This term has been rough on a number of fronts. The figurative rollercoaster has me going all over the place. Most of the time, I just ride the ups and downs with a growth mindset, knowing the chaos will periodically subside and I can rest before the tide rushes back in. These current eight-week terms of graduate schools have felt like eight days and eight months simultaneously. I am going to use one of m favorite picture of myself, my husband Scott, and my sister-in-law Stephanie to describe this most recent chapter in my life. Let’s start with Stephanie. The first big drop hit, and I went all in screaming my lungs out. It was also in the beginning that Katie joined our “core four” collaborative group. Her and I had worked together individually, authentically connecting and contributing to the dots, and circumstances led her to looking for others to work with in addition to her core group. I got ahead in a lot of assignments, posted enthusiastically in discussion boards, and even read most resources before the term officially started (thank you Dr. Harapnuik for blogging about the resources once upon a time). My collaborative group probably thought I had a new kind of chaotic energy with all my gifs and texts in our group chat. Being labeled an overzealous overachiever can be exhausting, especially when I hit the lows. Scott’s entire body position and face embodies the middle of this term. I felt paralyzed with all of the work I had for school, teaching, and life as a wife and daughter. Crippled by overstimulation and anxiety, I froze and went missing in action for a while. Assignments were getting done last minute and I did not always get to class on time, if at all. I’ve talked about my mental health journey and these few pages of the story could have been ripped out of that book and glued straight into this one. I went from "balls to the wall" to not at all but not at all was not an option. Fortunately, those around me continued to support and love me, being a sounding board to hear my frustrations and sorrows and allow me time and space to come out of the darkness into the light. In this last week, I am getting back to being more me, smiling almost in a psychotic way while the whirlwind swirls around me. I have revisited discussion boards, revised my assignments, provided feedback and encouragement to my peers, and started to coast into Spring Break. My publication about Building Thinking Classrooms by Peter Liljedahl, blended learning, and 21st century skills goes hand in hand with my action research plan, which will hopefully answer the question “in what ways do Desmos activities (a technological tool) impact student growth in 21st century skills of communication and collaboration (two key components of Building Thinking Classrooms) so my contributions to learning are interconnected and tightly intertwined. Seeing connections in my learning and investing myself more in the authentic learning experiences my master’s program has strengthened my resolve to keep fighting the food fight and give my best of right now. For both of my classes, Resources in Digital Environments and Assessing Digital Learning Instruction, I would give myself a 97/100. While I definitely did not do my best this term compared to other terms, I did my best given the circumstances and stresses I was facing.
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When I first considered my innovation plan, teaching 21st century skills My journey through the Building Thinking Classrooms and being bold in writing for publication has been really encouraging for a number of reasons. Learning that I am not alone in my frustrations with the traditional mathematics classroom brings a sense of comradery but also urgency to collectively disrupt the status quo and establish new norms for the future of education. Being validated in the hard work by instructional coaches and administration has also been reassuring. When feedback from the principal's observation includes "all students were engaged and actively participating in lesson, including students who struggle to find their pacing in other classes. Intentionality of grouping is effective and appreciated. Clear evidence of student retention of and ability to employ skills was observed throughout classroom visit", I know something must be going right. It also has been really empowering to hear how other educators in different roles, schools, and subjects are also transforming education in their own capacity.
