Reflection

My Summer of Learning in East Lansing and My Future as an Educator.

Rich Edelen

Before I begin reflecting on my summer in East Lansing, I would like to recount my

time leading up to my arrival and the small amount of time after arriving and prior

to class beginning.

Coming to East Lansing for class was a decision I had made because I was eager to

see whether I was certain I wanted to move back to the Midwest. Living in

California over the past five years has made me long to be closer to my family and

friends, most of whom reside in Ohio, save my parents whom live in Dallas, Texas.

The Midwest, for the most part, is a much slower-paced environment and the

people seem to be more genuine and kinder than what I am currently used to

enduring. Therefore, as you can imagine, I not only had high-expectations for my

trip, but as a result, I was also quite anxious to make the trip to Michigan State

University.

Just after landing in Detroit, I rented my car and navigated my way to East

Lansing. However, in the short time at the airport and car rental terminal, I was

already feeling good about my decision because of the good people with which I

had the pleasure to speak. Upon arriving at MSU, I checked into my dorm and

strangely felt like I was back in my twenties, a feeling of rejuvenation. Though this

is not a bad feeling, it has been sometime since being in a college environment and

I must admit it was refreshing. My first evening in East Lansing came to a quick

completion and I prepared myself for the next day, the BIG day.

Reflection

My Summer of Learning in East Lansing and My Future as an Educator.

Rich Edelen

The big day is referencing my first day of class with eighteen people I had never

met and five people I have only had the pleasure to interact with during our online

coursework over the past year, but never met face to face. I finally arose from my

restless slumber and quickly readied myself for the first day of class. Much to my

dismay, I walked outside and found the sky was unleashing its fury on the area.

Being from southern California, rain has actually become something I am not used

to experiencing any longer. Luckily, I had brought along a bright red poncho

purchased from Target just days before the trip. Judging by the looks I was

receiving by people on campus, they must have thought they were witnessing the

real-life Red Riding Hood, though slightly more masculine. Not to worry, I

remained dry. I packed my poncho after shaking off the water and proceeded into

the room where class would soon begin. I opened the door and there were only a

few of my colleagues in the room.

Upon entering the room, I noticed there was one free seat at the first table and I

hesitated to sit down, panning the room for a safe spot to sit where I could possibly

go unnoticed for the first few days. Much to my surprise, Tami Nelson encouraged

me to have a seat next to her and with Arin Giannandrea and Lisa Mulka at that

first table inside the room. This may seem insignificant at first, but it is quite

significant in my overall enjoyment of the course, the people, and the location. It

was the beginning to me truly believing I needed to return to the Midwest.

Lisa, Arin, Tami, and I collaborated on several projects, ate lunch with one another

almost every day, and began getting to each other; however, in a positive manner.

Through many hours together and good, hard work, we submitted better work than

Reflection

My Summer of Learning in East Lansing and My Future as an Educator.

Rich Edelen

we individually anticipated. Further, I have to admit, if it were not for Tami’s

guidance to sit at their table, I probably would not have had as enjoyable of a time

as I did. I really enjoyed working with these three and I am eager to work with

them again and see their progress over the remainder of our MAET program.

Now on to my reflection of my learning as well as how this program has affected

my outlook on teaching, more specifically my approach to my particular school and

classes.

First, my thoughts are directed toward creativity and inquisitiveness, particularly

cultivating creativity and encouraging inquisitiveness, questioning, and students

going beyond the normal effort. However, I must briefly address the expected

function of the “great teacher” at my school, but in particular by many of the

students, most of the parents, and quite a few of my colleagues and administrators.

Being a private school with high placement in many top-notch universities and

colleges around the country, the expectation is that the teacher is the lecturer

while he or she drones on through text-rich PowerPoint presentations day after

day. When I first started teaching at this school, I felt that was what I had to be as

a teacher.

However, at one point, I quickly become the anomaly as I began integrating

creative and collaborative projects for both my high school aged and middle school

aged students. This, along with attending all sporting events, home and away, as

Reflection

My Summer of Learning in East Lansing and My Future as an Educator.

