The Amazing Road of The Applied Digital Learning (ADL) Program
In the school year of 2022-2023, I had amazing mentors who led me through my first year of teaching. These mentors were attending Lamar University for their master's degree in Educational Leadership. One specifically had a high impact on my life in high school, and I was led back to teaching with her that school year. I always knew that I wanted to get my master's degree, but did not want to get it in special education because I already knew that topic with a bachelor's in the area. I wanted to expand my education knowledge on something new that would allow me to become a better and more experienced educator. This landed me at Lamar University where my mentors were attending, but in the Applied Digital Learning (ADL) Program. During this time, I had my family, friends, and significant others by my side cheering me on. On the other hand, administrators and educators advised me to wait to start when I had more experience teaching. I did not let any of these voices stop me, and I was on my way to having my bachelors in just a short time.
Within the first few weeks of the program, I viewed the difference in mindsets, started my ePortfolio, dived into an innovation project, and most importantly and beneficially built a collaboration group. The journey would have been impossible without the amazing people that I got to work with and collaborate with daily, weekly, and monthly. The journey would have not been possible without the professors and peers, who contributed and participated in the learning process within this last year. The feeling of community, trust, and the genuine learning environment that the peers and professors laid out was the first step in practicing the teaching of a significant learning environment. We all had students first in our minds who helped drive our learning philosophy,learning manifestos, and our whys.
Throughout my journey in the ADL Program, there have been several highs and several lows. As I progressed through the program, I went through the hardest part of my life with many transitions, life obstacles, and changes. The growth of my mindset was challenged, but I continued to adapt and make changes that were needed for my innovation project to continue growing my mindset and using my constant reminders on how to use my growth mindset. Despite this, the program has allowed me to plant many seeds as an individual who was personally affected by special education programming, an advocate for individuals with disabilities, an active learner, and an educator for all learners. This can include having the techniques and skills how to approach the crucial conversations that may take place while planting these seeds. As I continued the program, I gained more knowledge through action research, professional development, and course development. The program has also allowed me to add many books, videos, and other resources to my educator toolbox. Some of these include new knowledge of different designs, models, and learning strategies that can be used for feature use.
Currently, I am a paraprofessional, where I practice the choice, ownership, and voice learning approach (COVA) with my one-on-one student’s authentic learning experience. He is given the choice to choose the manipulatives, objects, and other resources that he would like to use to show his different authentic learning throughout the day. This student does not enjoy writing, and I have incorporated some gamification techniques through our daily interactions in writing tasks. With my current innovation plan, I have not been able to find reliable and valid data on this topic due to one main reason. This student loves games, and he is the only student that I have been able to do this type of activity with. I would need a wider variety of students to prove the data reliable and valid. Moving forward, I must expect the unexpected and have a growth mindset. I plan to continue to trial and error my ideas for the success and positive learning of all individuals in academics and life with a growth mindset in every environment and circumstance.
