Cory Colby ACP Final Portfolio

Cory Colby
SP18 ACP
Reflection

The Adjunct Certification Program

When I signed up for the program I was expecting to have added another role to my responsibilities at
the college that would include the need to have the certification in order to be a facilitator. However,
not long after I enrolled in the program I found out that the expectation I had would not become a
reality at this time. After mulling around in the dumps a few days and considering “what is the point of
going through this program”, I thought that I might as well go ahead and get the certification because it
can’t hurt. In all honesty, I also knew that with Sunnye Pruden being the facilitator I would almost
certainly pick up some things I didn’t already know. My experience in the HETI program gave me the
expectation that what I would learn would have value. With this in mind, and a mindset that convinced
me that as a certified facilitator I could connect and impact with adjuncts in a way that makes them feel
connected and more effective in a way that I wanted to have for the five years I was an adjunct at the
LSC-Montgomery campus.

Value, Knowledge, and Insights Gained

There is no doubt that this program is structured in a way that makes you be committed to it. Like
anything, you will get out of it what you put into it, but there is certainly an element to this program that
makes it so that even if you are just going through the motions because you need to check this off your
list, you will still get something out of it just by doing the assignments. I really want to mention in this
section that I already saw the value in this for me when I started and then everything went up in the air
when a family member died. I am sure that I probably could have put the program off and no one would
have had any hard feelings about it, but I really wanted to stay a part of it.

One of the biggest reminders that I got as I went through this is the incredible volume of resources that
are available to make courses engaging in a multitude of ways and that with some intentional planning,
a good course can become a great course.

The number one applied thing that I truly gained from this as a full-time faculty member is that D2L is a
much more powerful tool than even how I am using it and that I need to continue to build more depth
to my materials so that I can leverage the resource in a more meaningful and comprehensive way. The
clear organization of materials with the checklists, clear assignments, resources, and rubrics showed me
just how deep you can go in creating a meaningful experience that can also serve as a safety net for our
students who want other ways to experience learning and show their mastery than just what they get a
chance to do in the classroom.

Incorporation of Knowledge

It has been interesting to me to be in this program at the same time that I am in the ITCP program. I
expected more overlap for some reason and there really wasn’t that much. What I really like about this
program that is so different is the emphasis on what good pedagogical thinking looks like, what a good
structure looks like in planning for learning, and what good instruction looks like. The ITCP program
places a huge emphasis on developing the good instruction to the next level, but it wouldn’t be very
meaningful if there wasn’t already a strong foundation of instructional ability and practices upon which
to build.

Cory Colby
SP18 ACP
Reflection

Direct Impacts on My Classroom:

• Organization of Online Material – This one has got to be the one that I walk away from this
program thinking the most about. I have already started thinking about planning in a more
deliberate way than I already do to make sure that my resources and materials in the LMS are as
beneficial to students as they can possibly be. I am certain that I will be emailing with questions
about this to get my online material up to the standards that I saw in this course.

• Bridges – I really like the idea of bridges. I have never used them as effectively as I would like to
have used them, but I have redoubled my efforts now because I truly and deeply believe that
students deserve to have something that hooks them into a lesson. I didn’t like lecture rooms
when I was in school (although I am auditory so it was easy for me) and I don’t want my
students to ever feel like that is what is going on. There is so much that we talk about that can
make a real difference in their lives and communities but if they don’t have something that
sparks their interest they will miss it.

• CATs https://youtu.be/sP4NMoJcFd4 - I am apologizing right now for that link, but I can’t help it.
Ever since it came up I can only think of this video. Literally, every single time we talk about it,
this is stuck in my head. The reality though is that this particular topic made me really go back
and look at what other things I can add in. I already felt like I did a lot of variety in how I dig into
student performance, but what I realized is that I have actually started taking a lot of it onto
myself again and not using the abilities of the students to help out in this process. There were so
many tools and ideas that were either new to me or a reminder about things that I liked but
forgot about. This was really meaningful.

• Pre and Post Assessments – I constantly am looking for more ways to do this. I tell everyone that
I am the lead learner in my room and that I want to keep finding ways to dig deeper into what
students know in order to make it meaningful for them. These are a great way to get a peak
inside their minds. I think this course gave me a reminder that these things really can be just a
short check on the students to get a glimpse of that knowledge and they don’t have to be
comprehensive looks. It is a spot check more than a deep look.

• Tech – I was a little concerned with this one, but this program treated it completely differently
than ITCP. The session on tech really was an applied session and a sampler of what is out there. I
love that. I got to play with stuff I didn’t already know. As someone who has liked adding tech to
their room, but who has not really been an explorer, I found this to be such a great asset. The
reality is that with this session and the one on CATs, I have a huge list of resources that I don’t
have to go through and check out their value on my own, I can rely on people I trust who
already use them to put this list together to find a lot of ways to bring variety to my students
and my own experience in the classroom.

Becoming a More Effective Instructor

I have really made this talking point the theme of so much of what I have said. I came into this wanting
to walk away with some skills to make me a better instructor for my students and a facilitator that could
make adjuncts feel more connected and effective. I definitely think I can do that now.

The first thing that has made me a more effective instructor is that this program has energized my mind
to make me think about all the possibilities that exist for me to be able to deliver and assess content. I

Cory Colby
SP18 ACP
Reflection

have been pushed out of my own comfort zone and normal area of growth to look at what I am doing
and be challenged to take it to another level through organization, variety, and intentional
consideration.

Second, I have already started adding tools into my lessons. I literally used Plickers in my class two days
ago as a result of this class. I am more effective because this program has deepened my resolve to make
sure that every experience my students have in class has meaning and purpose. I don’t want any of their
time in my class to feel like it was wasted or that it could have been used better in learning a different
way.

Further Development

I may be biased, but I definitely think that the next step for instructors to level-up their teaching game is
to go into the ITCP program. I know that next year it will change to have a different experience and
direction, but it is a natural flow from what is learned in here. When you master the concepts and are
able to really BOPPPS-it like a champ you can get into ITCP and find out how to take the instruction,
content, and delivery from good to great.

The other professional developments I would suggest is for adjuncts to try to purposefully find out who
instructors are at their campuses with whom they can connect to build a positive-growth relationship so
that they can become better incorporated into the fabric of the college, but also to learn from someone
directly with a different experience and positive reputation. I would also add that we should look at
creating some kind of Pineapple Charts (see Cult of Pedagogy Podcast) that allow instructors to sign up
to visit and observe the classrooms of other instructors to take away great ideas and think about what
they can add to their own repertoire from the great instructors they see working in their classrooms.

Thank you, Sunnye, for the time, effort, and excellence you committed to this program and for giving me
the space I needed to be recover and be successful.