Rich Edelen

well as all performing arts activities, has drawn the attention of most of my

colleagues, though not in the expected positive and appreciative way. Mostly, I am

labeled as the over achiever and the teacher that must have ulterior motives

because there is no reason to be on campus or that involved with the students.

I argue that doing all the things I do, as mentioned above, allows me a greater

respect for my students, from my students, and affords me the opportunity to see

them on a different level, not just the information regurgitating machines most

have become. In doing so, I am able to integrate many of the activities in which

my students participate into my lessons, from basketball and soccer to plays,

musicals, and even the student newspaper. I feel the effort I have put forth in

learning about my students has provided me with the ability to enrich my teaching

techniques on top of inspiring student creativity and a feeling that they are not

simply my subordinates. However, I do tend to be constrained by the notion that a

student’s knowledge can only be assessed by the educator providing them with

anxiety-inducing tests most parents and administrators expect. Although, I forge

onward and continue to provide “alternative” learning methods for my students,

trying to reach multiple levels of intelligence and understanding through one

lesson, or several integrated lessons that demonstrate the connectivity of the

subject with human behavior.

I have found that asking my students to be creative in their expression of

conceptual understanding has provided many with the notion they are capable

learners and capable of achieving understanding of difficult concepts and relating

Reflection

My Summer of Learning in East Lansing and My Future as an Educator.

Rich Edelen

them to more common activities, or vice versa. Cultivating creativity in my

students has been very rewarding for me in spite of the hectic meetings and

explanations I am required to participate in order to justify my desired results.

Many students, however, seem to be eager to come to my class a majority of the

time, excluding the days of the dreaded tests or quizzes. One related story I tell

my students at the beginning of each school year is that even I struggled with

school. Nevertheless, I did not struggle because I was not capable of

understanding, rather because I could not demonstrate my knowledge in the

manner that suited me best as well as not seeing a direct reason for learning many

of the subjects. As a result, it has long been my goal to allow my students to

understand the ways in which their classmates understand and provide methods

through which each of them can excel as individual learners. In fact, we often

discuss the different ways in which they approached a project or preparation for an

assessment.

Concerning the issue of the inquisitive student and the possible lack of interest

inspired by the teacher whom stifles both creativity and inquisitiveness, I must

admit I find myself dismissing some questions from students at times. It is not

because I do not want them to question the subject, their classmates, or me. It is

more the student who is giggling and laughing while asking questions that I do not

answer immediately. However, through the readings, I have concluded many of

these students are not seeking attention from their classmates through disruptive

participation, rather their giggling, or laughter is more of a defense mechanism to

Reflection

My Summer of Learning in East Lansing and My Future as an Educator.

Rich Edelen

protect them from feeling as if they are not intelligent enough to participate in the

discussion. As a result, I am going to be more forgiving to those students and

address their questions, but I am also going to provide alternative modes of asking

questions beyond simply raising their hands, interjecting, or emailing.

This issue has already been somewhat addressed by providing an online classroom

discussion forum where students can ask and answer any questions they may have.

Additionally, I am going to reinstate my office hours for individual students before

and after school as well as providing a question box outside of my door for

students to either anonymously or openly ask questions that I will address during

the next class period. It is very important to me that my students feel they can

approach me, but also feel their classmates are approachable and an acceptable

means of gaining clarity.

Further, and above all, I have learned I need to reevaluate what it is I want my

students to take from my course, what it is they need to take from my course for

success in future classes, and the methods through which my students receive and

evaluate information. Over the past couple years I have found myself drifting away

from the discussion and inquiry based classroom environment and moving toward

the lecture and memorization style of teaching, not because I have wanted to, but

more so because I was looking for the easiest way to avoid conflict with parents

and administrators. However, knowing the benefits first hand as a learner and

seeing how students act when provided these opportunities for exploration, I must

reintegrate inquiry into my classroom, but this time in a much more efficient and

Reflection

My Summer of Learning in East Lansing and My Future as an Educator.

Rich Edelen

less trouble-inducing method while providing parents the opportunity to

understand the benefits as well. As a result, I am revamping my lesson plans, labs,

projects, and even assessments while transitioning my classroom to a tech-friendly,

media-rich environment, which cultivates creativity and provides each student with

an opportunity to find a personal method for understanding the concepts

addressed.

