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11/20/16-Every year in my classes I give students a glimpse into my life via Animoto Video. During this course I was asked to create a short personal video story that had pictures, narration and audio. I decided to use Windows Moviemaker to create my story. During this process I learned that my home computer version of Moviemaker did not have the same capabilities as my work computer. This forced me to adjust how I prepared my video, the narration and addition of music. In the end, what I decided to share was a glimpse into who I am including information about my daughters, education, likes and career. In the end, I am very pleased with the outcome of the video and hope it is enjoyed by all who view it.

11/27/16-This week in my EDLD-5363 Multimedia Video Technology, we were asked to create a script for a podcast to record a 2 minute video on an audio or video software. I chose to use screencast-omatic to record my podcast as I am familiar with it and have used it in my classroom. I gave a 2 minute podcast of the Audacity audio recording and editing software. This is a simple tool to use and it was a simple tool to explain. I myself would not use this in my flipped classroom as I believe that in order to be differentiated, we need to have audio and video to make it easiest for everyone to use. My most challenging task this week was using the creative commons license. It can be very confusing using this tool and I was unsure whether telling YouTube when I uploaded that my video was licensed through creative commons was enough. I have also included a code from the creative commons site on my blog to cover my bases. In the future, i will certainly be using more video podcasts to help my students as it is an easy way to give them information when I am not able to be one on one with them or they are working offsite.

12/4/16-This week we worked wit our groups to develop a Core-Content, Student Centered Video Project Pre-Production Proposal. I happen to be working with some very intelligent, go-getters and we were able to finish our assignment by Friday. It's amazing how productive you can be when you are working with people that take pride in what they are doing and care about achieving as much as you do. I am looking forward to the next 2 weeks as we finalize this project and see the final product.

12/8/16-This week my group and I worked on the creation the our video, editing the script and recording the narration and music audio. The project is coming together nicely and I feel that we work very well as a group. Each group member seems dedicated to doing a good job to receive the best grade possible. Courtney really leads our group to get tasks accomplished, but it is a group effort to get it done.

12/14/16-This is the final week and we discovered that we need to turn in everything for the course by Friday instead of Sunday this week. If I did not have such a fantastic group, this would be very difficult to accomplish with it being the last week before Winter Break and administering finals. We were able to get everything completed by Wednesday which feels fantastic and the feedback we are already receiving from our peers is incredible, making all of our hard work feel worth it. I hope you enjoy the video on the EDLD-5363 section of my Portfolio.

1/22/17-

How many of us don’t try something because our thought is that we “can’t”? Too many times we are afraid to try because we may not be given the praise or encouragement that we need. We, as educators forget that sometimes and rely upon others to do that for us when that power has always been ours. Too often, according to Dweck (2014) we “run from difficulty” as do our students. We need to teach the students that they hold the power to achieve anything by remembering that they just haven’t mastered it “yet”. Dweck says we need to remember to praise the perseverance instead of intelligence to get the best results out of our students. This is something that Eduardo Briceno echoes when he talked about a study where students were told they tried really hard and saw immensely different and greater scores than students who were told they were really intelligent (Briceno, 2012).

In my classroom currently, I use a lot of PBL to gain better understanding of student knowledge of a subject, but I may rethink the current Rubric system that I’m using. If I were to change the Rubric and even come up with checkpoint Rubrics that focused more on the effort and the process and the “not yet” idea, I believe that I will get even better understanding and more thought out results than I am currently. If I use the Rubrics to give a status update on “not yet” and give pointers on how to achieve “yet” they may stop looking at the project as a grade and start looking at it as an achievement. If we can change the mindsets then we can change the results and the effort as well (Briceno, 2012).

References

Dweck, C.M. (2014, October 9). Developing a growth mindset. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/hiiEeMN7vbQ

Briceno, E. (2012, November 18). The power of belief-mindset and success. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/pN34FNbOKXc

1/28/17-The most important goal that I have as it relates to technology integration in my career is to always stay current. The students are always discovering the newest technology at lightning speed because they are always “connected”. As much as I feel that them being “connected” can be a detriment to other areas of their social skills, they are very adept at the latest and greatest in technology today. If we don’t stay up with their speed, they will surpass us and we will become the students in terms of technology. I believe that overall, I have a growth mindset, I am always up for a challenge and want to be the best in my field, in fact I need the praise, it’s a motivator. My fixed mindset comes into play when I decide before I start something that I may not be as successful at it as I might want to be so I might not try a certain path because of that mindset. It doesn’t mean I won’t try something different, bet sometimes I close myself off to ideas initially because of my reluctance to try.

Part of the way that I am working towards achieving my goal is using PBL in my classroom and giving my students a lot of voice and choice. My only requirement when students try new technology is that it= has to me a digital medium that they have never used before and we learn together, how to use it. If I can encourage them to take risks and ensure to them that their grade will not suffer if the project doesn’t “look” exactly right in their mind, then we are achieving a growth mindset. I really like to see the process that they are using instead of the end result and when they learn that this is what I’m looking for, the results are tremendous. They learn and I learn and when pursuing life goals, the most important thing is not the what or the why, it’s the how we got here. If we know how, then we will eventually discover the what and the why, those components will simply fall into place.