Through my master's program, I have been blessed to be a part of a collaborative community that has quite a bit in common but also diversity in our different roles in education. When we review each other's work, these fresh perspectives enhance our own and we can even come together to see the bigger picture of how our individual ripples in the pond are actually making giant waves in the ocean. We realized our impact on inspiring other educators with what we doing is better when we come together. While we have such distinct sets of circumstances, common themes of lifelong learning, play, and opportunity can be felt throughout our work. Relying on the expertise of Amanda Mask with her knowledge of video and audio editing in iCloud, Hillary Turnage and Lindsay Krueger with their knowledge of Canva and its incredible capabilities, and Katie Beauchene with her knowledge of a plethora of educational tools her teachers have played with through her coaching cycles, we decided to commit to spending time having a conversation in a podcast. Our podcast provides a glimpse into what we are writing for publication, promoting our perspective to inspire others to share their voice too. I hope you enjoy listening to our first episode by clicking the EdTech Talks Podcast graphic and become excited to read more in depth about our individual pieces. While my piece is in the middle, it is worth your time to listen and gain perspective on an even bigger picture. Promoting our publications through podcasting brings more opportunity to make waves together. Just because I am a mathematics teacher does not mean I dislike reading and writing. In fact, I remember as a young student, one of my dreams was to be an author and illustrator because escaping into stories opened up the universe in the palms of my hands and I wanted to be a part of that creation. As my education progressed, my writing developed from a fictional foundation to analytical in a variety of subjects:
My learning philosophy is rooted in Jean Piaget’s cognitivist theory, identifying and applying patterns and my experience has strengthened my ability to connect the abstract with vivid imagery as I build particular connections between seemingly unrelated ideas. Just the other day, a student was struggling with remembering how to square a binomial. She kept distributing the square to the terms rather than distributing the terms to each other. I tried showing her a numerical example, yet every time I checked in with her progress, she kept making the same mistake. This simple conversation changed everything.
Mrs. Lee: "You are in wrestling right? How many shoulders do you have to pin to win?" Student, smiling: "Two." Mrs. Lee: "Think of these squared binomials like shoulders, you have to pin both down to win the match, so write both of them to pin them down." That stuck. All I have to do now is walk by and say PIN THEM DOWN, she smiles and builds her confidence in her math abilities. I find myself making analogies, similes, and metaphors constantly to connect the abstract to the concrete for my students and the same is true for my writing. As I have strengthened my voice through my master's program, I am finding myself being bolder with my writing in the sense of sharing my story and journey through life and education with a balance between the creative components of writing and the analytical side. One of my assignments is writing with the intention to submit the work for publication. Some considerations for publications I have found include:
All of these publications have stated that the use of AI is discouraged but if it is used, it needs to be explicitly mentioned. Most require a short biography as well as evidence of other publications. The documents need to be in Word with APA references. Submissions are done via email or directly on the publication website. My writing can go in a variety of directions and with so many options, if rejected, I will adapt writing to meet other publication requirements and needs, but the Texas Council of Teachers of Mathematics Call for Voices from the Classroom fits nicely in my big picture. Thus, I began with an outline and started writing a rough draft about my journey in transforming my mathematics classroom from the past to the future with the practices of Building Thinking Classrooms to build 21st century skills. My Community in Collaboration is diverse, as we serve in a wide range of roles in education, so encouraging each other and providing valuable feedback/feedforward meant establishing a rubric that could easily apply to our various topics and writing approaches. When creating rubrics for students, I have used RubiStar but after exploring ChatGPT, I used AI to generate a rubric for a publication in education. With some adjustments and review from my group, we agreed upon the categories and their breakdown into components and points. These included overall content, organization and structure, writing style and clarity, evidence and support, critical thinking and reflection, and conclusion and implications Not only did we provide comments in each other's rough drafts with all sorts of fixes, adjustments, and considerations, we filled in our rubrics with points and overall feedback/feedforward. Part of the requirements for publication submission is not publishing your work anywhere else, so it would not be appropriate for me to post my rough draft here but you can get a sense of my work from my rough draft peer assessment. Overall, the feedback/feedforward I received validated my perspective but provided meaningful insight on how to enhance it, including fixes to some grammar and punctation, suggestions on how to rephrase ideas to be succinct, and recommendations to bring in more research and literature. The average score I received was a 48.94/50 and honestly, I think my group was generous. Because my imagination and connections are wild and widespread, I tend to be verbose and add unnecessary detail so my clarity can improve. There is also opportunity for me to add more research beyond my classroom setting to demonstrate that my journey is not a fluke but a reality many can experience in their own classroom. Moving forward, I am going to be even bolder and seek feedback from peers at my campus and the district who do not know the context of the graduate school assignment to receive a more comprehensive review of my work. Maybe I will fulfill a childhood dream of being an author in a way I could have neve imagined and be an official published writer! The Parable of the Sower comes from the Bible, Matthew 13. Jesus talks about how a sower scattered seed along a path, amongst rocky places, around thorns, and within good soil. Depending upon the environment depended upon whether or not the seed could develop into a plant, sustain itself through harsh weather, or thrive in the time of harvest. While Jesus was referring to the Gospel, this can also be pertinent to creating significant learning environments for our students and even ourselves as educators. The past few months have really made me step back and reflect, realizing that I scattered the growth mindset ideas onto paths with no depth, rocky places with no nourishment, and thorns with stronger holds. There is beauty in realizing my shortcomings because now I am choosing to walk away towards cultivating the soil that is my classroom and building a space for flourishment. There are some things I have written and creating to get to this place. Through the lens of mathematics, teaching 21st century skills in a blended learning environment demands a fresh approach to the learning culture. The combination of global, uninhibited connections within a structured, safe environment has the power to transform students into who we need to make the future one to blossom in. Amplified by Piaget's cognitive learning theory, my learning philosophy explores how my perspective on education translates into the classroom for my students. We gravitate towards making sense of everything around us through experiences, connections, and patterns so providing students opportunities to start making sense of themselves and others ensures the foundation for future growth. There was compelling evidence that in order to create significant learning environments for students, I needed to create significant learning environments for myself and others to try this together. Through Dee Fink's 3 Column Table, Learning Environment/Situational Factors Outline, and Questions for Formulating Significant Learning Goals and its comparison to McTighe and Wiggins' Understanding by Design Template, I have a metacognitive plan on creating significant learning environments for teachers to learn about how to create significant learning environments. The stage was set by my growth mindset plan but it was really shaped recently when I realized it really takes a village for the rehearsals and performance to take shape and come alive. I am committed to establishing significant learning environments that foster growth mindset through active engagement, not by passive means, by seeking and sowing the soil for our collective growth. With these things working together, the back of the puzzle box is really starting to reveal the big picture. Ideas are meaningless unless acted upon and implemented, and growth only comes out of reflection and adaptation. Creating a significant learning environment focused on authentic learning first will forge a stronger path for my innovation plan to mold students, fellow educators, and myself into the strong, powerful people we are capable of becoming. References Dee Fink, L. (2003a). A self-directed guide to designing courses for significant learning designing courses for significant learning. https://www.bu.edu/sph/files/2014/03/www.deefinkandassociates.com_GuidetoCourseDesignAug05.pdf
Dee Fink, L. (2003b). Creating significant learning experiences : an integrated approach to designing college courses. Jossey-Bass. Dee Fink, L. (2013). Creating significant learning experiences the key to quality in educational programs. https://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/51/11181242/1118124251-7.pdf Matthew 13 NIV - - Bible Gateway. (n.d.). Www.biblegateway.com. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2013&version=NIV McTighe, J., & Wiggins, G. (2005). Understanding by design (2nd ed.). Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. McTighe, J., & Wiggins, G. (2009). Essential questions to promote staff inquiry and reflection (examples). https://jaymctighe.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Essential-Questions-for-Educators.pdf McTighe, J., & Wiggins, G. (2012). Understanding by design framework. https://files.ascd.org/staticfiles/ascd/pdf/siteASCD/publications/UbD_WhitePaper0312.pdf
I resonate with Piaget’s cognitivist theory, so I constantly incorporated and applied the patterns I recognize in my life and other topics by using analogies (like riding a bike in my discussion post turned blog post New Digital Age, New Learning Culture) and personal stories (like in my post on Effective Professional Learning for Math Teachers) to foster relationships and connections with my peers. Frequently, there were remarks that these perspectives enhanced others’ learning and broadened perspectives. I would also gravitate towards other analogies, but I intentionally found discussion posts or replies that held a different viewpoint than my own. Doing so allowed me to link the new perspective to my working schema. Even when I met the minimum expectations of one initial post and at least two replies, I revisited the discussion boards and replied to ideas every time a new post was submitted. These discussion posts became the foundation for some blog posts, and I intentionally incorporated my peer’s comments (with their permission) into my writing, such as in my post Being Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable. Some of the discussion board replies turned into conversations and collaboration outside of them. I have spoken with Katie Beauchene periodically since the beginning of our journey in our master's program but recently, we engaged in class individual chat conversations, text message threads, and email exchanges to elicit feedback/feedforward on resubmitted assignments, flexible seating structures, and even components of our jobs that do not directly correspond to our class assignments. Contributions have also been made between individuals through Blackboard messaging and breakout rooms. Usually, I gauge the audience of my peers by sharing my work and perspective and then leaving the door open to receive feedback and give the same for others. Something I could try to do better is take a step back and not being so eager to be the first to speak up, but rather encourage others behind the scenes to be bold. This could enrich others' learning and teach me how to have impact in the silence, connecting dots in a new way. Every term we are encouraged to use the student/faculty lounge discussion board and I find myself trying to engage with others to do the same. When they did not get answered, I reached out to the professors, instructional assistants, and my collaborative group. I also never hesitated to ask questions during class meetings and when I got answers, I posted my own reply with that information for others to reference. Usually, if I have a question, others also have a similar question or concern, but I take the initiative to speak up and be bold, ignoring the subconscious concerns of looking incompetent or oblivious. My core collaborative group has been steady since the summer with Amanda, Hillary, and Lindsey. These relationships I have built with these beautiful women are something I will cherish for the rest of my life. We have really struggled for various reasons, such as personal illness and home ownership woes, along with balancing everything else that comes with life and being in education. Our contribution to each other’s learning and ourselves has really come in the form of encouragement. We also continue to divide and conquer readings and when someone has to miss a class, our text message thread recaps the class conversations real-time. We would connect when working on assignments and discuss our different perspectives on how to meet the rubric criteria. In the in-between, we would talk about our Halloween or Thanksgiving plans, sending pictures of our kids (or in my case, my dog Bruce). This really gets to the caring component of collaboration and learning. For this term, even though my group divided readings, I still read and annotated every reading assigned, including supplemental readings, and looked to connect them more concretely to the work I am doing for individual courses but also between current courses and past courses. One specific example is my inquiry on the difference between big hairy audacious goal (BHAG) and wildly important goal (WIG). I also found direct correlations to developing effective professional learning and creating significant learning environments. This led to a major adjustment in the implementation of my innovation plan, shifting from piloting blended learning environments using the station rotations model in my classroom to inviting others to join me through professional learning cycles so we can implement blended learning environments together. As assignments were turned in, I would take the feedback and adjust my work, as well as revisit and revise components as bigger connections emerged or more details were discovered and analyzed. Something new this term I did to authentically start connecting the dots was when certain experts would show up in videos or reading, such as Angela Duckworth, L. Dee Fink, and Grant Lichtman, I would always research further what they are currently up to. Through this, I found some incredible resources that support my learning for my masters’ program but also resources that I could integrate in the classroom immediately. Just accepting what was provided in our modules has not become enough for me; the blended learning environment I have come to love has shown me to embrace the opportunities to do my work extension of thinking, even if no one requires or encourages me to. The line between the courses has been blurred because they have become so closely related. I cannot develop effective professional learning without creating a significant learning environment for those in the professional learning sessions. There is always room to grow, so I would grade myself 99/100 for both courses. This feels arrogant but definitely justified with the work I have done up to this point to continue pushing myself to learn and grow as I work towards earning my masters’ in the spring of 2024. As educators, we need to model what being comfortable with being uncomfortable looks like and acts like. The way it feels is different for everyone, but as we show them how we respond when things get messy, they can see a way out. It reminds me what a classmate of my masters' program, Danny Hernandez, said in a discussion: "If we ask for rain we must also prepare for the mud." The picture on the left is the runoff creek connecting to Clear Creek, pictured on the right, when the raining finally stopped after Hurricane Harvey. Sometimes, the rain is overwhelming. Not only is there mud though with the rain, there can be lightning, flooding, tornados, the works. We have to remember though, THE STORM ALWAYS HAS AN END. The clouds will clear, the sun will come out, and a rainbow might even be the cherry on top. Having faith in the storm that fighting through it will lead to the end can keep us going. It also doesn't guarantee that there won't be another storm, but we can learn how to handle these storms and mud for the future. Students will follow a teacher's lead in how they respond to a situation. Earlier this year, my projector's bulb went out and when the technology support came to fix it, a piece broke off inside the projector so it wouldn't register a lid closed and therefore never turn back on. This required dismounting my projector from the ceiling, ordering a new one, and installing it. That day, I was supposed to cover graphing. Now imagine, trying to graph on a whiteboard... not ideal. Did I panic? No. Did I throw my hands up and say oh well, since that lesson is for our calendar today, we just have to wait? No. We just did lessons "out of order" and guess what, we still learned! Students didn't panic or ask if we would have a free day, they just reacted to my calm reaction: "this is a first-world problem... if this is the worst thing that happens today, then today is a good day". Now, there are other times when it is much more serious than a projector bulb going out. A few years ago, our school went into an actual lockdown because a student reported her older ex-boyfriend threatening to hurt her, that he had access to a gun, and he was seen on campus. Having a retired police officer and retired ER nurse for parents, I learned to stay calm in these types of situations and assess my surroundings. Here's me dressed up like my mom for "career day" at school, my mom at Christmas, and my dad acting like a bossy firm teacher at my desk the first year I started teaching high school. We went through the lockdown protocol and sat in silence. Initially, I thought it was just a drill, but five minutes turned into ten, ten into twenty. When the shadows of police officers with bulletproof vests and AR-15s could be seen outside my classroom windows, I knew this was serious. Students started to quietly ask, "is this a drill or is this for real?" and it turned into a teachable moment. Yes, it is for real but let's consider what we see and hear and how we could act. We see officer presence, we don't hear any screaming or weapon fire, we will remain calm and quiet unless we need to defend ourselves by throwing chairs, laptops, desks at anyone who tries to enter. Were we uncomfortable? ABSOLUTELY, this was only something we saw on the news happen to other people. Did we learn how to be a tad more comfortable in that moment? Unfortunately yes. We cannot plan for everything that happens but hypothetical situations do arise for us to consider how we might respond. Being comfortable with being uncomfortable means understanding the world around us from our previous experiences, recognizing that a new situation is in front of us that we may not have experienced yet, considering and analyzing how we can use our past to adapt to the present, and move forward. This is why I strongly identify with a cognitivism learning theory. This also means relying on the past experiences of others can really enhance our response. If I did not have parents with the service professions where they saw disorder, lawlessness, and trauma almost daily, they would probably not have had the experience to teach me how to consider responding to these situations, and then I would not have responded the way I did in the classroom. When we look at our classrooms and students as part of a community that can support and enrich each others' lives, then we all benefit. Being comfortable with being uncomfortable makes life that much sweeter when we get the rainbow after the storm. References Magee, J. (2020, December 14). Friendswood applies for $78 million grant for local drainage project. Community Impact. https://communityimpact.com/houston/
pearland-friendswood/government/2020/12/14/friendswood-applies-for-78-million-grant-for-local-drainage-project/ What is fantastic about my collaborative group is that not only do we influence our social ability, we delegate our time and conversations between the courses we are taking together. While there are a lot of similarities between how we approached our course on Leading Organization Changes to the Growth Mindset course, there were also distinct differences. These differences can be categorized into leading, organizing, and changing, just like the class covers and they apply to my individual approach as well. Leading Leading for me is not necessarily attached to an official title, but rather being the example or role model for others to see, hear, and act like to be better themselves. Being actively engaged in the weekly class meetings as well as in the discussion boards were some ways I led, but something I know I can improve upon though is my timing and being proactive in completing readings, reflections, and posts in case of setbacks. This term's setback was getting the flu. Could I have foreseen the illness? No, but I could have not procrastinated to the point where I needed to ask for an extension on my Big Picture Growth. If I had been intentional about spacing out my work and not relying on being able to complete it in a short amount of time, it is likely I would have been fine. Even after my submissions, I would go back and adjust components based on my new learning and perspective.
Organizing What felt like the most intense reading expectations so far in our master's program, we identified that splitting the work and becoming mini-experts in a section was best. We agreed that everyone would be expected to read the introductory and concluding chapters, otherwise the reading was divided amongst us by chapters or topics and we would summarize we have read in a shared document. Choices were made based on our innovation plans and education roles. A screenshot of our Influencer book notes. A screenshot of our 4 Disciplines of Execution book notes.
We also looked to include examples we found in past student work, articles, or other professional blog posts that included the fundamentals of the four disciplines of execution or explaining the why. It did not hurt either that Hillary's husband found a great summarization of 4 Disciplines of Execution and that Amanda reads Crucial Conversations every year (I think she has some fancy certification as a trainer for it). Even if I did not always participate in the discussion boards during the appropriate weeks, that did not prohibit me from reading what others shared to start formulating my own connections and ideas. This also led me into a routine of revisiting assignments or blog posts to integrate my new learning and connections from other's viewpoints or ePortfolios. Changing A lot of changing happened during this class too. There were times when the readings, assignments, videos, and discussions were deprioritized. Even now, when writing this, I am fully aware there is a discussion board I have not posted to... yet... but my self-responsible nature will nudge me to getting it done. I sometimes become figuratively paralyzed due in large part to the juggling act of all of my professional and personal roles especially in the midst of a NOW culture. Reflecting my journey from where I have left to where I am headed, including my mental health journey, helps me remember that we exist in a gray world and depending upon the day and circumstances, we could be anywhere in that spectrum of gray. It changes every day. Ultimately, the course on leading organization change incorporated each word: changing in the form of Big Picture Growth, leading and organizing in the form of Big Picture Goals. We often let life and the whirlwind can take over but once the storm clears and the rainbow comes, we can keep moving forward together. While I was never at 100%, I would give myself a 93/100 to my contributions to learning in my Leading Organization Change course. If I keep leading, organizing, and changing, it will only get better. References Covey, S., McChesney, C., & Huling, J. (2018). 4 Disciplines Of Execution. Simon & Schuster Ltd.
Grenny, J. (2013). Influencer : The new science of leading change. Mcgraw-Hill Education. In the blink of an eye, my second term of my master’s is coming to a close. We just started the semester right? The accelerated program definitely feels accelerated… Fortunately, what is really working well has been maintaining the collaborative group I met this summer, but our approach to collaboration shifted once the school year started. Amanda, Hillary, Lindsay, and myself, along with Mikeela and Samantha, have drastically different schedules and family lives, so we found ourselves texting each other encouraging, and sometimes witty messages, as we struggled balancing all of the obligations of our jobs, our families, our Leading Organization Change class, as well as the Growth Mindset course. We found stability in dividing and conquering some of the reading, summarizing what we have read in a shared document, and providing feedback to blog posts and assignment pages when needed in Zoom meetings. Through our collaboration too, we often delegated who was the “leader” in that particular assignment or phase because we knew that week-to-week, someone would be a little less active in the collaboration due to other components of life… which includes…. when I got sick with the flu the first weekend of September and fell behind in my coursework. There were nights when the readings, assignments, videos and discussions were on the bottom of my list because it was necessary for me to take care of my physical well-being first. Part of the reason I became so quickly incapacitated was my struggle with time management. My body rapidly decided I need to stop for a moment. Balancing my different roles, such as campus Algebra 2 team leader, campus department leader, district national merit preparation program facilitator, along with wife, friend, daughter, was overwhelming but really I am partially to blame. My inner-procrastinator came out, and even though I know procrastination is a fight-or-flight response (check out this article from Psychology Today), this little bird wanted to desperately take flight. Recognizing where I have been and how far I have come in my journey, including my mental health journey, brought into perspective that we exist in ebbs and flows, and it is okay to be at a low as long as you do not settle there and dwell in the pit. Considering my why and how I want to be a butterfly, I did not let these setbacks stop me from moving forward one small step at a time. Even if I did not always participate in the discussion boards during the appropriate weeks, at least twice a week I go into the boards and read what others have written. I would reply when I feel as though my perspective would add value to the conversation or when I think words of affirmation or gratitude would support the growth of others. This rang true in our weekly class meetings and discussions, speaking up to engage in conversation, individually messaging people with ideas and feedback, etc. These intentional actions led me to consistently be one of the top contributors to the discussion boards and breakout rooms. This also established a routine for me of revising assignments or blog posts to incorporate my new learning and connections after revisiting discussions or other people’s ePortfolios. All of my posts and replies are very authentic and genuinely driven by my desire to connect with people and encourage others to do the same. Ironically, the only discussion board that I did not directly engage in was the networking discussion because I felt as though the list I would create would not be true to my actual engagement with them. The groups I engage with the most frequently are not necessarily formal because I do not have the capacity to devote any more time or energy into another thing that would only be done to satisfy an assignment requirement. Ultimately, the course on growth mindset has helped me see growth mindset in growth mindset... life and the whirlwind can take over but once the storm clears and the rainbow comes, we can keep moving forward together. While I did not reach my fullest potential, I would give myself a 95/100 to my contributions to learning in my Growth Mindset course. Now that I have experienced the beginning of the school year in addition to late nights completing my master’s program, I am back on track ready to keep learning, growing, improving, and being the best I can be each day. References Tarnowski, D. (2023, September 13). Instagram. Www.instagram.com. https://www.instagram.com/p/CxIuYEhuRul/?hl=en
I mentioned in my post Learning from Others and Myself - Applying Disruptive Innovation that when I began the Applied Digital Learning (ADL) master's program, I thought the perceived asynchronous nature would mean going "Balls to the Wall" or Not At All and finishing all lessons, assignments, and tests before the July 4th weekend. After the class opened online and our first virtual class meeting, I quickly realized my expectations were way off the mark, but in the best way possible. My collaborative group, including Amanda Mask, Lindsay Krueger, and Hillary Turnage (with Samantha Jimenez and Mikeela Pittman joining on occasion), mostly discussed our other summer class, but we intentionally spent time reviewing each other's ePortfolios. Our different backgrounds and experience, along with the various platforms we use, allowed us to get inspiration from the different perspectives but also confirm our own voices. We created a vulnerable space where sharing our struggles and anxieties of building the ePortfolio from scratch was normal because through each other's experiences, we got better. I would consider Amanda, Lindsay, and Hillary my core group, as we plan on sticking this program out together until the end, holding each other accountable when balancing life, work, and school gets tough as well as celebrating each other's victories. There were other classmates who reached out a few weeks later looking to collaborate and while our key group was established, I replied by saying one-on-one collaboration was something else I would love to participate in. The only person who took me up on my idea was Nwamaka Nwaeme. We spend time focusing solely on our ePortfolios, discussing changes we have made and reading each other's blog posts, as well as commenting. This included changing font sizes and colors after feedback on my post ePortfolios - GenuineLee Me Pt. 2 as well as adding pictures and citations to a variety of other posts. Nwamaka and I during one of our collaborative meetings These meetings are one element of how I have contributed to my learning and the learning of others. Naturally, I track quantitative data. Here are some numbers on my discussion board contributions for the ePortfolio course:
