When I first applied to the Applied Digital Learning (ADL) program, I genuinely thought this would be a walk in the park, breezing through the content in a few weekends, taking any assessments, and having the rest of the time to relax. I would follow what seemed to be the easiest path to learning some information, regurgitating it in assignments and tests, and walking across the graduation stage with a master’s degree, ready to change the world. I now know how naive that perspective was but how grateful I am to be wrong. It was apparent from my first course in ePortfolios that choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning environments (COVA) would be something I would experience firsthand (Harapnuik et al., 2018). It did not take me long to be VOCAL and embrace the COVA approach despite the discomfort. Looking through all of the examples and suggestions on how to build an ePortfolio, I was overwhelmed with the abundance of options within a number of blogging websites for layouts, fonts, and colors that I would have to choose from to represent my brand, my spirit, and my passion for education. I quickly realized my use of language, pictures, and videos would help me be vibrant and share my love of teaching. I even wrote about my path in building my ePortfolio a few times early on... ePortfolios - GenuineLee Me, ePortfolios - GenuineLee Me Pt. 2, and Exploring Worlds through ePortfolios. Getting feedback that did not address my lack of color but really about the content supported my understanding that I genuinely had choice, ownership, and voice over my products and even the process to building them. The initial shock of the program being the exact opposite of what I had anticipated wore off pretty quickly, but that also is likely due in large part to being a life-long learner (see my post on the Living Museum of Me, Math, and More). I figured out quickly that this program is the antithesis of my previous experience as a student, which initially was overwhelming. Freedom and responsibility for my learning means making more decisions on top of the numerous other decision I make daily as a teacher, leader, wife, dog mom, and friend. Embracing the challenges and discomfort of freedom has nurtured substantial personal growth than a factory model program I expected. One decision I am beyond thankful I made was taking ownership and tackling everything head on, including forming a collaborative group. Finding others as eager as me meant looking at discussion boards, actively engaging in breakout rooms during class meetings, and being bold to initiate the awkward conversation of “hey, do you want to be in my collaborative group?”. This actually reinforced my confidence in my own voice. I have always had a strong opinionated voice and being more confident and comfortable in my own skin came out of my mental health journey (one which I am still very firmly on...). What this program is helping me to do is to speak more boldly at school. My innovation plan, Teaching 21st Century Skills in a Blended Learning Environment, is very authentic but has evolved into one that utilizes Building Thinking Classrooms by Peter Liljedahl to provide opportunities for students to use 21st century skills. First semester, I did little to nothing regarding my innovation plan with the exception to telling colleagues about it in the first week back to school. The challenge has really been about how to articulate my plans effectively in my organization and acquire the support I feel I need to bring people alongside me in my innovation plan to help me be intentional and consistent in my work. As we learned about how to influence people by identifying vital behaviors in my big picture growth and catering to the six sources of influence, motivation, and ability in the personal, social, and structural categories (Grenny, 2013), as well as Covey’s four disciplines of execution in my big picture goals, (Covey et al., 2018), realized why I was ineffective in gaining traction from the beginning of the school year, essentially abandoning my notion of change in the fall semester. Even if I had gotten others invested in my ideas and dreams, the whirlwind got in the way, and I did not focus on my big audacious goals. My goal, like most teachers lately, became to survive. Lately though, it has become overwhelmingly clear that the work is hard, but necessary and I should not let obstacles or fixed mindsets hold me back. My innovation plan was not just created to get through the course work; I really hope to change my organization from inside out, starting in my classroom and working out in waves across my content team, department, campus, and district. One major change that I desire to bring is actually utilizing COVA and creating significant learning environments in the math classroom. The analytical logical person I am finds comfort in the cognitivist mindset within my learning philosophy, building connections between what I know and what I am learning to weave everything into the existing web of information, but the ADL program has evolved my perspective into a blend of cognitivism and constructivism. If I cannot find a connection, I ask questions and search for my own answers, making and creating new connections. Another way I fuse these viewpoints together is through my writing and the use of analogies. They help me to create a picture of what my brain visualizes and understands to be true, attempting to articulate that viewpoint to others also have their own unique perspective and internal philosophies. With this new viewpoint of the importance and necessity of COVA and CSLE, I am empowered to make decisions that disrupt the comfort of