August 2019

Every End has a New Beginning (Wrap Up)

This will be the end of my second masters class in Digital Learning and Leadership. In this course my learning was focused around creating an ePortfolio. When beginning to work on this project it brought back memories of an early experience with portfolios. These were not an ePortfolio but it did have some similar ideas and components. It was an early attempt by our school district to do something beneficial for students and their futures. With that being said I had to look further into why I should use an ePortfolio.

An ePortfolio is more than what I had experienced in my early career. An ePortfolio began to really put the COVA model into perspective. The choices that I would need to make along the way would be mine. Yes, I asked for suggestions and tips along the way, but ultimately the choice was mine. One of the first decisions was should I stay with my platform. I had originally chose to create my ePortfolio in google sites. I was familiar with the platform and it was easier for me. Looking back it didn’t offer much in terms of a growth mindset. I had taken the easy route. Talking with Dr. Harapnuik started my journey with WordPress. After talking with him he put me at ease with starting a new platform. This is where I really started to struggle with WordPress. What seemed like easy tasks turned into hours of learning. Here is a list of my experiences that you can read about while creating my ePortfolio.

Starting with WordPress began a love hate relationship with this platform. Here I began to experiment with creativity. Slowly it began to come to form. The ownership of having an ePortfolio is a lot like owning a house. It also brings up a great question that Dr. Harapnuik brought up in class. Who owns the ePortfolio? At first glance the answer seems to be simple in nature. I do, right? Looking at the reading provided and the facts presented gave me a deeper understanding of ownership. In the last week of the class I wrote about Own your ePortfolio. By using the blog I was able to reflect and create a deeper sense of learning. Reflection is important in the learning process. It gives the learning not only a voice but a sense of ownership. The blog becomes an important tool for the student.

I look forward to what the future has in store. As the new school year approaches I look forward to modeling and demonstrating what I have learned. Students will get to experience what I have learned. I plan on incorporating the COVA model into my classroom. Finding Units that students can experience the COVA model is something that I am working on developing right now. It won’t be something that will be fully implemented this year. It will defiantly be something that will take some time. The ePortfolio is something that could benefit every student. In my “Marketing your self with an ePortfolio” I provide examples as to why all students should create an ePortfolio. I can’t wait to continue to explore the avenues of my own ePortfolio.

As an instructional coach in my district, I look forward to sharing with my teachers the impacts of an ePortfolio. Each year we have new teachers that come into our district. I could see how starting an ePortfolio could be beneficial to incoming teachers. As teachers begin to grow in our district the can showcase that learning and growth in their ePortfolio. Even though we would love to see all teachers stay with the district the truth is that they will not. So when they do leave they would have something to show future employers.

My ePortfolio has only begun to take shape. This may be the end of this class but this is only the beginning.

Photo by Sushobhan Badhai on Unsplash

Own your ePortfolio

In my master class we are asked to create an ePortfolio. In my previous post I discussed “Why an Eportfolio?“. In this post I will discuss my ownership of my ePortfolio. I first started out on google sites. I was most familiar with this platform but soon found out that I was limited in functionality and navigation. I won’t lie that I often time wish that I would have stayed with google sites. It was a familiar platform which I was very comfortable with.

So what does ownership look like. For me I wanted to make sure to check all the boxes that were presented for the class. Though I know that I can choose whatever I would like to put into my ePortfolio, I still feel that need to follow what the teachers have asked us to do. So parts of my ePortfolio may not be a true 100% ownership. As I read through my blogs. The blogs that I completed because of class expectations or suggestions probably fell short in some ways. I may not have had true ownership of my learning. The blogs that I had a deeper connection with really brought home the ideas of ownership. The blogs that I showed my struggles of developing an ePortfolio, had 100% ownership.

As I go forward in my adventure with my blog and ePortfolio, I want to make more 100% ownership connections. These connections give me a greater sense of accomplishment. So how are you developing ownership in your own life?

Past Blog Posts

Embedding in WordPress

20 Hour Practice

Reviewing ePortfolios

Over the last week I have been reviewing other ePortfolios. It is amazing to see the creativity and passion put into each ePortfolio. One of the key things that I have learned in viewing ePortfolios is that each one is different in their own way. Some are creative in their nature. You can really see the creative mindsets in each portfolio. Some are simplistic but still elegant.

Learning can be seen through each and every ePortfolio. One thing is clear that learn is different for each and everyone of us. Each person has gone through a different journey. The learning that has taken place has brought each person to a different place in their journey. Some have struggled with platform and functionality. Some have struggled like I have with wordpress. WordPress has been one of my biggest struggles with technology in the last few years. I would classify myself as a novice when it comes to creating a blog. Blogging has been something that I have had to work at.

I had put off sharing my ePortfolio because I have felt that it wasn’t there yet. What I came to realize was that it will never be perfect. I will continue to tweak and adjust my ePortfolio. It will never truly ever be done. The learning will continue to happen and I will continue to share as my journey continue.

20 hours of practice

Through this process of creating an ePortfolio I have spent hours of learning. Creating an ePortfolio hasn’t been easy. I have struggled to get to know the platform of wordpress. In some instances, I spent four to five hours at a time trying to learn how to create something in my ePortfolio. Earlier this week I saw a great video that could be useful for anyone that is trying to learn something new.

