10 Weeks- Navigating Through the OBA Course

Traveling Back in Time to September 24 - December 7, 2018- One of the first things I had to do after accepting the TGC Fellowship was upload all kinds of documents to TGC/IREX including acceptance letter, press release, media release, terms and conditions, and a medical release form (after a visit to my doctor). After that, I received information about our online course using a platform called OBA. When our coursework started, I knew I made the right choice in waiting until I was finished with my National Board Certification. I wasn't scheduled to get my certification results until December 31 and the course was a perfect distraction while I waited. While ever single activity, reading assignment, and project was truly worthwhile, it was a LOT of work.  There would be some weeks where I would get ahead and some weeks were I would fall behind. My course instructor, Honor Moorman, was phenomenal and always offered timely and meaningful feed back on my assignments.  There were required readings each week and then related discussion boards and tasks. OBA was a little tricky to navigate at times, but by about Week 3 I could pretty much find everything I needed. One of the most exciting parts of the course for me was the ability to interact with educators from all around the U.S. who were all passionate about globalizing their classrooms.

Here is an example of the objectives for the week:

Here are our first few assignments: (As a person who is COMPLETELY a Type A personality, I took insane joy in being able to check off those little boxes when tasks were complete. I heard that some of the other instructor did not offer the "check-off" boxes to their students, and I was deeply saddened for them. I think there is something wrong with me...lol!)
The largest assignment was our Unit Plan. You can check out my Unit Plan HERE. Even though I "finished" it and turned it in, it is still a huge work in progress. Basically, my students to concepts from math and science class to design an energy efficient, accessible school that welcomed everyone. The project consisted to two main parts, the artwork and the essay. Here are some of finished art products: