Contribution to Your Learning and the Learning Community
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Honestly, I never thought I would be going for my master’s degree but I saw that without one I was limiting the possibilities of what I could do in the future. Before the applied digital learning program (ALD), I based everything I did on the NED teaching that I remembered and still hold dear. Now, however, I understand that it is the mindset I chose to be in that is so important. Dweck’s teaching of the growth mindset was eye-opening to me and reassuring. I went in with the idea that I must have a growth mindset and only a growth mindset. I quickly learned that that was in fact NOT the case, I often found myself triggered into a fixed mindset. However, I now know the sets to get my mind back on track. In my growth mindset plan, I titled, “Unlock the Mindset, Unlock the Mind” I spoke on each one of Dweck’s steps. I found them all so important to me but that was another struggle I had; finding my voice in COVA.
The choice, ownership, voice, and authentic learning approach were new to me. I was used to writing papers on exactly what my professors had wanted or taking a test. I’m great at writing a study guide and memorizing that! But that’s just it, it was only memorizing. My pride and joy in my biology class was my, “Demon Flamingo”(I talk about it in my Learning Manifesto). At that time in my life, I thought I had learned how I learned! But what I did was learn how I memorized. I could not tell you anything about the skeleton of a bird now because I have already put that information out of my mind. Godin said," If it was worth memorizing then it was worth looking up". He was right! COVA makes you an active part of your learning. I’m not doing papers on BLOOMS taxonomy because that’s not what I am focused on and it wouldn’t be authentic. I found a new way of learning through COVA. COVA is now an approach that I want to learn more about and how I can use it with my students. The only way I will do that and encourage that is by learning through doing.
My Learning Manifesto focuses on how important I think learning through doing really is. When we first come into this world, we begin to develop through play but at some point in our lives, we did away with that. We replaced going outside to experience the leaves changing to only reading about it in books. When I was in elementary school, we took field trips and explored something based on what we were learning. Back then it was a regular thing, now our students are lucky if they get to go on a field trip once a year, and it's often something that is affordable and barely goes along with their learning. I want to ignite a passion in my students for learning and I want to do that through getting them involved through STEAM. Thankfully I'm not alone.
My proposal came at the perfect moment. My campus has about 20 kits of LEGO that we don’t use. I wanted those to be the base for a fun club at my campus. Lucky for me, so did my principal. While I was busy thinking about how I could possibly introduce the idea of the new fun club to my principal, she came and tossed a small box of LEGO Education advertisements to me. That was my opening. I began working on ways I could use the reasons our school already had to make a budget-friendly STEAM Club as a part of our Fun Fridays. Life always has ways of humbling you though.
I know what I wanted to do, and I had my Implantation Plan for how to, but I needed to back it up. My Literature Review was that way. Only I fell short. I pushed myself in the wrong direction and lost track of my focus, learning through doing. To say my literature review was sparse would be an over statement but just as my work in the ALD isn’t complete neither is my Literature Review. I look forward to where this course takes me and I look forward to the people I will meet along the way.
My colleagues that contributed to my learning;
Angela Deschner
James Rawls
Dr. Sue Bedard
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Reference:
Dweck, C. S. (2016). Mindset: The new psychology of Success. Ballantine Books.
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TED. (2012, October 16) STOP STEALING DREAMS: Seth Godin at TEDxYouth@BFS [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jPQjjsBbIc
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