Celebrate Diversity

“I know there is strength in the differences between us. I know there is comfort, where we overlap.” 
― Ani DiFranco

After the first week of face to face classes and the second week of online classes, it is ever apparent the benefits that diversity in your learners and the people you work with brings. 

The Webskills participants are quickly forming a productive virtual learning community. This week they've been exploring Noodle Tools, which is a portal of search engines. As we all tend to lean on our good friend, Google, the goal of the week is to find search engines that cater to more specific searches.

Participants have been sharing their experiences and guiding each other through the course material in their online discussion board. The discussion is rich with unique experiences both in the quest for effective search engines and the different kinds of searches that each person is conducting and sharing based on their needs and interests. A great deal has been learned in the search process through sharing and collaborating. It is always amazing to witness the productive communication that occurs in this online platform. In addition to my Webskills participants, I continued my weekly Skpye calls with the PALSS participants. This week we shared information about our childhood, comparing and contrasting how different our lives have been. It is a joy to be able to connect on a world wide scale!

Diversity in my face to face class is going to offer itself to yet another productive learning community. My learners come from a variety of different backgrounds, yet they all share the experience of adjusting to a new culture, living in the United States. They are eager to learn all that they can about the language and the world around them. Last week, we developed a comfortable classroom environment by learning about one another through introductions, interviews, as well as pair and group work. I'm looking forward to watching them learn and grow throughout the next eight weeks.

I realized how valuable it is to have diverse perspectives from the colleagues you work with. I'm leading the Oral Skills 2 team this term, and there needs to be a great deal of work done to the curriculum. I know that it will be a work in progress for many terms to come and that it will need continual revamping in order to stay current with student interests and needs. I feel fortunate to have a talented group of individuals working on my team this term. Through our collaboration, the curriculum will be stronger, in turn, enhancing the education that our students receive. 

There is no doubt that it will be a busy term, but I know that growth is on the horizon. With all of the new students and perspectives, comes an opportunity for me to broaden, to expand my breadth of knowledge and learn from the diversity that surrounds me.