Aim to Be Awesome, Not Perfect

So in the midst of all the #socialdistancing, my graduate school classes continue.  Actually, it has been a welcome break to have something to focus on.  This week's discussion board topic - ownership of an e-Portfolio.  When I became a Google Trainer, someone I met said to create any training materials in my personal Google account, not my school (work) account.  When I asked why, she said that when created under district accounts and with district property, that the materials technically belong to the district and if I leave, the materials can not necessarily follow.  It definitely gave me pause.. but I fully admit I still create mostly in my school account, since it is part of my job to support district staff.  But it has me thinking... does this idea applies to the idea of student e-portfolios as well?  If students spend all this time creating something about their school learning, and using a school domain and...

One of the readings for my EDLD 5303 class is a site about Reflection for Learning .  I have found it to be a very useful site, one that I could refer to a lot when sharing ideas about e-portfolios. For example, the site has suggestions and examples of reflection with students, including sentence stems and bridging questions  to get students thinking, which I think is really useful. The author of Reflection of Learning references a book called "The Portfolio as a Learning Strategy" (Porter and Cleland, 1995), and includes this quote - "... in the power of reflection that helped us move beyond seeing about portfolio as a mere alternative to traditional assessment to appreciating its value as a learning strategy.  In this capacity, portfolios become vehicles for reflection in which learners examine where they have been, where they are now, how they got there, and where they need to go next." (p.34) This really got me thinking - is a portfolio a product? A strategy...

At the end of my first digital learning class in my Masters Program, we were asked to create our e-portfolio.  Since I already have my own site, since I am a Google Trainer, the assignment was pretty easy. I just had to add the class assignments, and turn it in.  Done! Easy Breezy! Got an A and moved on. Now, here in the second class, EDLD 5303, we have been asked to further add to the e-portfolio, especially using it as more than a digital container, but really as a place for reflection on our learning and for meta-cognition.  As I was reading the articles about e-portfolios, this quote stuck with me - “students are given the opportunity to move beyond dropping assignments into a digital container and are encouraged to start to consider and show how they plan to use technology to enhance their own learning and their learning environments.” My website, up until the start of this class, really was just a digital container for me to showcase my creations. Since starting...

As I shared in my previous post, I have gone back to school to get my Master's degree and I am finishing up my class on Educational Technology Concepts.  I was asked the question below.. and it got me thinking... How do I see the growth mindset, failing forward strategies, and the COVA Model impacting my learning as I continue in the program?     A few years ago, when I was a math teacher, I wanted to incorporate more technology into my classes, in order to make them more engaging and fun. No one on my campus was really using technology, so I turned to social media to find ways to reach my goals. My research led to many failures, but a few successes kept me going. During that period, I really learned how to embrace a growth mindset for my sake and the sake of my students.  None of us really enjoyed me being a "sage on the stage" for most of the class period.  When I would try something new, sometimes it worked - like Kahoot for review games or personalized...