Why we rock, let me count the ways…
The way in which we are genuinely happy to see one another.
The way we take pride in one another’s accomplishments.
The way we make food a part of almost every meeting.
The way we each contribute something unique.
The way – okay, I’ll stop now and get down to the stuff.
Seriously though, why we rock:
* Who we are and what we do
as mentioned previously, we rock
work together, blog, hold weekly meetings, update progress
share responsibility, data analysis, data management,
proof-reading, birthday cakes, research proposals, hell, we do
it all.
* Personal connections
sharing highs and lows
sharing personal progress (comps progress, research
opportunities, disseminating exciting stuff from class)
* Mentorship
all around (but especially April 
all projects are shared, community of learners
* Authentic participation
Situated within long-term contexts
learning over time, all pieces contextualized
* Opportunity for whole experience
from data collection (conducting interviews, focus groups,
administering surveys) to data analysis (developing code book
sharing and finding agreement over analysis) to developing an
academic argument to final piece (presentation, publication)
and beyond (learning from mistakes, working on resubmits)
Wow – seriously. Thanks for letting me into such a great group. You guys are the greatest! Thank you April for bringing us all together and helping us to build this amazing learning community.
I have to just add that I completely agree with Liz- “Wow – seriously. Thanks for letting me into such a great group”
Me too….and there is something else that makes us unique. This is something we not only have to do…but want to do!!
Often our meetings when we get work done don’t feel like work but are one of the better events of my week.
THANKS!!
J:)