Group Project Reflection by Vicky Creasy

I have to admit that I get very apprehensive when it comes to group projects. I usually am always the leader, and always end up doing all of the work in the group so that I can make sure my team (AKA me) gets a good grade. But, I decided to approach this project differently and hoped that I would learn more about myself and develop some much needed "Indian instead of Chief" skills. I am so glad that I ended up with the team I did. We had a great leader step forward in the beginning. She has prodded us along and kept us on task throughout the course. It has been great knowing that I can depend on her to help keep everyone on track and make sure we are doing the right thing project wise.
As far as the project, I have learned so much through this process. The brainstorming week was quite fun. Our team all answered the questions separately on a google doc. It was such good practice using google docs and google sites that I feel confident enough now to use them in my classroom while teaching. I was impressed with the ease of acquiring skills to use the tools. Everyone chimed in on their experiences, and we all were able to agree on what would we do. The hardest week, by far, was the third week. Quite a bit was asked of us this week- building a lesson plan and creating a UDL book online. But, it was well worth it in the end. Building the lesson plan allowed me to thoroughly think through what I would teach and how I would incorporate all of the needs of all of the different learners in the classroom.
The UDL book builder was quite a task. I can definitely see the benefit and have passed the idea along to my lower school teachers in my school. While alot of work, I can see how beneficial to diversifying education that the book could be in a classroom setting. I did enjoy the task.
Overall, our team came up with great approaches for teaching our class unit and allowed for the education of all students in the class. I feel we worked well together and got the project done with style.