Growth & Choice

What is my "why"? ​
When I interpret the “why” I always relate it to passion or drive or motivation. (Sinek, 2009) What motivates you or what are you passionate about?  At an early age, this was intimidating for me, because I never felt like I knew what my why was.  I was just bumbling around life moving towards things I was good at, math and science. I spent time consumed by what I was supposed to achieve and not what I was supposed to be doing.  This did not sit well with me in my twenties, working in a meaningless corporate job, and so I went back to school to pursue teaching.  It would have been a much easier path had I pursued a teaching career earlier on, instead of working full time while completing an alternative certification.  However, if I would have taken a more direct route, I don’t think I would have had the needed skills and life lessons to be a teacher and I would have taken being a teacher for granted. 

My first years after college were spent working as a counselor at a wilderness camp for adolescents, most were court ordered.  The camps teaching was directly related to Glasser’s five needs; survival, love, power, freedom, and fun.  (WGI, 2017) Learning these ideas and having more of understanding why we do what we do, taught me so much before I even entered the classroom.  I often refer to this model when I have a student that is struggling.  When I can understand their “why” I have more of a complete picture, and the tools necessary to teach them.
 
Using the COVA Model
Having choice has allowed me to be more creative. I have done a less traditional route with embedding videos and presentations into my blog instead of just writing papers.  Having an opportunity to use whatever website building tool has been refreshing.  I have really liked the ease of using Weebly, and plan to upgrade at some point.  Since I had complete choice creating my ePortfolio it naturally makes me feel ownership, because I got complete control from start to finish. 
 
Creating the ePortoflio has set a good foundation for being a life-long learner.  I had been accustomed in the past to just learn through local collaboration and training.  I plan to continue posting resources and information so that I can become not just a consumer, but someone that creates to share with others.
 
What I have learned from the DLL program 
Learning and applying the growth mindset has been a valuable resource.  Going into this program was a high sense of anxiety and just being able to remind myself that if I continue this program with the growth mindset, I will be able to come out on the other side. Remembering that sometimes we have to fail in order to be successful.   Johnny Cash says it best, “You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don't try to forget the mistakes, but you don't dwell on it. You don't let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.”  (Cash, Febuary) We can’t live without failure.  Failure is just part of the journey, not the stopping point.

The COVA model has made an impact on me as well.  (Thibodeaux, 2016)I have started to implement more of a choice for my students and have gotten great positive feedback.  The students felt uncomfortable at first, especially students that attempt to do the least amount of work to get the highest grade.  However, it’s been powerful to watch students that are work resistant to take ownership of the assignment, because they were given options.  I have a dyslexic student who wrote more on that one assignment then he had written all semester. That made the whole assignment worth doing!

References: Cash, J. (Febuary, 17 2017). Brainy Quote. Retrieved from https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/johnnycash188009.html?src=t_failure

Dweck, C. S. (2008). Mindset:the new psychology of sucess. New York: Ballantine Books.

Sinek, S. (2009, 9 28). TedEx. Retrieved from Start with why - how great leaders inspire action: https://youtu.be/u4ZoJKF_VuA

​Thibodeaux, T. (2016). ePortfolio Learning: COVA Literature Review.
WGI. (2017). William Glasser Institute. Retrieved from http://www.wglasser.com/