“What” I will accomplish with CSLE+COVA

My wrap-up reflection from EDLD 5303

Creating my ePortfolio was a reflective process. It was difficult to be a learner in the COVA model, but also very enjoyable.  The biggest challenge was finding my authentic “VOICE.”  At first, I found it difficult to press “Publish” on these blog posts.  Even more difficult was to hear my own voice on the videos I was creating.  In order to move past these fears, I had to circle back to what I learned about growth mindset on multiple occasions.  Reminding myself as I looked at the polished ePortfolios of those who went before me, that maybe mine isn’t there “yet” but it will be someday. I also put myself in the place of my own students as I imagined how difficult it must be for them when they face similar challenges.

“Growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things that you can cultivate through your efforts.”- Dweck (2008)

Watch my Growth Mindset plan

In my class, I explicitly teach students about the growth mindset and malleable intelligence at the start of each year, then again after the mid-term. Personally one of my favorite authors is Mel Robbins and even though I follow her for my own development, I do share some of her techniques with my students, one of which being visualization.

It was important to me that the product(ePortfolio) I created was a visual reflection of who I am as an educator and learner. It was also important to me that I use a platform that I was comfortable with and that allowed me the flexibility to grow and scale my ePortfolio in the future.  In the end, I think that my ePortfolio represents my beliefs and I am excited to add to it as I to continue through the Digital Learning and Leadership program. To aid me as I continue this journey and work towards disruptive innovation, I chose a quote from one of my favorite artist’s Henri Matisse to be my mantra “Creativity takes courage.” I wanted this to greet me every time I open my site to add another post.

“If you are not prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with anything original.” -Robinson (2006)

Watch my Learning Manifesto

I started the DLL program as a stepping stone towards pivoting my career from being an educator of children to being an educator of adults.  A goal of mine is to model how technology can be integrated into any classroom and help teachers overcome fears of the unknown. I hear many teachers talk about how students just want to use technology inappropriately and use this as a justification to ban personal devices from the classroom.  But, from my point of view as a teacher, parent, and learner, I think students need to be given more opportunities to use technology for collaboration and research in order to learn appropriate use in context. Learning about CSLE+COVA helped reaffirm my beliefs that technology integration should not take an all or nothing approach.

I may not know exactly what I will do after I earn my Masters in Digital Leadership and Learning, but I do know that I will enjoy the process of earning it. For now, my renewed interest in learning networks has already sparked many ideas for my upcoming innovation plan.

Enjoy the video montage below. I plan to refer back to these affirmations for encouragement throughout the remainder of my graduate work.

References:

Dweck, C. S. (2008). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. New York, NY: Ballantine Books Trade Paperback Edition.

Robinson, K. (2006, February). Do schools kill creativity? Retrieved February 4, 2019, from https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity?language=en