students, parents, colleagues , and administration with purpose, to engage students in deeper learning than they have probably ever experienced inside the walls of a classroom. My campus has a legacy of high achievement in the state and nation, so changing the pedagogy that produced those results seems ridiculous. Why fix what does not seem broken? If it worked before, it should work now, right? Realistically, because our society has evolved exponentially over the past decade, we cannot continue implementing past practices in a future world. Disturbing the sense of order is daunting because it directly impacts others and their sense of comfort and safety in what they feel should be normal. Going through this program though has immersed me in the environment I know I need to build for my students. Having lived the life of a learner breaking out of my comfort zone of regurgitating information on an assessment and into a world of connections and creation, it is inspiring me to really consider the possibility of what might come out of doing this in a mathematics classroom. Conflict will inevitably arise from developing an expectation that what was once the norm is now in the past is scary, because it will be, at times, exhausting to manage the combatting side. It will definitely require me to be even stronger in my conviction that COVA and CSLE need to happen now and not later, breaking the chains my current setting has me in. If we want to maintain the legacy of high achievement, we must evolve with society to reach these new heights. I will start by bringing in other members of my content team to come beside me and learn by implementing innovative plans together. I will use the knowledge and resources I have built within the structures I have learned about in the ADL program to develop professional learning that models the blended learning environments we should be creating, providing those attending a glimpse into what our students’ realities could be. I need to be intentional about what I am doing and why. Explicitly sharing the reasoning behind my actions can obtain buy-in and continuously reiterating this rationale throughout the year will only emphasize its importance to me. It is challenging still for me to consider what choice, ownership, and voice looks like in a math classroom bounded by state objectives, grading guidelines, and standardized tests. In a subject where the question usually leads to one correct answer, being intentional about questioning that requires open-ended responses and can lead to multiple answers and even more questions will take work, time, and energy. Current available resources like this are few and far between. Also, the control aspect of the classroom is why teachers, specifically math teachers, tend to stick with the factory model. Math logic is “always” true but when computers can run calculations, we are essentially training our students to also be computers cranking through calculations rather than making connections. Students have been subconsciously conditioned to expect this from a math classroom, which is why my innovation plan and Building Thinking Classrooms principles are so troublesome for a lot of people. I can already hear the complains in questions:
Nobody will argue that 21st century skills are vital to one’s future and society’s survival, but the learning environment needed to facilitate acquiring and refining these skills does not meet the norm. Again, I need to be intentional about what I am doing and why. Explicitly sharing the reasoning behind my actions can obtain buy-in and continuously reiterating this rationale throughout the year will only emphasize its importance to me. Being transparent in my purpose will begin building a culture of trust and collaboration, encouraging students to take risks and explore in their learning. To incorporate COVA, I must provide opportunities for students to have choice, ownership and voice.
As I include these opportunities in the classroom, I can use strategies I have learned about action research to determine the impact of specific structures and share my findings with colleagues to further enrich the work they are doing in their classrooms. Applying effective structures and strategies within professional learning and reinforcing their effectiveness by including my findings will further develop the same culture of taking risks and exploring ideas I hope for in my classroom. If you had told me a year ago that this is where I would be, after ten years of experience in the classroom, ready to start again like a first-year teacher by finding my groove and establishing what my classroom looks, sounds, and acts like with the COVA approach to create a significant learning environment, I would likely say you are nuts. But let’s go crazy and change the world. 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. Harapnuik, D., Thibodeaux, T., & Cummings, C. (2018). Choice, Ownership, and Voice through Authentic Learning. Creative Commons License. Liljedahl, P. (n.d.). Building thinking classrooms. Building Thinking Classrooms. https://buildingthinkingclassrooms.com/ Liljedahl, P. (2021). Building thinking classrooms in mathematics, grades K-12: 14 teaching practices for... enhancing learning. Sage Publications Inc.
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Something that has been coming up as another component of a teacher's role that feels more catered towards checking off an administrative box than serving students is writing "I Can" statements on the board. Take a quick look at social media teacher groups and you will find the dark humor that comes with coping with the millions of expectations and decisions we face daily.
