Blog 5313 Archives - Leticiateach

Contributions to my Learning

LeticiaTeach — Fri, 14 Oct 2022 07:13:01 +0000

5313/5389- 98/100

Introduction

For the Fall semester in 5313 and 5389, I worked with Lola, Stacie, and Lorena. I collaborated with these ladies the semester before and continued to this semester. All four of us have busy schedules as teachers and additional responsibilities. We work together to complete assignments on time. I am blessed to work with these energetic, positive, and determined ladies.

Key Contributions

We all uniquely contribute to the group. Stacie is like the leader of the group; she takes the initiative. She is the first one to check blackboard for updates and notify the group. Lola is our writer. She takes our writings and makes them better by adding words or phrases to them. Lorena is energetic; she brings lots of joy to our learning. Then there is me; I like to stay ahead and remind everyone of the assignments and discussions. I took the lead in making infographics for our e-portfolios.

Last semester we set a goal not to finish assignments on the last day. We have improved our timeline for completing projects a day earlier. We did not start with finishing assignments ahead of time, but we kept reminding each other. This is still an area that I need to improve on so that we have more time in other areas. Another area I can improve on is by participating more in class discussions and asking for clarifications on assignments. Someone else may be thinking or wanting to ask the same thing as me. I completed all class discussions on time, so my classmates could see my posts and comment on my reflections. Reflecting on my Creating Significant Learning Environment coursework, I translated the Growth Mindset and Power of YET into Spanish. I did this because I am a bilingual teacher, and to foster an appropriate CSLE, students must feel comfortable in my class. During Developing Effective Professional Learning for teachers, I reflected and started participating actively in my district’s PLs. By doing this, I learned new teaching techniques from other teachers and shared my success stories with them.

My most significant growth this semester is sharing my ideas with my colleagues. Before, I would not have shared my ideas due to a lack of confidence. I shared a digital student data tracker. My views are received positively by my campus.

Supporting Contributions

Stacie starts the collaboration page, and I contribute to organizing the class information into tables with the class. I arranged another table with our names and e-portfolios links. I added links to our collaboration document to other e-portfolios that we look at as examples.

Table I created to keep information organized.

While working on assignments and looking through examples, I placed links to the e-portfolios on our collaboration page, along with notes of what was intriguing to us and specific notes from class that the professors specified for us to do or not to do. This was helpful because we could refer back to it anytime while working on the assignments; it kept us organized. I noticed last semester that we had difficulty finding documents from previous projects, so I linked them to our collaboration page for easy access.

I am also part of Dawn’s Group Me collaboration group. In Group Me, classmates post questions, clarifications, and e-portfolios. I take the time to read the messages and respond to the questions I know the answers to or refer my classmates to where they could find the answer. I also posted my discussions on blackboard, replied to classmates on time, and posted in APA format. I would change in the future to go back to the discussions, check if anyone responded to my post, and do a follow-up.

Although Lorena is not in 5313 with Stacie, Lola, and me, she was available for questions and any clarifications we had on the assignments. Lorena took the time to show us her work and other exemplary e-portfolios.

Conclusion

My collaboration group with Stacie, Lola, and Lorena is very motivating and diligent about their work. I have learned so much, and I look forward to the Fall second semester in a few days. However, I am nervous about participating more during class discussions.

Collaboration Group

Stacie Perez

Lola Gatlin

Lorena Rodriguez

Collaboration Group Members linked to their E-Portfolios.

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Connect the Dots

LeticiaTeach — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 16:03:01 +0000

We spend a lot of time encouraging our learners to collect the dots because we think we will get better grades. Many schools focus on the dot collection to transfer to high rankings. These tests are connected to school budgets and bonuses for high achievers. Learners need to understand how the concepts relate to each other and how they connect to make a bigger picture.

