ME-PD — 4th Semester

            Welcome to my blog!  My name is Leah Ann and I’m a fourth semester grad student in La Crosse’s Master’s of Education-Professional Development program. My learning community is based in Sun Prairie- we’re known as “Sun Prairie 4″.  This blogging stuff is all new to me, so I’ll be learning as I go while I share my personal experiences with this program.

            First of all, I’ll introduce my learning community…

What a good lookin’ bunch, heh?    There are 19 students and 2 facilitators. I really love our group and enjoy the small size. We have a lot of fun together and have become a great community over these past three semesters. The sense of community is definitely something I’ve never felt before through any other college experience.

We are the “confused leading the confused”!  :)  For the last three semesters I have joked around with my community members regarding this, especially during moments when we all have had blank looks on our faces while working on projects such as developing group rubrics, giving assistance on lit reviews and journal article pieces, etc. during our journey. When I say “journey”, it truly is a journey! There is no beaten path to follow; you honestly pave your own way of learning throughout these four semesters. I think this has been the hardest part for many people to grasp. Most have gone through traditional education systems where the teacher has “all of the knowledge” and passes this on to the students. This is definitely not the case with this graduate program. First of all, the program has facilitators, not teachers. The facilitators will organize weekend meetings based off of the program’s seven strands and the community’s needs, but most importantly they encourage you to discover your own learning. They do not tell you how to do things or give you the “right” or “wrong” answers. Again, they guide you to discover what you feel is best, not necessarily right or wrong. Don’t get me wrong, there is always a goal to aim toward, and the facilitators will never leave you stranded on anything. They are right there supporting you during any time of need. However, you also greatly depend on the other people in your learning community for academic support and emotional support. You get to know these people fairly well during your two years together. I’m so thankful to be able to work with the facilitators and group I’m involved with- they’re truly a great bunch!

Well that’s enough for now. I don’t want to give away all of the secrets in my first blog…he-he.  Ta-ta for now, and thanks for reading…