Exactly like my other class, I participated in class meetings and breakout rooms and watched the recordings again if needed. In whole class discussion, I often waited to hear other questions and perspectives, then chimed in when a question had not been asked or addressed. Occasionally, I wrote messages in the general chat or to individual classmates about resources or thoughts that could help support their learning. When I examine how I contributed to the learning of others and myself, particularly comparing my efforts with my professor's key and supporting contributions I would grade myself 98/100. We all have room for improvement but establishing high standards for myself from the onset has really pushed me to reach outside of my comfort zone and grow more than I expected. Starting the Applied Digital Learning (ADL) master's program, I assumed it would be a breeze. I would knock out all of the presumed asynchronous work in a few weeks with time to spare until the next round of classes. Almost instantly, it was apparent that I was wrong. Not only because collaboration is part of the grade, but more importantly because it was what I truly craved in seeking higher education. My life motto is "Balls to the Wall" or Not at All, and that's how I started off in my class "Applying Disruptive Innovation". When class started, I immediately posted an introduction and spent time reading about others' lives in theirs. The next day, after our first class meeting and connecting with Amanda Mask and Lindsay Krueger in breakout rooms, I reached out to them to start collaborating. Dr. Harapnuik didn't give any rules/details on how to form collaborative groups and that initially bothered me because it forced me to a place of vulnerability. What if they already had a group? Would I come off as way too eager? What if they find me overbearing? Thankfully though, I noticed they were equally as enthusiastic about posting in discussion boards and replying to others' ideas, so we started meeting weekly, quickly bringing in Hillary Turnage. Also, Samantha Jimenez and Mikeela Pittman joined on occasion. From left to right, top to bottom: Lindsay, Amanda, myself, Samantha, Hillary, and Mikeela in one of our collaborative meetings Through this group, we divided and conquered! Part of our collective plan has been to stay ahead in order to create opportunities to give/receive feedback, as well as reflect on how we are feeling through the process. This has meant a lot of comments left in Word documents, questions asked and feedback provided during our Zoom conversations, and text messages sent. This really helped to build my innovation plan Teaching 21st Century Skills in a Blended Learning Environment into what it is today based on the feedback I received and the revisions I made accordingly.
We have decided to stick together and be each other's motivators to continue the accelerated ADL program as a team. I needed to find others in education who were at a similar place in life so we could be a supportive community to help each other through the thick and thin, especially when we get to taking classes AND TEACHING THEM! Yikes what a thought. Not only did I rely on this smaller group for collaboration and learning, I tried to foster a similar collaborative environment in the discussion boards and class meetings. I read every article and watched every video, usually more than once. My discussion posts and replies did not simply summarize what I read about or saw but rather wrote how the information connected to me. I also attempted to engage others with questioning and replies to their ideas, building on them to consider new perspectives. A way I tracked my progress was collecting quantitative data. Here are some numbers on my contributions:
I attended class meetings, watched the recordings again if needed, and participated in the breakout rooms. When opportunities arose to ask questions or engage in whole class discussion, I generally waited to see what others had to say, then chimed in when a question my small group or breakout room had that others are afraid to ask. Occasionally, I put information in the general chat or individually messaged classmates with ideas or resources that could help support them in their learning. There was often hesitation: What if I come across as a know-it-all? What if people see me as disingenuous? What I have learned so far is that I just need to be me and reflect on how I can continue to grow and be better. If others appreciate that and are drawn to it, great! If others are not, then that's okay too, but I can learn how to better approach those people. Most people want connection but are afraid to step out of their comfort zone, especially with a virtual stranger. Ultimately, when looking at how I contributed to the learning of others and myself, specifically against the key and supporting contributions my professor has defined, I give myself a 49/50. There are always things I can do better, but I set the bar really high for myself from the beginning and I think I've met it and pushed the bar higher. |
My husband lovingly teases me when I reflect on my day with him and say "I learned something new today!" because he would be surprised if I didn't learn something new.
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