If I am being honest, "I Can" statements are really to support me along the path of the curriculum to maintain focus in moving forward with students. I use them to determine if students are on track or not. There are also attempts to bring students into the conversation about I can statements. You can find them on every set of notes, every Canvas page, every review. These "I Can" statements come from just taking the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and adding "I Can" to the beginning, with an occasional break down in the TEKS (i.e. Algebra 2 TEKS 2A.4 says solve quadratic and square root equations, which is typically broken into I can solve quadratic equations and I can solve square root equations). There are also "I Can" statements with English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS). For example, ELPS c4D could be written as "I can monitor understanding and seek clarification through listening." Let's be realistic, do these mean anything to students? My guess would be no. We do not intentionally bring students into the "I Can" statement creation because they are out of their control. It comes from state curriculum requirements to earn credits for specific subjects. What if instead we had "I Will" statements? All of my students can add, subtract, and multiply polynomials to some degree, but which ones will choose one method over another to demonstrate their understanding? All students can put their phones away but will they choose to do so? I bring this up because there is a distinction between something we can do and something we choose to do and will do accordingly. I can go to the gym every day for at least thirty minutes but will I? I can clean the dishes in the sink but will I? I can stop working during a holiday break but will I... depends on how much I can shut off the balls to the wall mindset I have going on. If we want students to be VOCAL and have ownership of their learning, we need to give them choice in what they will choose to do. We can tell them all we want on what they can do, but it comes down to will they do it and what learning environments are we creating to foster a sense of self-worth to decide they can and they will. More on teacher "I Can" statements for another day... but just something you can think about now, but will you think about it later and take action?
References
Bored Teachers. (2023, September). Instagram. Www.instagram.com. https://www.instagram.com/p/Cw2seuWvgXR/
With the chaos that is the beginning of the school year, a new semester with my master's program, and everything else, my family has been going through some trials. My husband's grandmother, Poo Poo, has had a pretty big health scare in California. So significant, that my mother-in-law flew out to see her and my father-in-law followed a few days later after Scott and I picked up his brother, Jeffrey. Jeff has severe Down syndrome. He communicates with grunts, limited single syllable words such as yes and no, and his own sign language. While he does have some limitations, he is very intelligent. When I first met Jeff, he was the first person with special needs I had really interacted with, and the best advice I was given was to treat him like he is normal. Jeff and I have a very interesting relationship because of this advice. He has opportunities to be mentally enriched here and there, but his days often include endless YouTube videos of Barney and the Wiggles with meals mixed in. His autistic nature causes him to fixate on specific video clips and sounds within them, so he has ownership and choice over those aspects, navigating through the various channels at his own pace. This goes with what I am learning about applying digital learning in my classroom. Being VOCAL is something we should strive for in the classroom and I realized with Jeffrey being here, I also try to provide him other opportunities to have voice, ownership, and choice. The authentic learning for Jeff comes from doing the ordinary things most people do every day. Now, Jeff LOVES pizza. The first time I "Jeff-sat" when all of the family was out, I basically bribed my way into Jeff's heart the way the cliche goes for any man, through his stomach. He likes to constantly ask me for pizza with sign language and I like to try and sneak some vegetables into his diet. When we have pizza, building the pizza is part of our process. He consistently chooses to overload with pepperoni but the other veggies are placed as his own pace, wherever he chooses. When he is done, he will vocalize that. As the pizza is baking, we also make a salad. He had a number of choices but decided to stick with carrots, cucumbers, and tortilla chip strips. There was not any pressure to pick the others but he knew he had to choose something at whatever degree he wanted. This relates to my classroom because having voice, ownership, and choice in an authentic learning environment is inclusive. I choose to follow a vegan and gluten free diet, so my pizza was completely different than Jeff and Scott's pizza. My salad included a lot more vegetables and Scott chose to take what toppings were left. Even the order in which we ate our meals varied: I ate my salad, then the pizza. Scott ate his pizza, then the salad. Jeffrey picked off the veggies and pepperonis first, taking bites of salad in between. Being VOCAL is inclusive for all learners and in all contexts. We should look for more opportunities to embrace learning in different ways and on our terms. Reflecting requires an analysis of oneself and holding ourselves accountable for our actions. These actions come from our beliefs. Self-questioning is not about full self-doubt and inadequacy. It is truly about knowing we did alright for now, but what more could we accomplish? Reading about growth mindsets and learning, I found Dr. Jackie Gerstein and an infographic she created for her college students. As a professional, I plan on starting to consider the answers to these questions as I navigate the school year as a colleague, a leader within the content team, a leader within the department, and a facilitator at the district level. If I answer "yes", I will move to the next question, and continue through until I hit a "no". Reflecting and asking myself why I am saying no will be critical at progressing forward next time. After being intentional about engaging with these questions and reflecting on the no's, I am considering tracking my progress and identifying which scenarios do I find myself stuck and on which question. Then, collaborate with peers and mentors about what I could do for the future. As a teacher, I wonder what these questions would look like for my high school students. What about for middle school or elementary students? What about for parents or guardians? Even now as I ask questions, I am engaging in reflection through self-questioning. It is up to me to finding the answers or seeking the support to walk along side me and discover them together. References Gerstein, J. (2015, September 4). Is “Have a Growth Mindset” the New “Just Say No.” User Generated Education. https://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2015/09/04/is-have-a-growth-mindset-the-new-just-say-no/
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.
