT. I think the form is self explanatory; we need one updated within this final semester (no need to do it again if you’ve submitted one since January).
• Check your UGA directory address - update as necessary, and try to remember to keep it up to date over time. Yes, this means you will receive Alumni money requests; but it also helps us keep track of you for future reunions, etc.

Feedback on your documentation:

Think about how much of this you want. For the immediate future, we are focused on pass/not pass for the graduation deadline. Subsequently, I will read through your documentation word for word and come up with a numerical score. This may take me all summer, to be frank.

I understand that some people will desire almost no feedback; they just need to know that they passed or perhaps what their score is, and an explanation of the score. All of this will be provided in WebCT as I finish working up each project. (You will continue to have access to WebCT/7460 for quite awhile.)

Rest assured that I will provide critical feedback to you, regardless of your desired level of feedback - and I will get this to you through the most logical method. “Critical” in this sense is feedback that I think is absolutely necessary to your job performance. If you see your final score in WebCT and don’t receive any more detailed feedback within 1-2 weeks, you can assume that none was needed.

Others may want more detailed feedback. Perhaps you want a specific commentary on your video, or another specific element. If you do, please let me know specifically what you want to hear about. I will be happy to spend time on this (at my own pace) if you are willing to be patient. I am not willing to spend time generating a lot of feedback that will be … ignored. So: if you so desire, in the first few weeks after graduation, send me direct emails (not in WebCT, this time) asking me to pay attention to the specific part(s).

Finally, I had this idea during the Marathon. The new interns of Cohort 7 would greatly benefit from a pep talk from some of you who are finishing up. As you may understand from your own experience, they have a great deal of anxiety about how they will meet their time commitments. If you would like to a). address the class in person as a guest, or b). blog about this here - let me know. I am particularly interested in the perspectives of elementary teachers; middle/high teachers; and, people who have 9-5 jobs in the non-education world.