The design of this course has aided me in seeing the need for new, more media-

rich methods of developing student understanding and further inspiring creativity

in understanding. I am eager to continue to integrate video production and editing

by students in order to develop a greater conceptual understanding. Further, I am

proposing the development of student designed flash media products, which will be

either games or tutorials for their classmates to gain a greater depth and breadth

of knowledge as well as tying the subject matter into everyday life activities and

testing their knowledge through the design process.

In looking ahead at my career and my personal education over the next five years I

will complete my Master’s in Educational Technology through Michigan State

University as well as further my own personal learning through workshops and

Reflection

My Summer of Learning in East Lansing and My Future as an Educator.

Rich Edelen

online resources provided through ISTE and NSTA. In addition to using these

online resources, I will also be using less specific resources such as searches for

student learning methods and instructional techniques. Additionally, my school

offers continuing education and professional development opportunities through

local universities and collaborative forums with other local private schools. Over

the past two years, we have had speakers such as Daniel Pink and Charles Gardner

attend these forums and lead the groups in thoughtful dialogue on the future of

education and the importance of inspiring students to find their own joy in

learning.

However, after much thought over the past two years I am actively pursuing

acceptance into university PhD programs to either study Geophysics or Education,

specifically curriculum design. Though I love teaching middle school science, I

have a desire to get into formalized research at an institution of higher education.

That being said, I have also been looking into programs where current faculty have

been researching the way in which university freshman are taught and learn

Geology, or the Earth Sciences.

In my undergraduate studies, I was lucky to have instructors who were able to

relay the subject matter in a clear and understanding manner. Although I was

interested in learning this subject, most other students did not share the same

feeling. Physical and Historical Geology as well as Earth Science are typically

required of all students at most universities, thus students are usually not very

Reflection

My Summer of Learning in East Lansing and My Future as an Educator.

Rich Edelen

eager to learn in these courses, rather the courses are viewed as consequences of

their enrollment in university.

With this in mind, a past professor, Dr. David McConnell, currently a Professor at

The University of South Carolina, embarked on new, collaborative research with

the School of Education at The University of Akron. This project covers the design

of university level Earth Science curriculum that is relevant and engaging enough

to inspire university freshman to take their required courses more seriously and

enjoy the act of learning material they may not normally be interested in pursuing.

Furthermore, Dr. Julie Libarkin of Michigan State University is currently

researching Geocognition and Geoscience Education. Over the past year, I have

been in contact with Dr. Librakin as well in an effort to start a dialogue and gain

acceptance into her research group. Within this group, Dr. Libarkin is also

working with Dr. Kazuja Fujita and Dr. Duncan Sibley on K-12 Earth Science

Education as well as Science and Mathematics Education respectively. This is of

interest to me because I will not only be able to continue my passion for

Geodynamics, Tectonics, and Hydrology (not directly related to the previous two

subjects, but Karst and cave formation have always intrigued me), but also

continue my path in education.

Additionally, I have been in contact with instructors at universities like West

Virginia University, California State University at Northridge, The University of

Memphis, and Pennsylvania State University to discuss the possibility of

conducting, or even beginning research in Geocognition, specifically related to the

Reflection

My Summer of Learning in East Lansing and My Future as an Educator.

Rich Edelen

fields mentioned before. All communications with these professors has been very

positive and given me hope that I will have the opportunity to further my education

at the university level.

Furthermore, I want to begin working with my father and two close friends in

designing courseware for corporations to provide discounted, continuing education

for their blue-collar work force and family members in subjects ranging from basic

computer and technology literacy to areas of concentration like Quality Assurance,

Sampling Methods, and Quality Management. My father and friends, have a

combined total of 60 years in business, specifically the engineering and

telecommunications industries, each with a university Master’s in Business

Administration.

I have always considered myself a lifelong learner and hope to cultivate the

opportunity and desire for others to continue to pursue their goals and dreams as

well as further their knowledge of and ability to compete in the ever-changing

global society.