Progressing through the Digital Leading and Learning Program has been a challenge, but each week I feel as if I am getting closer to my ultimate goal. My ultimate goal is to be able to share everything I have learned with my district. I want to share my knowledge of not only technology, but also the power in reflecting, creating a digital presence and adopting a growth mindset. Being able to appreciate and notice my growth has been one of my most valuable take away’s since I have been in the program. It is exceptionally satisfying to see my personal growth as I tackle challenges. By blogging, reflecting and collaborating in discussions with my colleagues I am able to quickly learn and share new ideas. Another one of my goals is to teach my students to obtain a growth mindset this year. I have already been planting seeds and instilling this vision in my classroom by changing my vocabulary and increasing the usage of the word “Yet”. Carol Dweck swears by using the word “Yet” in the classroom to spotlight growth amongst students.
Failing forward is a something that naturally comes with trying to succeed and accomplish goals. There are times when failure just naturally happens. When failure does happen, I believe that you should not begin feeling down and out. Use failure as a tool to see your own growth. Use the plan you failed at to create and implement a master plan that includes details, a time frame and maybe even a mock demonstration of the plan. There are also a few tips that I have used to help push through plans that have failed.
- Accept it
- Stay determined
- Look forward not backwards
The COVA impact has been transforming and impacting my learning. Being able to have choice, ownership, voice and authentic learning opportunities have been motivating me to take charge of my learning. I have really been wanting to grow and improve since I have been in the program. I have been crafting and measuring my own personal growth. Taking ownership of my failures and creating plans to change my approach is something that I have been actually getting better at. Choice is one of the biggest factors that has helped me to stay focused during this program. I enjoy how I get to choose how I’m going to showcase my assignments and growth. I also do this in my classroom with my students. This is actually an easy task, because I am an English Teacher. I am able to create options for student by giving them a library full of books that can choose from. The books are high interest topics that appeal to them. I also allow them to choose how they want to display their knowledge of the text . This will usually take place in the form of a blog, discussion post, project, reflection or exam. Now that I am in graduate school and my professors have given use the option of student choice, I realize the importance of it. Choice allows students to choose the best representation of their knowledge and learning. Ownership will happen naturally, because students will get to choose how they want to share the learning. They will also be more receptive for holding themselves accountable of their learning.
The COVA Model definitely appeals to me! It is something that I will continue to utilize in my classroom. The fact that we have limitless technology on our campus, makes it even easier to practice this framework. There are so many online platforms and activities that can be utilized in my lesson plans. Since we have Google chrome books I have been trying to give my students more of a choice whenever it comes to their learning in the classroom and outside of the classroom.
Voice will impact my learning in the program and in my educational journey. The past couple of months I have worked endlessly to create a digital presence and find my inner voice that I want to show the world. So far I have been learning a lot about how different apps and digital platforms work, and it’s been beneficial. It has helped me narrow down which digital platforms I want to use for myself and my students. My goal is to create ePortfolios and use the Cova elements as a foundational tool to reflect upon. Whenever we craft different areas of our ePortfolio we should ask ourselves are we using the COVA approach.
The link to my Learning Manifesto is Below:
https://digitalmillenial.org/2020/12/06/my-learning-manifesto/
The Link to my Growth Mindset Plan:
https://digitalmillenial.org/2020/11/29/anything-is-capable-with-a-growth-mindset/
https://digitalmillenial.org/2020/11/29/anything-is-capable-with-a-growth-mindset/
The Link to my Learning Newworks:
The Digital Millenial 