Performance Phase

1. Meet with Julie 5 times a week

This was easier said than done, seeing as Julie and I were both working, some conflicting interests also arose. When we finally did settle on a solid routine our classes went very well. It was very rewarding to have a student who understood the nature of the course and its malleability and who could give feedback after each class. This was also a motivational goldmine since I would be inspired to create the best lessons possible for Julie's benefit since she will be taking the IELTS test Mid-August.

The biggest wrench in the program as far as the meetings were concerned were Julie's enrolment in a debate camp. She had not informed me of the camp until 2 days before her departure so she would not be able to take the course for the duration of that week. This conflict of interest threw the schedule I had created into disarray. Luckily, I was able to devote the time we would have devoted to our video-conference calls and use it to bolster the course and develop the rest of the lessons.

2.Adapt and Update Lesson Plan Daily for the Upcoming Weeks

Though I had a lot of great lessons prepared, they were mostly skeletal because I wanted to see what the reaction to the initial lessons and style was and change them based on that. There was also realizations about different aspects of the test and the software being used. When teaching listening sections, it was impossible for us to both listen to the samples recommended by the British Council together, thus I had to make different sort of tests to assess listening outside of the textbook. Similar issues cropped up with regards to the writing section. To overcome that problem I would simply assign writing tasks as homework and we could look over them the following day.

It was through constant goal setting, processing of the material, reflection and adaptation due to these that I was able to stay on top of the fluid nature of Julie's practice course. As Nancy Anderton (2006) states in her article on online SRL, learners will actively engage in behaviours that will result in acquiring knowledge, if motivated and strategic enough, they will succeed despite any obstacles in their way.

3. Meet with Colleagues 3 Times a Week

While Julie was able to give me great feedback on the lessons for her needs as a student and what the most effective strategies were for testing and practicing outside of the textbook, my colleagues gave me the important other side of the feedback- on how prospective students would be attracted to the course.

We communicated through WeChat conference calls and discussed the progress and marketability of the course. One of the things that I really appreciate about working with my colleagues is that they will never sacrifice education for aesthetic, so we find ways mostly through testimony of the effectiveness and uniqueness of the programs to market the courses.

4. Begin to Create Drafts of the Course for the final course

I must admit that here my goal was much too lofty, I believed that I would have final drafts of some of the lessons ready to go, but it is not the case. I will still be perfecting the courses for another month or so before I believe they are ready. Luckily, since I planned very far ahead there is no overhanging deadline for the course work, rather it will be offered in October, giving me plenty of time to optimize the content. This was an important idea discussed by many scholars in the course- that we must have low-risk environments when we are in the act of gaining new knowledge which is inherently fraught with mistakes and innovation.