Post 9: Final Reflection

The other day I was at restaurant with my mom. I looked over and I saw this lady wiping off her outer cup with a napkin then she took each utensil and wiped them off. Once she was through wiping these things off she thoroughly examined each utensil and her cup for any sign of dirt. The look on her face was that of pure determination and disgust. Most of you would think wow that lady is crazy, the first thought that came to my head was that she has OCD. Its weird how you notice different things when you deal with them yourself and your not as quick to judge. Seeing this experience helped me to reflect on my project as a whole.

My first goal I wanted to accomplish with this project was awareness. I wanted people especially teachers to be aware of this disease and how it affects even the very young. So I asked myself did I make my teachers and my peers aware of OCD? Based on the researched information I provided and my story with OCD I would have to say yes. My teachers now know what to look for, what to do, and the next steps that should be taken if a child with OCD is on their class roster.

Below is a summary of what I learned from my action research project. I have summarized what I learned about the action research process and how what I learned may inform others in the future, about myself as a teacher/researcher, and about my teaching practices. 

What you learned about the action research process that you might use in the future

First and foremost I learned to be honest with myself. A little more then half way through the project I decided to switch topics. My first topic was chosen solely on the bases of convenience and not on relevance or interest. It turns out that researching and doing a case study on something that doesn’t interest you is very hard. It was like pulling a tooth without any pain meds for me to actually do the assignments. Then I switched it to something interest me something I was familiar with and something I knew I could complete with passion because my heart was in it. Its like teaching if your heart is not in it you will fail. In conclusion, the major thing I took away from this project was to be honest with myself and to make sure I know enough and have enough interest in the project/subject to be able to follow through with it. 

What you learned that might inform others

Take your time on deciding on a topic!  The easy path may not always be the best path. I first chose to do my project on Reading Recovery because I already had to do research for the program, so I thought I would kill two birds one stone. But deep down Reading Recovery was not something I was interesting in learning about or researching. I wanted to do the OCD topic since last year but I figured it would be easier on me if I just did treading recovery, not the case. The will and [passion has to be in the topic you choose for it to truly prevail. 

What you learned about yourself as a teacher/researcher

The one thing I learned about myself, as a researcher, is that if I do not have any interest in the topic I will not want to do it. As for the one thing I learned about myself as a teacher, well I think basically my background and my prior experience with my OCD has helped me to be a better teacher as a whole. Having a disease that started in early childhood and struggling with it throughout adulthood has helped me build a huge amount of patience and understanding for differences.

What you learned about your teaching practice

I am better able to relate with my students because of the horrible experience I had with teachers when I was their age. I know what it feels like to belittled by a teacher and now as a teacher myself I know exactly what not to do.

Lastly, OCD is something that has ruled my life and something that I have been ashamed of since I was diagnosed with it. But opening up about my disease and informing others about has truly helped me in my own recovery process. My biggest hope for this project was to inform people about the disease and to show them that no matter what we do, the way we look, or act has no relevance, we are all people and we all have a story. It’s not fair to judge each other on our differences especially when it comes to children.