The Journey So Far - a look back to move forward

The first step of this journey happened almost by accident. I had been a sporadic twitter user, an early adopter of new technology (in my school, certainly not the world), interested in teaching and learning theories and a professional development junkie. I had followed Glasser and Claxton. I had heard about inquiry and 21st century competencies from Kath Murdoch and Tony Ryan (among many others). I realised that as incredible and inspirational as all this was, it was the connections and conversations with 'people on the ground' that really helped turn information into practice.

When the opportunity to enrol on Mindlab's Certificate of Applied Practice: Digital and Collaborative (themindlab.com) course first came up I read through the information and decided it sounded a bit too much like hard work! However, the idea lingered. I revisited the website and by then I had met someone who had previously done the course. While home from school with tonsillitis I found myself signing up! Blame the antibiotics but it was a decision I am glad I made. While it has been very hard work at times (literature review anyone?), the collaborative nature of the course and the class has been impactful in my teaching.

In the early weeks of the course we had to comment on the key competencies as they related to us and our teaching practice. I deemed my strengths to be thinking, relating to others, participating and contributing. Two areas I committed to develop through the course were thinking and managing self. 

Thinking aka making connections has been a huge part of my challenge and enjoyment through the course. There were times when discussions, readings or videos would intersect with classroom experiences and professional learning happening through my school. In these moments I felt validated when a hunch was given substance or a challenge given acceptance. I often find myself thinking how my students must feel in similar circumstances and how important the opportunities to speak and be heard are.

Given I have just submitted an assignment due early December, managing self seems an apt competency for me to work on!

 
Reflecting on the reasons that I procrastinate (I usually have a plan and I usually follow through, eventually).  1.  I'm scared of failure and embarrassment.  2.  I'm not sure what to do (then refer to 1).  Knowing there is a model to borrow or template to use makes any task less daunting.  Having your thoughts and opinions valued by others (even when they disagree) is also encouraging.  The Mindlab class provided both of these crutches.

In my classroom these experiences have translated into a more scaffolded approach to tasks where a model (or shared experience) is discussed without judgement or agenda as a prequel to the learning activity. Learning has become more about the process (we talk about 'growth mindsets') than the end product. In his latest blog post George Couros (http://georgecouros.ca/blog) has a great diagram showing the messiness of learning, how it is not linear but derives from making connections from multiple inputs.  Understanding the process and minimising the 'risks' of learning has become a big part of my classroom practice.  Using 'talk moves' students to contribute and value multiple viewpoints which we synthesise into a shared understanding.

From our shared understanding we can all move forward.