Contribution to my Learning and the Learning Community
By: Veronica Balli
EDLD 5302: Concepts of Educational Technology 93/100
EDLD 5304: Leading Organizational Change 93/100
My learning is leading to change
As the 1st Spring semester comes to a close, I am proud of the learner I am evolving into. I knew my WHY when I decided to pursue a Masters’s in Applied Digital Technology, but now I can pursue the HOW and WHAT. Looking back at my first semester, I became an empowered learner. This semester I become connected and prepared to assist in leading our Innovation plan.
I was motivated to pursue my Masters’s degree after 18 years as an elementary educator. I began second-guessing if I was still as passionate and effective as an educator. There was never a doubt I would continue in education but I needed to form a new path. When Covid disrupted the way school looked and how students were learning with the assistance of technology, I knew I needed to challenge myself and reignite my own passion for learning. I believe teaching and learning can not be stagnant. If I was going to continue advocating for lifelong learning expectations with my students, I needed to walk the walk. My ultimate goal has always been equitable learning for all students. Since starting the ADL program, I believe I am on track with the correct resources and tools to successfully achieve my goal.
Reflection on 5302 and 5304
My Tuesdays are dedicated to my son and his extracurricular activities, so continuing with the 8-week Accelerated ADL program was not an easy decision, but I am glad I decided to pursue 5302: Concepts of Educational Technology and 5304: Leading Organizational Change combined. I was not able to attend all live classes, but I made sure to view all recordings and meet with my colleagues to discuss weekly topics and campfire topics. I made sure all assignments were turned in on time and I reflected on the feedforward provided, and assignments were revised. This semester guided my self-growth and the beginning process of diving into what my beliefs are when it comes to education.
5304: Concepts of Organizational Change:
Leading Organizational Change empowered me to move from believing I can make a difference to being one part of a group moving towards making the difference. This semester our collaborative team was tasked to revisit our Innovation Project: Blended Learning: Personalizing the Future of Education and begin researching ways to be the influencers of change. Our first assignment had us reflect and dig deep into understanding our WHY and then identifying the HOW and WHAT. Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change by Joseph Grenny (2013) equipped us with six sources to assist us in creating an Influencer Model. This model served as our strategic plan to guide our motivation and ability. In order to influence the change we want to see, we must be clear in desired results. The Four Disciplines of Execution (4DX), gave us the tools to revise and update our Implementation Outline and Innovation Plan. We created a 4DX strategy with realistic expectations and set WIGs along with targeted LAGs and LEAD measures. Our last goal when moving forth is preparing for the crucial conversations with our leaders and organization. As we begin to lead our blended learning initiative we must stay connected to our goal and team without losing sight of our WHY and goal.
5302: Concepts of Educational Technology
Concepts of Educational Technology taught me not only to teach my students about Growth Mindset but how to apply it professionally and in life. We began by creating a Growth Mindset Plan with our organization and plan in mind. We must be able to instill growth in our organization if we want to promote a positive and influential change. One assignment was creating my Learning Manifesto. It was a challenge to speak about myself, but this
allowed me to truly understand who I am and what I believe in when it comes to education and my profession. As I move forward in my profession and in the program I am invested in learning more about Professional Learning Networks. The PLNs I currently reference have helped me with ideas and up-to-date resources for classroom instruction.
On to the now ever changing e-Porfolio. As I continue to reflect and revise my e-Portfolio using WIX, one major hurdle I overcame was when I switched from WIX ADI to WIX Editor. The first time I attempted to make the switch, I was overwhelmed and my colleague, Erika, directed me to what I needed. I am still not an expert, but I am learning the platform. My e-portfolio continues to be a work in progress, I find myself being more intentional with the content I include. I do remember having a fixed mindset when first presented with creating an e-Portfolio, now I appreciate I have a personal digital space that captures who I am and my beliefs in education.
Collaboration and BLIT
The collaborative cohort on GroupMe continues to be a solid foundation for assistance and clarification. Everyone is extremely helpful and supportive. I am a part of a core collaborative group that consists of Erika Peña and Ileana Reyna, who are also my coworkers at Victor Fields Elementary. After Dr. Harapnuik allowed us to pursue our plan as a collaborative team, I can say the respect, creativity, passion, and group cohesiveness is phenomenal. We have now formed our team name, Blended Learning Implementation Team (BLIT). Our group, in my opinion, is a dynamic blend of all the ADL is teaching us. We are invested in creating an equitable learning environment for our students, share the same goal and passion for our campus. Together we make a cohesive and synergistic team.
What’s next
As I begin to prepare for my 3rd block in Graduate school, I began researching the 3 column table and I'm ecstatic to see what unflods. I am not done transforming, YET, so a couple of things I want to work on next semester is reaching out more to different groups with similar plans, intentional blogging, and including personal work in my e-Portfolio. The disruption within me continues and the more I reflect on lessons, classroom culture and the environment students are currently working in, I am certain our students will benefit from choice, ownership, voice and through authentic learning opportunities and in a blended learning environment. We must effectively influence behaviors and cause change for our students because all students deserve an equitable learning environment.
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