In my own life there have been times when challenges have come, and I clearly heard that negative thought that said you are not going to make it. For example, when I came to the United States, I faced the challenge of learning a new language. Without a doubt, it represented a wall of fear in me. In the process of this course, I have been learning how to develop great or powerful performance in life. Our brain changes depending on what we do and feel. We need to understand the type of mindset we have because this is the key to the power of accepting challenges and being open to saying: I can, I will, it won't be easy, but I will do my best.

 

I believe that success comes from hard work, ability, and effort, when I think about the contributions that this EDLD 5313 course has given me and how it has contributed to my life, my professional career, and my community; I can only say that it changed the way I live my life every day because I am still discovering skills that I have that I never thought I had in me.

 

One of the benefits I received from this course was that, as a student, I need to gain experiences and knowledge from others and share mine with them. Not only do my experiences count, but at the same time, as a teacher, I have learned that it is very important to create an optimal learning environment at each stage of educational life. In this course, I learned how to analyze and incorporate constructivist theories to create and implement meaningful digital learning environments in my classroom. Furthermore, I was able to understand how a shift towards a more holistic view of learning can lead to a change in learning environments. Additionally, the BHAG is a very important aspect to consider as it allows these learning objectives to establish the foundation for how the lessons or classes will be executed and establish the parameters for the course.

 

Another relevant point is that research has shown that incorporating feedforward or educational formative assessment will also help continue this change towards the student's mentality. The power of a growth mindset is powerful, and unique and should be shared with everyone. During our discussions on Dr. Kelly's CSLE topic, team members expressed various ideas and opinions about what constitutes the best learning environment for students. Although we had different perspectives, we were able to have rich conversations and prepare our work successfully while respecting each other's opinions. We had separate meetings to review and discuss the remaining articles of the two themes, each task was reviewed by the entire team and we supported each other in structuring them. This is my favorite part of our meetings: when we support each other to succeed and get things done on time. Fortunately, we achieved all this successfully, and we are very proud of it, we also used readings and discussion videos to support us in the preparation of our work, all the videos were accurate and useful as a tool to support our work.

 

Throughout the Blackboard discussions, I actively participated by publishing on the established dates and commenting on the publications of my Master's colleagues. Additionally, I published posts in my e-portfolio for each of the weekly topics covered in the two subjects. As I mentioned in previous paragraphs, the videos and readings provided were a great help in reflecting on each of the posts, and I made sure to use APA format in all my submissions.

 

The definition of experience may vary for everyone. At the beginning of this course, I noticed the importance of participating in the discussion about the topics of each evaluation. It was a valuable time when we could express our opinions, add some comments on blogs or simply read other colleagues' discussions on a topic. This brought to my attention how important it is to share our experiences with others because it is not enough to have skills to learn; without reflecting on these experiences, they may be quickly forgotten, or the learning potential may be lost.

 

I collaborated with other colleagues, Siary Rodriguez and Junuen Malagon, where we discussed the course topics and shared ideas that made this online learning experience more enjoyable and engaging. We also share resources and relevant articles. I also created communication through WhatsApp groups, Zoom, and email, with my colleagues, allowing us to grow more efficiently and use the appropriate keys to learn and work.  I feel that I contributed valuable to each work session in 5313 CSLE, and many times, I took on the role of "leader" as the first to speak or the group member who informed the larger group about what we discussed. I also helped build and provided feedback and progress to my core collaborative group.

 

I accepted and appreciated feedback and revisions from my instructors and peers on all course assignments and incorporated this feedback into my assignments. While most of the corrections needed in my case were minor, this was a personal improvement because I used to have a fixed mindset regarding receiving feedback.

 

 

The EDLD 5313 course taught me about the CSLE approaches. I completed all the required readings and videos for this course, but I missed some live sessions. I also watched the recording session and contacted my colleagues if I had any questions. At this point, I will determine the numerical score of the self-assessment; this is my first master's degree in education. However, I am trying to do the best I can and will continue to improve in those areas where necessary. I consider that I have EDLD 5313 90 out of 100, but for the next courses, I want to improve my grades. This grade reflection is based on the fact that all key contributions were met, I provided feedback to the collaboration group, I reviewed all assignments, and I completed all course readings, videos, and course activities indicated in the calendar.

 

Every day is an opportunity to apply the knowledge I have acquired in these courses at Lamar University. The power of “YET” is a reminder that things may seem difficult at first but with effort and perseverance I can achieve my goals.

 

I am deeply grateful to my colleagues for supporting me on this adventurous journey. The purpose of our team was to achieve our goal together.

 

Team Members:

Siary Rodriguez

Junuen Malagon

 

Self-evaluation scores: Creating Significant Learning Environments 90/100