Throughout this course, I would say it has been one of the courses that I probably think will be the most memorable and to me. I did not think that I could finish it successfully. As a Para, I felt I was not smart enough to sit down, research, do assignments, among many other things. I didn’t have the best attitude towards the course. Upon starting the course and doing a couple of tasks. I became very excited, and I enjoyed the course so much and the experience that came with it, like making new friends. Not only have I acquired information about how to better students' lives, but I have also acquired skills in using technology which is the modern norm.
With the course having reading and functional assignments like COVA, E-portfolio, and innovation proposal, the course has had a significant impact because I have learned how to relate all work, and I have come out with so many skills. The COVA learning approach gives guidelines on how to help a learner grow, which will be very efficient and effective as I work with my students and allow them to be authentic in their work. Additionally, when I learned that I was supposed to create an e-portfolio, I began seeing it as necessary with the task I was supposed to do further. I am continuing to rework my Literacy Review based on the feedback and have added more detail. Honestly, I’m beyond excited that I decided to take this course, and I am so excited for the upcoming ones. I could easily connect it “well it may not be as easy to me, but I’ll figure it out”.
On that note, I cannot help but be grateful to my group members who have been part of this journey and have made it more accessible, more beneficial to all, and fun. Ms. Elda is an angel, and I couldn’t appreciate her enough. Ms. Elda has encouraged and pushed the group in so many ways and I must say she helped me tremendously on the Implementation Outline to add more focus toward the learning environment. James is simply amazing, and he is a leader I’m glad I connected with. The other ladies are so awesome, and we all make an incredible team. I’m inspired! The e-portfolios have been very helpful, and they are the ones that helped form this group because we realized some had similar portfolios and we could empower each other, and some were just getting started. We all made sure that no one missed a beat. We have helped reach others, and my doing well in this course was contributed by their effort and continuous support to help me prepare to get through and finish a project sometimes, even before time. I was so frustrated when I had to redo my proposal “5 times to be exact”. My team came together to look over my proposal “talking about helpful”. We have been an encouraging inspiration to each other, and even though we have never physically met, we have impacted each other’s lives. After completing my first two courses in the program, I have discovered so much. I’ve learned how disruptive innovation can be the center of change in the educational world. I learned do much about blended learning and that the students have a voice and a choice. I was so enthused to learn more about the blended learning model because I know I can create opportunities where students can learn using technology, groups, project learning and having a choice in their learning all at the same time.
I have been putting so much effort towards me developing my knowledge and skills as a self-director in this program. The first two courses taught me to not be so hard on myself and have room for growth “Dr. H. has his way of reminding us of this daily”. I will focus on regrouping and changing some things around so I can be a better me in school and at home. I can say that my attitude has changed drastically because in the beginning I didn’t know what I was getting myself into with these courses and now I’m ready to tackle the next challenge.
The instructor has always played a key role in helping me learn and become diverse, and his advice on doing blended learning and researching more about it has been impactful to me, and I'm sure it will be to the students. Blended learning is a great idea that I have never heard or thought about before, and the course textbook helped me a great deal in reading more understanding better and have good insight when writing my discussion board to help them grow and be more effective. Additionally, the feed-forward mechanism also has excellent insights on how to deal with students' discussion boards has helped me give my feedback and idea to other people’s opinions in a free and constructive manner.
I have completed my grad-school course, and I am so excited for all the new skills and insights I have gained, and I cannot wait to apply them in my teaching skills. I have learned a new discipline that I did not have about keeping time. I was able to work well with my group members online and complete assignments even before time. The course has crested a fire and zeal in me to try and further my education and acquire more knowledge.
I feel confident that I contributed to my learning community, I provide my support when needed and my assignments were submitted in a timely manner so my team could look over it and provide feedback before I submitted to Dr. H and Dr. Sue. I really didn’t take the leadership role in my community, but I am grateful for the one’s who did. I was clueless when I attended the first meeting which were held on Tuedays. We met for an hour each week in Teams where James Herwig created and discussed assignments and provided feedback and we supported each other. Ms. Elda focused on completing her assignments early so that she could share, explain, and receive feedback from the group. “How awesome was that”? Erika Montroy took attendance each week and the rest of us filled in the missing gaps. We work well together throughout these pass 8 weeks and I’m forever grateful for the connection.
My team members are,
1. Elda Aguilar- Mancha
2. James Herwig
3. Erika Montroy
4. Maria Carrasco
5. Eddericka King
6. Monika Wiggins
I must say that I listened to Dr. Harapnuik’s advice and suggestions. I wasn’t offended at all because he made the feedback and feedforward motivating and encouraging. Overall, our group worked cohesively and supported each other throughout the course. I had to revise an assignment five times, but it was a learning process. I participated in all aspects of the course in a timely manner and contributed to all discussions.
I have completed all my assignments for this first half of the semester, and I’ve started on my EPortfolio.
After evaluating my reflections, I feel that It’s fair to give myself a score of 43/50. Moving forward, my expectation is greater and there will be ways to hold each other accountable even more to get the job done. I can also improve on the depth of my responses to others’ discussion post. I am excited to have been a part of such an amazing group and we’ve decided to stay together throughout the remainder program.
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