When a learner used UDL, they learn what works best for them in a learning environment and begin to control their own learning. The teacher’s responsibility in UDL is to make sure to differentiate all lessons so that every student has the opportunity to complete tasks how they learn best. In my own classroom, I hope to provide this through PBL lessons and giving my students voice and choice, whether we are using technology or not or some decide to and some do not. What’s most important is making sure that the learning is personalized to the students learning and not the instructors teaching. If we don’t empower our students, how will they ever learn to empower themselves?

2/4/17-Using COVA in my own learning is something I’m getting used to still. We have been so programed thus far in our own learning to be given a task, given examples and expected to replicate the results that when we begin a task we are conditioned to look for these cues to begin. As much as I am trying to encourage my students to be independent thinkers in my classroom, I have learned that I am not always an independent thinker myself without some sort of prompt. COVA is appealing because I believe that it will not only make me a better learner, but a better instructor as well. I use a lot of PBL in my classroom, but I had forgotten what it was like when I was learning to use it as well. Voice and choice sounds great in theory, but can be very scary at the same time. In order to fix this, as educators we need to make sure we are reaching each student’s individual learning style and as much as we want them to fully integrate technology, some learners may need more encouragement than others in order to do this. Traditionally, we give students a task with a specific tool for them to use, in COVA and PBL we’ve opened the door for students to have freedom, a choice and a voice. We cannot just expect them to take these opportunities, but we must guide them in their pursuits, especially until they realize we are there to catch them if and when they fall and let them know it’s ok to fail, they haven’t reached the goal yet.

I think that the COVA learning approach that will challenge me the most as a learner is the freedom. My gut instinct will be to go with things that I already feel comfortable with and know that I can accomplish. I’m not unwilling to try new things, but with little direction to begin with, I will be hesitant as I will want to keep the high praises and good grades that I am accustomed to and feel a risk with something new, may put that in jeopardy. I feel that this will be a similar challenge for my high achieving students. They will be looking for me to check their steps at every move, where I will want them to try and fail to get their results. With my less motivated students, I believe that their biggest challenge will be making the activities authentic. These are the students that don’t realize yet what they need to be successful and will need even more encouragement, but I also believe that once they get started they will probably be the ones to take more risks, because in their minds they do not have as much to lose.

The resources I might use in my ePortfolio are all of the resources and tools I use in my classroom. Whenever I start something new with my students, I challenge myself to create along with them so I can understand some of the issues when they arise. I will also seek the advice of my colleagues who can give me advice and encouragement and maybe a new way of looking at ideas. Sometimes when we are the only eyes looking at something for a while, the lines begin to get blurred. When it comes to learner agency, it is so important that what I share, I believe in. I have to take ownership of what I’m doing, what I’m presenting and what I’m putting out there for it to truly have an impact.

2/12/17-LEARNING NETWORKS-The only PLN that I have joined is Twitter. In my district, we have a very large twitter presence and use hashtags often to get information to our staff and students. As much as I think that PLN’s are a great way to stay in touch with the happenings in the district and in education, I believe that this forum sometimes is too broad and one person’s tweet can take on a life of it’s own, especially when taken in the wrong context. Simply look at our new Secretary of Education’s tweet on Friday, asking “now where do I find the pencils”. This one comment infuriated many in the education community and spawned a backlash against her on a global level. I would venture to guess that this was not her intent when she made the comment, but it just goes to show that people are listening, even when you think they aren’t.

I do not contribute much in the way of tweeting/blogging or committing my opinions to print. To be perfectly honest, I don’t have the time, nor do I have the inclination to get into debates with people about my personal opinion. If there is something that I am truly passionate about, then I will certainly lend my voice, but otherwise I’m a listener and I absorb what I am hearing, later forming my own opinion that I may or may not share. I still believe in old school networking, shaking hands, repeating someone’s name so I remember it and engaging them in meaningful, face to face conversation. If we need to join each other’s networks after that initial encounter, then I’m game or if that is the way to engage with someone initially great, but just because technology is the future, doesn’t mean we have to give up all of the ways that have worked previously. I think we have to find a way to integrate old school and new school methods together. Collaboration and engagement come naturally when you really feel comfortable working with someone and the only way to truly feel comfortable is to get to know them. Knowing someone digitally vs. knowing someone personally are two very different things. Let’s find the balance.

https://twitter.com/?lang=en

2/19/17-What is my “why”? My “why” is I believe in change, I believe in making a difference and I believe that if we aren’t willing to stand up and make a difference then we aren’t entitled to an opinion on what’s not working. In my manifesto I talked about what I’m truly passionate about and what I’m passionate about is children and helping to make a difference in the world, because I know that they will eventually make a difference in my world. We are shaping future generations and I need to make a difference if I intend to have confidence in the next generation leading us one day.

