Growing and Learning through Music and Technology
As my first course or graduate school comes to an end, I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have gained. I have been a teacher for close to 16 years. I preach perseverance to my learners on a daily basis. I tell them all the time not to give up, that if something doesn't come easily to try and try again. But as much as a repeated those phrases to my students, I did not apply it to myself.
I love to learn! I am always searching for new games, new websites, or new techniques. As much as I'd want to try these new ideas in my classroom, a fear of failure or judgement from my colleagues, always seemed to get in the way. I never understood why. Reading Carol Dwek's book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, and the discussions with my classmates, were an eye opening experience. I had heard about having a growth mindset, in fact I sat through a full day of professional development on the topic. It was easy to see the benefit for my learners, but now I was looking deeper into my own learning and teaching.
The presentation below is a good reflection about growth mindset and how I feel it impacts my classroom and my life.
The next step to conquer for me is giving my learners more choice in the classroom. This course gave a great introduction in forcing me to make those choices for myself. We were introduced to the COVA model.
C - Choose
O - Ownership
V - Voice
A - Authentic
Image Source: Harapnuik, D., Thibodeaux, T., & Cummings, C. (2016.). COVA Learning Approach, DLL Program [Digital image]. Image Credit: Fontenot, S
The biggest challenge I can see in the COVA approach is knowing where to begin. I appreciate the freedom of choice and the gentle nudge in finding my own style of presenting information, but this approach is not how things were done as I came through school. Up until this point, anytime I had to do a presentation, I was told exactly what to do and how to do it. Sometimes this was limiting, but I always knew the expectations. With COVA, I am getting to make those decisions. That is exciting and liberating, but also a bit scary. The fixed mindset part of me comes into play a bit. "What if I choose the wrong style? What if my idea isn't as cool as the rest of the group?" Those thoughts can make starting projects and assignments quite stressful for me. I imagine some of my learners will have the same anxiety if I give them the same amount of choice.
However, COVA makes the work we do in this course, or with our learners, real. Having the freedom to choose what presentation style or subject is most appropriate for me, makes the work I do much more meaningful. We've all sat through meetings or classes and done what was asked of us, just to go back to our classrooms and totally forget what was just discussed. We went through the motions but did not connect to it. COVA puts the learning into our hands. We get to choose what we are passionate about and adapt the learning to what will work for each of us individually. As a music teacher, I especially appreciate this.
Using the COVA model, we were given the task of creating our Learning Manifesto. This assignment was a lot more difficult that I first thought it would be. I knew my passions, but putting them in writing was a challenge. I think my fixed mindset kept getting in the way, but I kept going. Here is what I came up with. I think it is a good reflection of my teaching history and plans for my learners both in music and eventually in digital learning.
I cannot way to see what the future brings. I will keep reminding myself that failure is only a stepping stone for success. My learners will benefit from my change in outlook and will truly understand that MOST highly successful people fail many, many times before they reach their goals. We might not have a skill down just yet, but with hard work and practice, we will get it.
Dweck, Carol S.. (2008) Mindset :the new psychology of success New York : Ballantine Books