Welcome to Christopher Belt's UIWP Portfolio

1st Week Reflection

I was initially hesitant to take part in this program/grad school thingy/professional development institute dealie.  Scott approached me about it during first semester of the school year and would bring it up from time to time insisting that it was a worthwhile endeavor and a good opportunity for professional development.  I remember being utterly confused as to what The Writing Project actually was and what I would be doing.  I was put off by the time commitment it demanded, so I put off answering Scott for months.  I finally agreed to take part in the project, but again I balked when I learned that I would have to present.  As a “developing teacher”  I didn’t know how confident I would feel presenting to a group of peers at this stage in my career.  Also, there was the time commitment.  I was looking forward to relaxing.

After the first week, I’m glad I’ve decided to take part in this program/grad school thingy/professional development institute dealie.  It has already given me a chance to reflect and build on my classroom practices.  My demo stemmed from a problem I was having in class and this experience has already given me numerous ideas to enrich and extend what I had started.  I’m confident my instruction next year will be much improved.  Had I not done The Writing Project, I would not have refined my approach nearly as much.