COVA is something that flows very easily into my eportfolio. The concept of my eportfolio being my choice of format, owning the content that I’m presenting, lending my own voice and making sure my work is authentic is something I did not even realize I was doing until COVA was introduced to me. It’s a concept that I have been trying to introduce into my classroom using PBL over the last few years, but will continue to grow with my ideas and maybe even introduce this idea to my students as a way to house all of their projects and turn in the link to me regularly.

I think if I was using my eportfolio as a tool in my classroom or even as an addition to my resume/professional vita, I would certainly look at the eportfolio in a new way. It would be something that I would keep up with regularly and make an effort to be up to date with if I knew people may be viewing it on a regular basis.

The most valuable lesson that I have learned through the Ed Tech program so far is that there is more to being a leader than simply getting a certificate that says I know how to lead. There is always room for improvement, always room for growth and always something new to master. The most difficult part of that concept is being willing to learn new concepts and allow others, who may be less experienced even our students, to lead the way. We have to be willing to listen before we can prepare to lead.

2/19/17

How do I see the growth mindset?

When I was first learning about the growth mindset, I thought I really knew the difference between the growth mindset and the fixed mind set and what I've learned is that, though I know the difference, knowing and teaching it to others is a concept I'm still working on. In my plan to bring this idea to my work community I may have missed how to implement this concept into my organization and classroom and am still working to develop my thought process. Here is what I have so far https://www.emaze.com/@ATLICQFC/the-growth-mindset?autoplay.

How can I use failing forward strategies?

When I think of failing forward, I think of Carol Dweck's concept of "not yet". The way we can truly change the fixed mindset to the growth mindset is to stop praising intelligence and start praising the process of achieving something. We will never truly achieve until we realize we have to continue trying when we don't succeed instead of thinking this is the best it will get. In my learning manifesto I talked about what i'm passionate about and what I'm passionate about is children achieving. If helping them change their mindset will accomplish this, then I'm first on the list to incorporate this concept into my classroom. View my video here https://youtu.be/-9WvRP-SpP8 .

How will the COVA Model impact my learning as I continue in the Educational Technology program?

The COVA model is something that I believe I was already utilizing without realizing it. I use a lot of PBL in my classroom, but I need to use COVA to improve the concepts that I'm already using. The COVA model will certainly help me in my continuation in the EdTech program as I start to change my own fixed mindset to a growth mindseet and realize that I need to make my own choices without relying on an example, take ownership of what I put out in the learning community, make sure my voice is being heard and authentic. These are also concepts that I plan to integrate with my own students and even colleagues because we can't be afraid to fail, we should only be afraid that we aren''t reaching our full potential.

3/12/17

Why Use an ePortfolio?

Using an ePortfolio can have many benefits. but living in the digital age it is so important to have our digital creations at our fingertips, to share, collaborate and reflect. As an instructor and a leader I will use my ePortfolio to be an extension of my resume or professional Vita. This is where I will house all of my digital accomplishments as well as reflections of learning. For student, this can be a great tool for learning, growing and even taking into their professional lives someday and showing their progress, expanding their knowledge and eventually leading others themselves. If we take the time to reflect on our accomplishments, we will become that much more accomplished ourselves.

3/20/17

Who Owns the ePortfolio?

The "O" in COVA specifically references an ownership of the "entire portfolio process". They key to making sure that there is true ownership in the eportfolio is ownership of school domains is transferred to the student upon graduation (Rikard, 2015). Until graduation, it is imperative that not only the students, but the teachers allow as much control and freedom in choice and authenticity as possible so that what students are creating is truly their own. Letting the student take ownership of their digital environment can be hard for some teachers, but if we want them to feel like they own it, then we have to let them own it and get back to the growth mindset and allow them to make mistakes, learn from the mistakes and let them know their not there "yet", but they will get there.

References

Rikard, A. (2015). Do I own my domain if you grade it?. EdSurge News. Retrieved from https://www.edsurge.com/news/2015-08-10-do-i-own-my-domain-if-you-grade-it

3/26/17

What I've learned from Reviewing other ePortfolios...

Viewing other ePortfolios has only reinforced how much work I still have to do on my own ePortfolio. It has made me reflect on the purpose of the process and take a step back in my approach. I thought my ePortfolio needed to look like everyone else's and needed to be this big production. At the end of the day, the true purpose is to represent myself and my own learning and growth and that is what I hope to get out of this process at the end. i only hope that my grade will ultimately reflect that as well. My ePortfolio needs to represent me and my accomplishments, my knowledge and my own growth. I've learned that I am meant to do what I'm doing and I'm good at it. I will continue to grow and learn using my ePortfolio, will you?

4/2/17

What I need to work on...

My time management skills have been truly tested during the last 5 weeks. Between work, illness (mine and my children's), Spring Break and personal things, I did not manage my approach to learning very well. It has been a while since I have not been extremely organized and on top of things and it just goes to show that we as educators have to remember that life happens sometimes as we need to be cognizant of that with our students. It's not an excuse, its a reality of life and it happens to everyone. It's not the action of things, but the reaction that truly shows our character.