Reflect on your efforts to put together an Executive Summary, Capstone Video and Defense Poster:

 Although seemingly from the 80's, this track was released in 2009. My sister and I were in Novato at a DSW and we were like the only ones in the store when this jam came on. She was in one aisle and I was in another and we looked at each other and started bustin' a move. It was like we were the Kardashians. Anyway, I thought I would insert that song since we are being asked to reflect and the title is "reflections are protection." Plus, now that I finally got a grasp of Weebly, it is kinda fun to put this kinda stuff in. Back to the question. My greatest reflection is that I wish we would have spent more time at the onset focusing on the poster and capstone. I cannot say I have had an epiphany, but everything we have done up until this point makes much more sense, whereas it lacked coherence when we were assigned items in the beginning. I almost think the courses should be taught in reverse as I think I would have been more selective and narrow in my focus which would have enable me to conduct tighter research, making it more reliable. Akin to the specific items being asked about, all seem much easier at this point, so there is not much to reflect on. I am considering my 2nd video for NapaLearns and how to make it something meaningful - I am not there yet.

Touro University California is dedicated to the following:

• Respect for the inherent value and dignity of each individual
• Intellectual inquiry, discovery, and passion for life-long learning
• Acceptance and appreciation of diversity
• Compassion and service to society
• Student-centered education
• Collaboration and sense of community
• Promotion of interprofessionalism​

In this week’s blog, consider how the work you have done during this program fits within Touro’s values and how you are going to take what you have done into the world to make a change. Will you share your work with your principal or colleagues? Will you post about it on twitter? Or will your focus be making a change within your classroom or something else? What practical thing will you do to be of service?

At its core, this project has been based off of a belief in individual student's value, his/her life-long course in learning, acknowledgement of intellectual diversity and variety, compassion for the the historical wrongs that have been done to students, and the understanding that learning happens best through collaboration and within a community - packed it all in. No seriously, truth be told, our goal to improve student mindset and achievement in maths was borne out of those beliefs and missions. With decent test scores locally and regionally, the pressure did not come from some hierarchical source, but from out of a desire to get and do better for kids. In terms of sharing, that is all that I do. This has been a project developed in conjunction with teachers and district administrators. I, however, was the lucky one to collect the data and deliver presentations about progress and outcomes. I say lucky, not tongue-in-cheek, but because it enabled me to be in the know at all times, something I rarely get to do given the breath of my administrative position. I have since shared our project with other teachers, schools and districts given the impact it has had, but I also preface it with it was right for us when we needed it, which is very different for each and every school. In terms of doing something practical, I and we will do what is most practical...continue down the road we began. Many times educators are guilty for trying too many fixes and failing to fine tune or give "it" the time "it" needs for full impact. This is a disservice to our work. We will carry on