I decided to join the ADL program because my school had been underperforming for years. The school had seen many principals come in and out of the school. One may say that maybe I should have just left for another school, a high-performance school, but it is my school, my community, and I will not turn my back on them. Through the learning process, I have learned that I have a few things set in place to Create a Significant Learning Environment, which I need to expand on to make the most of the student’s learning. I currently do Social Emotional Learning, I give students opportunities, and we have the technology. I am learning how to use these things properly to increase student engagement. I can learn to use more technological applications my school district provides and train my students to use them. Students benefit most from these applications when I show them how to use them. I have created a digital table where students keep track of their progress and learning goals.

The district has a variety of reading applications students can use to learn reading skills and improve fluency, grammar, speaking, and listening. We have established cooperating groups, where students are responsible for contributing to their learning. They can discuss concepts, new knowledge, and new ideas. All students are responsible for turning in a product to show mastery. Students use applications like Flip to record answers and feedforward to other students. Recording helps students that struggle with writing, spelling, or language learners. My bilingual students also use Summit K12, which allows them to grow their English in reading, speaking, listening, and writing.

A growth mindset is one thing that I want to incorporate more in my lessons and goal-setting meetings with students. I believe students can learn and take away so much with a growth mindset. They can achieve it with hard work, determination, and sweat.

I am an independent and dependent learner. When learning a new idea, it had to come from someone else. As I connect ideas, my thinking process starts evolving. I seek understanding or more information from others. If we were all independent learners, we would not be able to innovate. Innovation comes when there is a need for change.

I want my students to be independent and dependent learners as well. Dependent on the part of the collaboration to discuss ideas, take what they learned and discussed, and show mastery of what they have learned by creating something unique.

Reference

Harapnuik, D. D. (2021, January 18). Collecting dots vs connecting dots. Retrieved September 12, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7o3Jh1KZLw

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Learning Revolution

LeticiaTeach — Sat, 01 Oct 2022 23:42:55 +0000

Human resources are like natural resources. They are often buried deep… you have to create the circumstance where they show themselves.<< This sentence resonates with me because I know that natural resources need to be used wisely and taken care of because they can become depleted. Humans’ talent is significant; skill can die or never be seen if not nurtured. In “Bring on the Learning Revolution, ” Sir Ken Robinson says,”…. we need a revolution not an evolution in Education…” this is how I translated his word in my head. Evolution happens independently, and revolution is a change for which people go to war. Educators that want to bring about change are currently conquering one battle at a time and recruiting others along the way. I have joined the army for disruptive innovation in education and to get others to join the mission. There are many blended learning models that schools have implemented but have modified a few things to meet their needs. When schools make the change, things are not set in stone, and as they go along, they must adapt to what best fits their organization. As educators, we hold students’ futures and dreams in our hands, and if we do not make a change now, their dreams can become trampled.

The question is, will you join the educational revolution to make students’ dreams into reality?

Reference

Bring on the learning revolution! | Sir Ken Robinson. (2010, May 24). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9LelXa3U_I&t=988s

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A New Culture of Learning

LeticiaTeach — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 02:29:50 +0000

I want to create a significant learning environment for students but comply with the district’s commands and guidelines. We have district people coming into our classrooms daily with a clipboard “wall watching.” Teachers anonymously called this “wall watching.” They check out walls and environments for specific items. Teachers anonymously called this “wall watching.”

Students want a better environment, and I try to incorporate collaboration to increase student engagement. Options are limited to two and are not offered often due to time and planning. I see students lose the desire for creativity and imagination. As the district wants us to keep moving through the curriculum, I believe creativity and imagination take time.

I am not sure what my next educational step will be, but I know it will involve student choice and creativity.

According to Douglas Thomas in A New Culture of Learning TedTalk, learning is something we do from the day we are born until we die, and learning is easy, except in school. Students struggle to learn in school, which should be the easiest and safest place to learn.

References

Dwayne Harapnuik. (2021, April 16). EDLD 5313 Module 1 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4RIBNgK6xI

TEDx Talks. (2012, September 13). A New Culture of Learning, Douglas Thomas at TEDxUFM [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM80GXlyX0U

Thomas, D., & Brown, J. S. (2011). A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change (1st edition). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

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