Have you ever done something that your heart would not necessarily choose but your head knows it's good for your overall health and wellbeing? Here are some examples:
I am overall a relatively physically healthy person, but that does not make me immune to a constant battle between head and heart, especially when it comes to the added layer of anxiety. My heart knows there's no reason to be stressed out, but my head asks are you sure about that? Being an educator has helped me to learn how to balance the relationship between head and heart and I found it to be a lot like running. I HATE running and it's probably because I am really bad at it. It feels like I've been running for days, only to look down at my Fitbit and see it's been 2 minutes and 43 seconds. Each lap around a track seems longer than the last and if my pacing is faster than 11 minutes per mile, WOW it's time for a reward of Taco Bell for dinner. There's an inevitable recursive cycle that happens; I hate running because I am bad at it, so I don't run often and because I don't run often, I am bad at it, which makes me hate it more. Now I am not saying I hate education. On the contrary, I deeply love it because it is my passion and one of my life's purposes, but it is a lot like running and the battle between my heart and my head when it comes to the activity. There are days when a part of me just wants to give in to the frustration a student has when they don't quite understand a concept yet and just give them the answer, but the other part of me knows that purposeful struggle is necessary for true growth. Part of me wants to just stop enforcing inappropriate cellphone usage and just let them Snapchat and Instagram and TikTok time away until the bell rings, but the other part of me knows that as the adult and the facilitator, I have to provide structure for them to see benefits in putting the devices away or structure for them to not have an opportunity to "be bored". I'm sure you have scenarios you can think of based on your experience. On days I run, it usually does not start off with a true heart and head desire to knock out a few miles. A lot of the times, it comes with discipline, knowing that as soon as I get started, I will not regret the choice I made to follow through. The rewards from the temporary pain are small when individually assessed, but 1% daily growth is huge over time versus 1% daily decline. This comes from James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, a book that I plan on reading in its entirety as part of my educational journey but have stumbled across excerpts of. Education can be a lot like running. You could consider each class period a sprint, each day a 5K, each week a 10K, each year a marathon, your career an ultra. If we keep putting one foot in front of the other, being disciplined enough to tell our heads to push through when the heart is conflicted, we can be so much stronger. Eventually, our hearts start to catch up, beating faster and sustaining the rhythm as it becomes accustom to the situation. Balancing the heart and the head simply takes experience and adaptation while also recognizing some days are better or worse than others and that has to be okay. Something my Lee family and I would do together is watch reruns of Law and Order SVU on the weekends and for some reason, my sister-in-law Stephanie, my husband Scott, and I latched onto a line when Elliot Stabler yells "we got a runner!". I couldn't find a specific clip of this, but this scene from Reno 911 feels more accurate for education at times... We have to keep running so that our lives can be examples to others of what balance between the head and the heart looks like. We should make sure we are taking care of ourselves so we can take care of others. Are we perfect? Absolutely not, but we can keep making those small gains every day, reflect back, and be in awe of what we are truly capable of. Also, if we run together, we can pull people into this race and motivate each other to keep going. What are some things you've done that your heart and head have been in conflict over? What did you learn from those? Do we have a runner in you?
References
Clear, J. (2015). How to Master the Art of Continuous Improvement. James Clear. https://jamesclear.com/continuous-improvement
Eric. (2012). WE GOT A RUNNER! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIrkI43NIIU Tim Robinson “You Sure About That” Green Screen. (2023, April 12). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZOIpsxfzxw At the beginning of the summer, I set an open personal goal: to read more. I restarted the Harry Potter series as I do every summer and had my queue of recommendations ready to go to expand my horizons outside light-hearted romantic comedies or science fiction/fantasy novels. I had not anticipated that setting this goal would include the tens of thousands of pages I would be reading as part of my masters. My professor co-authored a book about the educational environment that positively impacts student learning called COVA (request free access to the book here): Choice, Ownership, Voice, Authentic Learning. As I reflect on what I have read, it makes more sense for me to consider these ideas as VOCAL. |
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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