Reflective thinking is an important learning strategy. It forces you to think about what you did well and where you fell short of meeting expectations. When you do that, you can learn and grow from experiences. In this forum, you will reflect on what you have learned from your efforts on the Week 2 paper. As you respond to your peers, you will review their work in Folio and exchange useful advice. This forum is an opportunity for peer-to-peer support; therefore, your instructor will not be participating in the forum but will be reading your responses and providing feedback within the gradebook.
Write:
In your initial discussion forum post,
Identify a specific element of your Week 2 paper you would like targeted feedback from your classmates.
Describe what you plan to do differently based on what you found challenging as you planned and completed the Week 2 paper.
Explain how reflecting on your planning and performance of the Week 2 paper might help you in the development and achievement of your Personal Development Plan final project.
Your initial post should be a minimum of 150 words
1
SMART GOALS
My academic SMART goal is to complete all class assignments at least two days before the official submission date. Completing my assignments in time would give me ample time to go through my work and ensure everything is fine, including the grammatical mistakes, omissions, and other errors are rectified. I planned to list down assignments in order of urgency and attention to enable me to conduct in-depth research to improve my work quality. My professional SMART goal was to obtain my early childhood degree within three years to keep my current job. My motivation for achieving the academic goal is internal because it is to submit high-quality assignments that will help me attain high grades. This will fulfill my dream of getting top of my class and get a job promotion in my workplace. My motivation for pursuing my professional goal is external because I want to build a sustainable career, which starts with keeping hold of my current position as an early head start teacher. Completing my Early Childhood Education Degree within three years will see me retain the job, and moreover, achieving high grades will grant me job promotion chances.
Strengths
Three strengths that I possess to help me pursue my goals include good time management, determination, and attention to detail. My sound time management skills include preparing a timetable of all my scheduled activities and allocating enough time to my academics. Good time management will help me achieve both my professional and academic goals. My Use First sequence is evidence of how much I like being organized and submit my assignments in time. Good time management helps me never be late in class and other obligations, which is a credit to my life. I do everything within set timelines and systematically starting with the most urgent. Good time management also enables me to undertake extensive research on my assignments and have time to consult my friends. Another strength that I possess is determination and dedication to my studies. I spend more personal time doing extra work to increase my creativity in my academic and professional life. The determination is guided by the enthusiasm, motivation, and discipline that I have towards my course.
In addition to determination and good time management, my most significant strength is attention to detail. This is reflected in my Use First Precision. Being detail-oriented is crucial in my academic life, where I have to read to understanding to perform well in assignments. Besides, being detail-oriented enables me to work better in my professional life, where I am supposed to attend to different people per day and write summaries of the daily achievements on-time. This convinces my employers that I can be resourceful, self-driven, and result-oriented.
Areas of Opportunity
Apart from my strengths, I also have opportunities for improvement. Some of the areas that I need to improve include better reading habits, balancing academic and professional obligations, and nervousness about public speaking. I need to work on my reading habits if I want to reach my goals. Due to my poor reading habits, I usually find myself sleeping or fantasizing about other things. To remedy this problem, I plan to make short notes as I read or engage myself in group reading where we can exchange ideas of what we understood.
Another opportunity for improvement is balancing my professional obligations with my academic work. Working in the two areas simultaneously requires close attention and striking a balance between the two due to the many responsibilities that I have. Most of the time, I find myself inclining more toward the work obligation, and I forget some of the academic responsibilities I have to achieve. To solve this problem, I need to allocate time for both obligations to succeed on both grounds. Finally, I need to work on my public speaking skills. Due to my tight schedule, I do not have time to talk to many people. This makes me so nervous when speaking to a group of unfamiliar people. To achieve my professional and academic goals, I need to work on perfecting my public speaking skills.
