6.5 Assignment: Critical Reflection Journal/Blog

What is new to my thinking or learning this past week? 

            Community begins when relationships and connections are made.  These relationships may be long-lasting or even brief but are typically formed when individuals have a common interest, desires, or purposes.  Community can happen at the workplace, church, and classroom.  This week we have looked closer at how community and relationships come together in the classroom.  We also learned the importance of community in the classroom, specifically in the online classroom. 

            In just a few short weeks since the beginning of this course, community has developed.  We’ve come to understand each other’s interests, why we began this course, and how we will take the information into our communities.  While I have completed academic programs online before, I’ve never really thought about the process of developing and establishing community to the extent we have explored it during this week. 

            The one word that keeps coming to mind when I think of developing a community in an online program is ‘intentionality.’   One must be intentional about establishing a community in the online environment.   By human nature, we want to make a physical connection and touch with the one we are in community with.  This becomes difficult in online learning and requires a certain level of intentionality.               

How has this new information challenged me?

            Understanding that an online community requires a high level of intentionality challenges me as an educator to make sure my students are connecting with their classmates.  During the last two years of a worldwide pandemic, we have learned how to adapt our face-to-face teaching techniques to the online environment. We must make sure our students are engaging and developing a true community with one another. As educators, we must recognize the importance that community plays in the lives of our students no, matter whether it be in person or online, and be intentional about fostering an environment that is conducive to developing community amongst our students.

How has this stretched my professional growth and development?

             I have learned a lot about developing community in the classroom.  While I have experienced community both in the online and in-person learning environment, my understanding of developing it in the classroom as an educator has stretched my professional growth and development.  Though I have much more to learn as an educator, I have a better understanding of how to facilitate it and will continue to grow in my knowledge and understanding.  Learning is a lifelong process, and as technology changes throughout time, the concept of community, particularly an online community, will change. Our role as educators is to continue to grow and develop professionally so that we can make the student experience the most effective, efficient, and enriching as possible.

How can these new learnings impact my personal faith journey and my impact for the Kingdom?

             Community is a biblical concept.  As believers in the faith, we must strive to develop community.  My new understanding of developing community, especially in the classroom, will help me grow in my faith journey and build community with other believers. Matthew 18:20 captures the essence of a community means when it reminds us, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (NIV)       True community happens when we gather with one another and invite God, who created community, to be at the center of our community.