My best learning experience

Welcome to you Cohort 21 Blog. This journal is an integral part of your Cohort 21 experience. Here you will reflect, share , collaborate  and converse as you move through the C21 Action Plan process. 

This is your first post and an opportunity to share a little bit about yourself as a learner and leader. Please respond the to the following prompts below:

1) Reflect on your own personal learning journey and K-12 education. Identify one learning experience that you can point to as having made a significant impact on some element of your own growth and development. It could be that teacher and subject that really sparked significant growth or a trip that opened your eyes to a whole new world or way of thinking or a non-catastrophic failure that you learned so much from.  Briefly describe the learning experience and identify the various supports, structures, mindsets and relational ingredients that were put in place by the teacher or facilitator that directly contributed to your growth and success. 

Perhaps I’m skirting the rules here a bit but the most influential experience I had immediately followed my high school experience while I was away participating in a program called Katimavik. My first program leader Gen is someone who I can honestly say saved my life. She ran our house, lead seminars and training, and helped guide us through 3 months of service in St. Paul Alberta. I was dealing with severe depression at the time as a result of repeated concussions. Gen gave me so much by getting to know me, listening to my concerns, letting me cry when I needed to, and only gave advice when I asked. She taught me how to listen (though sometimes I know I’m still learning). And she showed me that just being present for someone can make all the difference. I understand this is hard to replicate during the limited time of a school day compared to a full-time live-in program, but it resonates with me to this day. Taking the time to build the relationship and letting students know that I am there to listen is a key component of who I am as a teacher.

2) What is the one Learning skill (MOE) or Approach to Learning (IB ATL) that you feel is MOST important in this day and age? How do you intentionally build it into your curriculum and develop it in your students throughout the year?

I believe that self-regulation is the most important in this day and age, particularly in the form set out in the definitions of Growing Success.

I intentionally build it into my curriculum in a number of ways:
1. Creating a safe space for students to self reflect honestly on their own skills and areas for growth. By showing my own fallibility and being vulnerable when making mistakes, as well as sharing key elements of my own personality I set the tone that who we all are, is ok. Over time I find students

2. I frequently work on setting goals, check-in for progress, and then reset at select periods of the year. Students are held to their own goals and expectations within that safe environment, where a failure to meet their own standards, while perhaps personally disappointing, won’t result in any catastrophic consequences.

3. Instilling an understanding of growth mindset in my students and regularly reminding students of the brain research about individual learning, varying abilities and aptitudes, and how we develop skills, makes the learning process more visible and manages student expectations so they are more likely to try again after failing.

3) Insert an image below that best captures the essence of that Learning Skill or ATL. (Click on the “Helpful WordPress Video Tutorials” link in the left-hand sidebar to learn how to insert it)

Self Regulation requires honest self-reflection on an ongoing basis. Sometimes you just need to stop, look in the mirror, and vulnerably assess what you see there.