There is always something “magical” about the last… thing, whatever it is. For this last blog, I am a little bit sentimental about all that has been put into this blog, and this class, over the last three months. I can remember starting in August, when it was hot, and hearing about weekly blog posts, evaluation projects, time lines, evaluation plans, and I could not even imagine what that would look like, or add up to. And now, it’s December 7th, and it’s basically done. I just dropped my final, final paper and now I am feeling like I’m done. Like I said, there is an element of sentimentality to finalizing any period of time.

Over this semester, from hot August days reading on back porch a text about the most imperitive steps of an evaluation, to cold November Saturdays sitting in front of my computer in my new office room in my new apartment as snow falls just feet from me through the window as I write my own evaluation, I began to see what a tangible thing evaluations are. I think I always took for granted evaluations, I looked at them like they were small discussions that people had, but that real change was organic and just happened over time. I guess I didn’t want to admit that real change, qualitative and needed change is not always organic but something that happens only when someone, or a team, steps up and makes a calculated effort to discover what needs to be changed.

I learned the importance of planning an evaluation. Of determining what, exactly needs to be evaluated, what might come of the evaluation, and what will happen once that information is accumulated. Evaluations happen because change is necessary, and like I said, it can’t always be an organic change, like evolution. Sometimes to evolve means to take a hard look at what is being done and determine what needs to keep going, what needs to stop, and what needs to start. I never realized that an evaluation of a program is so imperative on planning, and then so important to the full functioning of the system the program resides in.

I also learned about Appreciative Inquiry. The concept that positive thinking can bring about change, when those positive thoughts are garnered in an appropriate manner. I was impressed by the notion of change coming from people focusing on what is working, rather than complaining about what isn’t. I know in the system I work in, we spend copious amounts of time bitching about the bad, the way we are being stiffled, the things the administration is making us do, the incompetencies of those around us, and the quality of life we put up with when, if we just took a moment to really relish what we have, as teachers in a great school, in a great curriculum that teaches English in a modern and adaptive way, we would see that there might not be that much to complain about. More than that, using Appreciative Inquiry to compose change is an amazing concept in that it insists on focusing on what works and relies on participators to then channel that good into more productive and positive benefits for the particular program being evaluated. That’s the kind of evaluation I want to be part of.

Evaluation is key to change. I certainly will admit that change does happen organically, but even then, some element has been evaluated and deemed necessary for change. Evaluations on a larger scale, like the hypothetical one we conducted for ESPY474 in the CTER Program at U of I is necessary for the good of the system. I would like to think that I would be able to conduct an evaluation on that kind of scale, and more than just knowing that I accomplished a relatively large task, I would know that I contributed to making a system even better, for everyone involved.

Thank you for an amazing learning experience. This is honestly something I knew very little about, something that was not even a part of my general interests when it comes to education, and I can say with some clarity and confidence now that I feel like I could be a good evaluator. I wonder if part of that comes from being surrounded by peers who were more than amazing at their task. I might need to draw on them again in the future if I ever find myself writing an evaluation.
Take care!