“Never forget to remain a student while you teach others.” – Jerry Cortsen
I am a lifelong learner and rarely turn down an opportunity to learn something new. So when I had the opportunity to attend a coding and creativity academy in Houston, Texas I jumped at the chance! I was a little surprised when they told us that we would be building an app prototype by the end of the week. Imagine the thoughts going through my head! This opportunity was the beginning of a 2 year journey with some of the most inspirational and dedicated educators I have ever learned alongside.
While at the academy we were asked to reflect on our learning philosophy and what it means to have a growth mindset. Never before had I truly thought about my philosophy and I have been teaching for 26 years!
One of the highs of my learning process was being introduced to COVA and CSLE by Dr. Harapnuik and Dr. Thibodeaux from Lamar University. The COVA Model allows students Choice, Ownership, and Voice, through Authentic learning experiences and CSLE refers to Creating Significant Learning Environments for our students. These acronyms are learner centered approaches to teaching and learning.
One of the lows of my learning process was writing a literature review, though I am happy to say that I survived the experience and am better for it! It caused me to dig deep into the CoSN/Horizon Reports, something I had never done before. Previously, I had referred to my personal learning network for information about incorporating the use of Makerspaces into instruction.
My innovation plan was titled #LibrariansLead and I created a pitch to get librarians excited about the idea of incorporating STEAM activities into library programming. I presented this idea to my supervisor with a timeline. She approved the idea and I Creating an Action Research Plan helped me to determine if my ideas were worth trying.
Knowing that I wanted to teach librarians how to incorporate STEAM into library instruction, I created a professional learning plan and a call to action for my idea centered around Pineapple Professional Learning. As I continued my studies with Lamar University, our country was faced with a pandemic due to the COVID-19 virus. Our district shifted to online learning and my innovation plans were put on hold. I wrote about it here in my post called The Great Pause.
As my coursework with Lamar continued, I was excited to take a course centered on instructional design and online learning. It couldn’t have come at a better time and I LOVED it! This was my favorite course! I created a course for the librarians in my district titled Library 101. Sadly, I cannot link it here because it has disappeared from my dashboard and all requests for help have gone unanswered. You can see how I began to plan out the course by identifying my BIG HAIRY AUDACIOUS GOAL. Then, I built my online course using a free version of Canvas. This will be extremely helpful as I transfer the information I learned into creating a course on my district’s learning management system, Schoology.
What worked? My planning, thoughtful course design, professional development plan, and innovation pitches all have great potential. My innovation plan has been moved to begin in the 2021-2022 school year and I am excited!
What could you do better? I felt that I could have made my ePortfolio appear to be more academic and streamlined. So…I recreated it over the last week! I thought about the layout and the way I wanted to present the information and have worked to change it around. I am very pleased!
I have learned that I am still capable of doing great things and affecting change in my organization. I learned about the Six Sources Strategy Matrix, how to identify vital behaviors, and the importance of personal, social, and structural motivation.
Now, I am having conversations with my new library coordinator about how to progress with my innovation plan in the upcoming school year. I have shared my ideas and we are looking forward to planning throughout the summer.
What’s next? The last year has brought about many changes. I have a new boss and my department has merged with the instructional technology department. Though I will implement my innovation plan, there will be a couple of changes. All librarians will be invited to participate, not just the librarians who are new to our district, and librarians who choose to participate will be asked to share what they learn with other librarians at our days set aside for district wide professional learning opportunities. I look forward to moving ahead with this idea and hope librarians will find it beneficial for engaging their students in meaningful ways!