My Contribution to Learning

The start of graduate school marks my first time being a student in 15 years. I honestly expected EDLD 5305 and 5302 to be similar to my undergraduate courses; lots of reading and lectures followed by lots of essays. While the pace and workload were not light, I feel a sense of purpose in this program that I did not frequently experience in classes I have taken before. I have truly enjoyed learning more deeply about growth mindset and experiencing what authentic learning feels like from a student’s perspective. In EDLD 5305, I worked with Kary Magloilo-Garnica, Jesse Dannin, Eboni Mitchel and Stefanie Vaughn. In EDLD 5302, I continued to work with Jesse, Eboni and Stefanie but also added Claudio Rios and Christopher Aebig to the group. For my overall assessment in EDLD 5302 and 5305, I mark myself a 44.5/50 points for EDLD 5305 and 89/100 for EDLD 5302.

Throughout the past eight weeks, I have met every key contribution factor while only falling short on one supporting contribution. My biggest strength throughout these courses was completing all readings and videos in order to be prepared for class discussions. I was terrified when I received an email before the semester started that I was expected to read Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools BEFORE our first class. But I woke up early and set aside time in the evening to completely finish the book before our first zoom class. As a result of a more fixed mindset growing up, I have a strong desire to complete every task by the set deadline, not necessarily for the sake of learning, but because that is how one earns an “A.” I also watched the assigned videos and readings before our zoom class in EDLD 5305, and consequently was able to participate in breakout room discussions at the beginning of each class. Following this strict deadline mindset, I was able to manage my time in order to complete and submit each assignment on time.

One of my favorite aspects of this program so far has been the clear and effective feedback. I truly feel like my assignments are important when I receive feedback explaining what I did well and what I can do to improve. While I read and thoroughly enjoyed Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, my growth mindset assignment missed the mark in terms of clarity of audience and purpose. I was really excited about my project and was disappointed after receiving a low grade, but after I reached out to Dr. Bedard for more feedback, I understood what I needed to add, and I made those changes in my project when I created my ePortfolio.

After a year of teaching most of my students remotely, I know how difficult it can be to build a strong learning community for online learners. I appreciated being forced into a small group because my tendency is to work, study and create by myself. There is a vulnerability to working and sharing with others that I struggle with as a teacher and student, but when collaboration is for a grade, it’s an effective way of getting me out of my shell and comfort zone. I attended every small group meeting that my groups held, and my biggest contribution to my small group was definitely my preparedness, organization and timely response to questions and comments. I enjoyed working with everyone in my group, and I truly got more out of both classes by being able to collaborate with them every week.

An area of growth for me would be my contribution to class discussions during zoom meetings and posting in the discussion boards with more research to support my thinking. As I stated above, I tend to shy away from sharing and as a result, speaking in a large zoom class is intimidating. There were several occasions in 5305 and 5302 zoom classes where I would have a question or a comment, but the act of unmuting and sharing with people I have not met, prevented me from joining and contributing to the discussion. I contributed to every breakout room discussion, but there’s something stopping me from sharing in the larger zoom class. I also need to work on writing discussion/blog posts with more depth and research. Most of my posts were just from my perspective and experience and did not dig into the research that supported my claims. After reading about growth mindset in 5302, I definitely think part of my hesitation to posting in the discussion boards and contributing during group zooms is due to a fear of judgment of sounding stupid. I overthink and rehearse everything before I share and that limits how I am able to contribute and collaborate with my classmates. In the next courses, I hope to combat my fixed mindset and contribute more in the zoom meeting while also putting more time into commenting and discussing my classmates’ posts on the discussion boards.