This post reflects my learning and my contributions to my learning community for ADL 5313. As I reflect on my time in this course, my self-assessment is as follows: 5313 Creating Significant Learning Environments: 96/100
My contribution to learning communities has been mainly via my support/accountability group. Our group first formed in August 2023, as we dipped our toes into initial ePortfolios and explored the power of mindsets. My collaborative group for both 5303 and 5313 includes myself, Lauren Blasdel, Mattheiu Brooks, Shaneigh Smith, and Lance Moran. I was blessed with a fabulous group and told them so during the recent Thankgiving holiday. To work alongside like-minded classmates-turned-friends has been phenomenal.
I felt our confidence grow in this 2nd session of classes. We are very comfortable with the flow of our classes and meetings and understand Blackboard features in a more assured way. We collaborate in both a GroupMe group and this shared Google file. Our group met weekly prior to our Monday class or Wednesdays after class, depending on schedules and availability for each week. These meetings helped us solidify understanding for upcoming projects, discuss ideas, and clarify expectations. This round, Mattheiu stepped up and created our shared doc that outlined all assignments and discussion posts. We cheered each other on and helped with revisions, ideas, tech questions, ePortfolio angst, and overall used this space to keep track of, and share, our in-progress and completed assignments and discussion posts. Matt even shared that he'd reformatted his ePortfolio after studying mine. He is so creative and tech saavy~it made me feel good to have been a bit of help to him.
The way "group work" works in our ADL program is so vital to success in this program. While our projects are our individual, authentic work and effort, it's so nice to have peers "in the trenches" who understand the program's demands, deadlines, and expectation. We have shared early edits, revisions, final projects, and celebrations on a job well done. I recently shared two issues on my ePortfolio: 1.) My inabiltiy to add pdfs to my posts and 2.) my difficulty in creating dropdowns or accordian views on my main menu. My whole group offered suggestions with Shaneigh even sending a video she found helpful from youtube. After much time spent with WIX support, I learned adding a pdf to a post was NOT possible, but I could add it to a page, so we figured out a workaround. Times like these make me beyond grateful for my group, and also for the emphasis on a growth mindset, and in this case, the learner's mindset and grit it takes to perservere through a stumbling block.
Building relationships has been such a fun, unnexpected, piece of the ADL program. I got to meet groupmate, Shaneigh Smith, at her office when working in her district. More recently we got to visit after presenting in neighboring classrooms as part of a district-wide PD event! Beyond my small group, I am a member of the Fall 2023 ADL Facebook Group and have had a chance to share pieces of my MEd journey with members of my direct team and leadership team at work. During this class session, I accepted a new position at work and the transition has been demanding.
This meant additional travel and events that prevented me from joining some Live classes. I was able to transfer quite a bit of knowledge, though, at my recent Leadership Retreat & Orientation in Miami. We ended Day 1 by watching Simon Sinek's viral Ted Talk (TEDx Talks, 2009b) and I was the only member of our group who'd seen this video and could apply it to our organization and teams. This was directly related to discussion board posts and virtual class discussions!
I do feel that I contribute well when in attendance, and always learn from discussions. I also greatly appreciate the ability to view recordings for missed classes, or review to gain further clarity on assignments. Overall, I'm excited for what we've learned and accomplished in ADL 5313. I look forward to what's to come in our program in 2024. And I look forward to continuing to grow with my wonderful classmates and groupmates. TEDx Talks. (2009b, September 29). Start with why -- how great leaders inspire action | Simon Sinek | TEDxPugetSound [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ZoJKF_VuA
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