April Monthly Summary

Samantha Pickens commented on April Monthly Summaries for group 1 and group 2
Kate Bowers commented on April Monthly Summaries for group 1 and group 2
Sean Rodgers commented on April Monthly Summaries for group 3 (Michelle) and group 4





The month of April is so conflicting in formal academia/higher education. So much end-of-semester work and assignments pile into sludgy mounts of stressful timelines with hopes of rewarding outcomes. A key ingredient of success is to keep the feet moving through the muck and emotions. Move forward. Once stopped, it is difficult to restart. The conflict arises when the nice weather appears between April showers with nature calling for outside activity and the health benefit of the sun’s everlasting dose of Vitamin D (i.e. get outside and play). In the Midwest, April’s clean and crisp seasonal feel and longed-for warmth after a cold dark winter marks it as a month for change, renewal and (re)birth. In itself April is charged with Spiritual Learning.

This last month our group improved in their communication and in their teamwork to finalize the program evaluation, and finish up the program demonstration and the survival memo. The feedback from evaluations and Bo Chang’s comments allowed us to gain confidence and momentum going into our final project demonstration. Since we knew our time management was a problem last month, we got a head start on the project demonstration a week early. Our communication continued to be an advantage this past month as well. We divided our roles out based on our strengths once again. This allowed us to create the best possible project. We used the project demonstration as more of creative outlet than our past projects. The final project demonstration was chance to review some of learning concepts presented in the course. It also allows a rationale behind all the projects that came before, and culminates in the final project. Our group did a pretty good job throughout the semester so the tips in the survival memo should prove to be helpful for any future student looking to survive the course!

It has been fascinating to learn more about spiritual learning, which was not entirely what we originally thought or even expected. It has also been interesting to see how other groups have handled the tasks, and how they have addressed their own chosen methodologies. As, always, it was fruitful process learning from fellow classmates and teammates. Looking forward, it is time for reflection, which will be addressed in the final project, and also to tie together any loose ends and incomplete projects.

March Monthly Summary

Samantha Pickens commented on Group 1 and Group 3 March Monthly Summaries
Keith Cozart commented on Group 3 (Michelle Carde) and Group 4 March Monthly Summaries
Sean Rodgers commented on Group 2 and Group 1 (Pat Siemek) March Monthly Summaries

The month of March was a busy one for everyone it seems. Over the last month we have completed our Program Design, 15 Minute Yoga: Three Steps to Better Adult Living, and received critical feedback from Dr. Jerry Wilde and Ms. Danielle Steele about our program design. This feedback will be very valuable to us for moving forward with our projects. The assignments and activities through the month were thrown off a little by Spring Break, but in all we kept it together well.  Studying spiritual learning so in depth has really added a spiritual component and meaning to previous and current experiences for all of us. We continue to enjoy uplifting the skill sets of individual group members. This is a big help because as the semester progresses it is clear we all hold very active lives outside of class time.

We still work very well together as a group when we divide responsibilities and rotate each week.  It keeps us all working and allows us to take a breather from intense work some weeks.  It has been comforting to have other people to lean on when assignments are due.  Our communication is still an advantage with our group as well. We are able to give constructive criticism and praise when needed when it comes to our projects. In the coming month we will be working on the program presentation and finishing up this course.  In the best-case scenario we can continue to work together and hold each other accountable for our work, with an ultimate outcome that fully represents our efforts and provides lasting pride for our group and individual work.  

One of the things that we have been lagging behind in is time management.  We started off the semester completing assignments as soon as we could and that timetable has slowly slipped towards the end of the week.  Luckily, the great planning means we are still meeting deadlines!  Something that we really need to work hard on in this last month is revising and editing our assignments.  Between busy schedules and inconsistent work, there have been multiple accounts of grammar errors as well as ideas and information that is repeated within the paper because each group member's piece is independent of the paper as a whole.  We will be working on this until the end of the semester. 

Our future Project Demonstration group work will be a true test of our ability to improve upon previous shortcomings.  Drawing from all previous course work, the tasks of pulling the entire project together in a streamline, easy to understand, clear/simple, interactive demonstration is entirely within our grasp.  The assigning of a group project manager that oversees the larger picture may be our resolving solution for success.

February Monthly Summary

Keith Commented on Group 3 and Group 6 Summaries

The past month we’ve explored different learning processes that interested us and based on those interests formed groups for future projects. Therefore, this month was used to figure out the dynamics of the group, learn more about spiritual learning, and investigate programs that use a spiritual learning approach in their educational setting.

The formation of our Spiritual Learning group spawned more out of convenience then by design.  Katie and Samantha directly selected Spiritual Learning as their focus topic, where as Keith and Sean joined the group later in the process.  At this point in the semester, the choice to combine has proven rewarding.  Individually our communication is effective and timely.  As a group, we split work in a balanced and fair manner with division based on personal strengths and skills.  For example, our Program Investigation project divided as follows:

• Kate Bowers –Earlham School of Religion program, main features and application write-ups. 
• Sean Rodgers –Sant Bani School program, main features and applications write-ups. 
• Samantha Pickens – Initial program investigation, applications and conclusion write-ups, formatting and final editing of APA, blog design. 
• Keith Cozart – Initial program investigation, table creation and development, embedded video and references, blog creation and posting. 

For this project, the process of work division was quite organic.  After an initial prompting from Samantha, all four members quickly offered contributions to the process allowing for timely organization, reasonable scheduling and a quality end result.  As future projects near, our currently established communication habits will prove extremely valuable.  Creating a foundation of quality work that builds from project to project throughout the semester is an important facet.  I believe we’ve accomplished this quality foundation within our first project.  This will allow our future work to be more streamline and cognitive resulting in a better product. 

We didn’t encounter many, if any, challenges this month. This can be attributed to our communication and drive to meet deadlines. They are definitely an advantage moving forward.  This is not to say we did not have personal challenges in these previous months.  We are all still trying to get accustomed to working with new peers and professors, the drain of taking many classes, working full time, and taking care of our families. 

For next month we will be focusing on our Program Design and Program Evaluation.  Coming up in March, the group will have two projects to work on. One will be the program design, in which the group will design their own program.  The second project is to get educators to evaluate the program, and we will reflect on these recommendations. We believe that our group will have no issues in tackling these projects.