Contribution to my Learning in EDLD 5302

Another class has ended in my program and it is time to reflect. During this class we learned about growth mindset, evaluated how we learn, and discussed learning networks. I found my participation in this class to be more of a struggle for me than in my previous class. Part of that was due to having longer hours at work which caused me to continually push back working on my discussions and my assignments. I am also trying to get used to not having due dates for the discussion posts. My previous online degree programs had due dates for the discussion posts which forced me to complete them in a timely manner. However, I do enjoy how the discussion posts seem more as a discussion and less of just another thing to do, but I clearly need to make my own due dates for these posts so I can stay on track easier. Another reason I believe I struggle with the discussion posts is that I’m used to working alone. I am the only person in my district that does the job that I do and when I was a classroom teacher I was the only one that taught in that particular classroom setup. I’m used to working alone. The irony is that sometimes I struggle with being the only one at work and then when I have an opportunity to work with others (like in this program) I struggle with how to do that. I have realized it is an issue, now I must work harder to get past it.

I was able to have the same group that I had in my last class consisting of Shannon Bowles, Shay McDonald, Rebecca Rodgers, and myself. We formed this group in our first class in the program and it was nice to have that working relationship when we entered into this class. We have a Facebook Messenger Group that we collaborate on regularly and it is nice to have that place to go when I need help with something and to help them out. We did meet via Zoom when our schedules permitted so we could discuss assignments and other issues at once.

While I did struggle with keeping up with discussion posts and not putting off assignments until the last minute, I did complete all assigned tasks in this class. However, I did not reply to discussion posts as much as I would have expected myself to. I will add this to my list of things to make deadlines for in my future classes.

I particularly enjoyed learning more about growth mindset and will continue to study this topic. I have learned that while I mostly have a growth mindset in my life, I struggle with having a fixed mindset in my job at times. I have a lot of ideas on what to do in the role that I am in as it is new and can be molded in many ways, but I get in my own head and stop myself before I work on those ideas. I have learned that I can’t expect my teachers to have a growth mindset if I continue to have a fixed one. That realization alone has been a big thing for me to grasp and start to process.

The most valuable lesson that I’ve learned in this program so far is that it is up to me on how much I get out of this. I can just do the work and answer the questions to get the grade and the degree, or I can really put everything I have into it and get much more than just that. I will admit that I have done both of these things in this program at different times. Sometimes I am all in and putting in much more than I need in order to just get a grade. Other times I am doing the bare minimum. This is another one of those things that while I am aware of it, I need to work harder to make it more consistent so that I get everything I can out of this program.

In my reflection of this course, I have given myself a lower grade than I did in my previous class because I know I could have done better. The grade is not posted in this blog, but is posted in my assignment submission. I will take this lower grade realization and make sure I do better next time by assigning myself more due dates and spreading out my participation in discussions.