Contributing to My Learning and Learning Community- Summer Term 2024

Contributions to Learning- Summer 2024

Others are constantly helping us to learn.  We consume from and contribute to the learning of others throughout our lives.

Enrolling in a graduate program was one of the most important but scariest decisions I have made in the last four years. Through the encouragement of my wife and family, I decided to embark on a new learning journey. I have always participated in professional development through my school district and took courses and classes independently. Still, my teaching became stale and rote- I was doing what I knew, not what the students needed to learn. My students need to learn how to learn and I need to learn how to teach them to learn. The ADL program has already opened opportunities for me to explore how to learn and for me to teach my students how to learn. I have already started thinking about how I can change my classroom and my pedagogy to help my students become the auto didacts that they will need to be in the future.  

I believe I have earned a 45/50 for EDLD 5305 and a 92/100 for EDLD 5302. Learning to be a student again was a formidable adjustment. It took me some time to get a routine of study, work completion, and confidence when submitting assignments. In this respect, I relied on the support of my wife, my colleagues here at home, and the members of my learning group especially Khelia Olison Williams, Ennijah Armour, Patricia Hamilton, Faith Lopez, and Thaddeus Komorowski. These people were instrumental in helping me review my work, identify errors, and offer support. The students in my learning group are much like me. We seemed to suffer the same confusion and have the same questions at points in the courses. We worked together to solve our problems, provide feed-forward and feedback and were often each others’ cheerleaders. Faith Lopez created a GroupMe chat group and provided easy access to others in the classes, so we could pose questions and respond quickly. There were times when we would be chatting until one o’clock in the morning going over our assignments with each other. We would discuss the outcome of our assignments and discuss ways to improve on them. Thaddeus Komorowski has been a tremendous asset as a member of my learning group. As a career and technology teacher, he has experience in developing e-portfolios and was a great resource as I started developing my e-portfolio. Melissa Richards used her knowledge of specific programs to give the group guidance as we progressed through these first two courses. I set up Zoom sessions for us to be able to communicate face to face utilizing the power of the internet and live interactions.

As a seasoned teacher, I believe there are certain activities that I have developed a skill in.  It was that belief that did not work for me. As good a writer as I believed I was, I learned very quickly that my writing was not up to par for a graduate program and that it was a new skill that I needed to learn. Dr. Harapnuik, Dr. Harrison, and Dr. Ganns’ feedback and guidance have been instrumental in helping me become a learner. The use of our assignments as assessments for learning has been a true learning experience for me. In revising my assignments, I have learned that there is always room for improvement and that the small things do matter if I am to become a better learner. Dr. Harapnuik’s video reviews of my work and the rationale for my grades were extremely helpful. Dr. Harapnuik drove this point home when he evaluated my Innovation Proposal, Literature Review, and  Implementation Outline.  I was also able to complete the Learning Manifesto, Growth Mindset Plan, Annotated Bibliography,  and the Communicating and Connecting My Innovation Plan document. 

The learning aspect of the work at the beginning of the program was challenging. I began the ADL program as my teaching school year was ending, and so things were very hectic for about two weeks. Balancing final exams, grading, and end-of-year duties with my new course load was difficult. I often read the assigned texts well into the early morning hours while still trying to get enough sleep to function at school the next day. I did not read everything in the assigned reading as well as I could have. There were times when I would skim the material looking for keywords and phrases, and using the foot and end notes to gain as much understanding as I could. I would estimate that I read about ninety percent of the readings that were assigned and now realize that may be the reason for the lower grades that my work received. I have met the course deadlines on time, even when I thought I would need more time during some family medical crises. I have attended all the class meetings for 5302 and 5305 participating in whole group, and breakout room discussions as much as possible. I think that I have evaluated my performance in this program to this point accurately. What has worked for me in this program thus far is the community of learners I have met in this program and will continue to work with for a long time to come.