The video lays out Josh Kaufman’s ideas of how to be successful and learn new concepts. Here are the 5 steps to learning something new.

Establish what your goal is.
Deconstruct the skill.
Research
Remove barriers to practice.
Commit to 20 hours of practice.

Let’s take a look at each one of these steps in my process for creating an ePortfolio. Step one is establish what your goal is. My goal for my ePortfolio was to create something that would be functional for my educational journey through Lamar University. I also wanted it to be useful in my career as an Instructional Coach. I wanted my ePortfolio to be functional as well as eye appealing.

The second strategy is to deconstruct the skill. What skills are need for a successful ePortfolio? One skill needed is a basic functionality of your platform. I started out first by using google sites. I was familiar with this platform but didn’t care for the overall look that it was giving me. Another skill need is reflective practices. A portfolio should be reflective of who you are.

Research is the next step in the process. This is where I started my transition with my portfolio. I went looking for new ideas for my ePortfolio. I started looking into wordpress. My research started by following the tutorials, but then to watching youtube for helpful hints and tricks. When I have come across issues and problems youtube has been my saving grace.

Removing barriers to practice is probably on of the hardest things for me. When looking to practice I have found that my safe place is my office at school. Here I can remove my barriers. By removing barriers I have been able to have better quality practice time and learning. Removing items like family noises, T.V., and other distractions have been beneficial to my portfolio creation.

Committing to 20 hours of practice. This has been very beneficial to me feeling more comfortable with the wordpress platform. As I spend more and more time with this platform, I grow more efficient with my creation. With any goal you must set aside time to practice. It doesn’t have to be great practice but practice. Practicing can lead to to better understanding and better performance.

I know that as I continue to build and practice my skills with wordpress that my ePortfolio will manifest into something that I can be proud of. So for anyone that is trying to learn a new skill, all you need is 20 hours.

Marketing yourself with an ePortfolio.

I graduated college in 2005 from Buena Vista University. One of the requirements at that time was to create a portfolio full of my teaching pedagogy. For each of my teaching foundation classes I was required to write a paper that would go in my portfolio. The purpose of the portfolio was to help employers understand how I would be as an educator. So how many times did I pull my portfolio out to show all my hard work? In the few interviews that I had I never once used my portfolio.

In 2005 a resume was the first thing that an employer would see from me. I remember spending hour after hour trying to perfect my resume. I would place my resume in a folder and organize all my papers trying to make it neat and noticeable.

So does the same process still exist today? The sad thing is yes. I have sat in on several interviews and I have never seen an ePortfolio. One of the first things that we do as a team is to see your digital footprint. What is out there about you? What can I learn about you on the internet? A ePortfolio would be a great way for someone to create a digital resume that would be representative of who you are.

Students today should want to create an ePortfolio. It’s a great way to market themselves. Students have an opportunity to start marketing themselves before they are even ready to go out into the work place. Students can also use them to apply for scholarships and colleges. Not only should students be using them but teachers should be teaching students how to use them. Students need to be competitive in the future workforce. Students in the United States are no longer competing against only people in the United States but in a global market. Students need to be able to adapt to new ideas and creative ways of thinking. By creating an ePortfolio students can start marketing themselves before they ever send a resume.

Embedding in WordPress

Embedding a video or presentation should be easy right. Well for me it has been a major struggle today. I was working on embedding a google slide into my wordpress site today. Needless to say I was getting extremely frustrated. I went to youtube looking for answers. After watching four videos, I was no closer to accomplishing my goal of embedding a google slide. At this point the frustration level is very high. As I was about to give up and take a break. I stumbled across something. It seemed like every video I watched had a different view than I did. But I finally came across the right area. This is at the 30 minute mark.

Finally, I was able to embed a google slide. That led me to being able to embed a video from youtube. Like I did in this blog. The feeling that I had was one of accomplishment. I may have thrown my hands up in the air and yelled “FINALLY”. It felt amazing and that led me to think about how my students feel. How often do my students feel the way that I was feeling? How often do they run into road blocks just like I did. How many of my students give up before ever feeling that sense of accomplishment? I’m not going to lie that I was about at that point of breaking down. The feeling though was what made it all worth it. I want my students to have that same feeling.

Student to Teacher Relationships

As I met and talked with Dr. Harapnuik my professor. I really got that sense of teacher to student relationship. I started to think about how easy and comfortable he made me feel in just a short conversation. How important is that relationship? With school just around the corner. Students will be coming into the classrooms with new aspirations and anxieties. As soon as students start to come in the building you have an opportunity to start making those connections. Students will be in the classroom with teachers for 180 days. That means 1260 hours over the course of a school year. Needless to say that relationship is very important.

Students that have strong relationships with their teachers create several benefits. Teachers tend to see higher student academic engagement, attendance, grades, fewer disruptions, and lower school dropouts (Sparks, 2019). I think that we can agree that we want all of these things. Teaching the content isn’t the only thing that you need to be good at. One might say that building relationships is more important than knowing the content. Any new teacher coming into my district, I would stress the importance of relationships. Get to know your students. What are their likes and dislikes? What activities are they involved in? This investment from you will payback ten fold. So take the time in the first week or two to get to know your students. Start to build those relationships.

Resources

Sparks, S. D. (2019, March 13). Why Teacher-Student Relationships Matter. Retrieved August 3, 2019, from https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2019/03/13/why-teacher-student-relationships-matter.html