Never did I think I would have grown this much as a person from a graduate program. I find it mind blowing that making that statement makes me cringe, now. I think, “What do you mean you didn't think you would grow as a person? What do you mean you’re surprised you’re actually learning something? What do you mean you’ve never experienced something like this?” I’m applying and learning skills that I believe we should all have and experience. I’m excited to be able to begin sharing these new skills with my own students. 

My growth mindset plan is not only a newly acquired plan, but a lifestyle. I am applying this to every aspect of my life. I remember the beginning of this school year was rough...to say the least. I now look back and realize if I would’ve changed my perspective and my fixed mindset, I would have started out the year completely different. I’m now using my growth mindset to determine how I view my future success in this program. I’m able to comfortably say, “Yes, this is going to be hard, but I can do it. I may not know what lies ahead, but I will learn something from both my successes and failures.” In the coming school year, I plan to push a growth mindset hard in my classroom. My kiddos may not realize how powerful words are, but with the power of yet they will see that anything is possible. 

Of all the strategies I have obtained thus far, I think failing forward has been the toughest, with feed forward in close second. Like a lot of us, I grew up thinking failing was a terrible thing. I believed it was a sign of weakness. I dreaded and feared failure. Now, I have failed many times, but I wasn’t able to see past the failure...until now. I can see now that failing forward means I have learned somewhere. My “failures” now have a purpose and they truly make me a better person. I’m still working on the immediate shutdown that I feel when I know I’m going to receive feed forward, but with my growth mindset I have no doubt that I can defeat this.

The COVA learning approach not online impacts my learning, but my teaching. I have quickly realized where I am not meeting my students needs and implementing COVA into my classroom will help them become all around better people. My learning manifesto shows that I believe in creating environments for my students to take ownership of their own learning. Doing this gives them something to care about and strive for. COVA with my own learning hasn’t been as comfortable. This approach is a retraining of the brain that is a daily task. I say that often because I keep thinking that it might one day “click” and it won’t feel as uncomfortable anymore. I absolutely believe that will be the case because being involved in this type of environment is not something that can be faked nor halfway done. This authentic learning environment requires me to take ownership of my own learning and finding my own voice in the process.

Collaboration and teamwork are a part of a teacher's everyday world. We grow together through different communities and networks that share in our same beliefs and passions. My professional learning networks continue to help me grow and become a better teacher, leader and learner. Although I have been a part of most of these communities for some time, this program has allowed me to become a part of a group that has helped me grow in so many ways.