&
CSLE
Part A: COVA and CSLE Reflection
Choice, Ownership, and Voice through Authentic Learning, coined simply as COVA has now become the most essential piece of my learning and teaching philosophy. Throughout the ADL program, until now as I still continue to traverse a couple more remaining subjects before graduation, COVA remains to be the central theme of every assignment. Each task requires us to consider its basic principles of making every aspect of a given assignment unique to us, our audience and learning community. During my very first semester (EDLD 5303 and 5305) with the program, when we had to develop an innovation plan along with our own ePortfolio, I realized how important it is for me to understand and apply COVA. Provided with adequate guidelines, resources, and collaborative support from our professors and peers, I conceptualized the entirety of the innovation plan. I am the proponent and the owner of the ePortfolio. Every aspect of it, from its content, theme, design and all of its attributes is a reflection of me as an educator as well as learner. This phase of my journey allowed me to be fully immersed with the what, the how, and the why of ADL. It dawned on me how COVA changed my perspective towards learning and teaching. It is still a continuous quest to become a better individual, but I sure am enjoying the journey of rediscovering new things and hopefully be able to make a difference in the educational community.
As the ancient adage will say “With great power comes great responsibility.” As the ADL program promotes COVA, I have realized that it is not only granting us the freedom to choose, but it also gives us the opportunity to develop an innovation project that can support our respective schools. At first, there was some hesitation on my part as I have never designed a technology-based plan or activity. The lack of confidence and knowledge intimidated me. But with each course, the scaffold of lessons has supported the research and development of the plan. I also realized that there are also challenges and limitations to it, in spite of it appearing ideal in theory. But as I continue to learn new perspectives and strategies, the plan is slowly becoming a reality in action. It was an overhaul from having a fixed mindset to a growth mindset.
There have been so many realizations since I started this program. When I first started teaching, technology was hardly used. If included as part of teaching and learning, it was used as a way to motivate learners or as a form of incentive, never the main tool to deliver the instruction, or source of information. If I knew then what I know now, I would have invested more research and planning on integrating technology in my lessons. I would have developed more student-centered activities, incorporating technology as an integral part of learning and teaching. As I wrote my first Literature Review, it became clear to me that innovation with technology is now every school district’s priority. Studies and research proved that change in our current educational system is crucial to address the growing diversity among learners.
They say teaching is one of the most noble and humble professions. So true that by nature, we are somehow accustomed to being passive employees, compliant and dependent on the norms of the conservative system. I was once a part of that subservient majority who sits quietly in the corner, listening and rarely contributing. Finding that voice means building up all my courage to say something and do something. It was overwhelming, but all the fear and anxiety became secondary once I started believing in my own project. And that was the turning point of this whole endeavor, I needed to trust the process as everyone will say, and everything will eventually fall into place.
Change is challenging, it can lead to tension, conflict and confusion in any organization. But with this program, I learned that when advocating for change, it has to be coupled with communication, trust, and collaboration. This is the most basic yet very effective recipe to success, learn to listen more than you want to talk, acknowledge everyone’s effort and contribution as if it was yours, and learn to designate the work and not assume you can do it all. As I developed my own 3 Column- Table (Fink), UbD (Wiggins and McTighe) and using Gulamhussein’s 5 Principles of Effective Professional Development, I was able to align more specifically the goals, activities and assessment for the plan.
Any innovation project will always be inspired or adopted from an old or existing plan. It can never be 100% authentic, as these types of proposals are not all new, it just offers updates, new versions or latest information to something that we already have. Similarly, it is just a cycle and a systematic process of transforming, revolutionizing and improving. My blended learning innovation plan is a by-product of lessons learned during the unexpected school closure due to the pandemic. It is inspired by several programs that have been successful in implementing it. It may have been initially intended for course compliance, but as I devote more time on research and planning, I realized that I have been committed to making that proposal happen, to make my campus consider adopting the project.
As I continue to understand and apply the principles behind COVA, the more I am seeing how it improves overall student learning, not only academically but also in terms of engagement and independence. The rationale of giving students choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning supports my fundamental learning philosophy. I firmly believe that teaching is service-oriented, it promotes holistic growth that can only happen when students experience it, and that is what COVA offers. Along with effective strategies and student-centered activities, implementing it in a conducive learning environment is the ideal setting. Apart from discovering the wonders of COVA and its benefits, the ADL program also guided us how to improve not only the physical aspect of our classrooms, but also foster collaboration among all the learners by creating an atmosphere where diversity is an asset, not a weakness to each and every learner. The ADL program has greatly influenced me to see the other side of learning and teaching, that it is indeed limitless, not bound by time and space, not self-centered, but rather it is an opportunity for all, anytime, anywhere, no matter how.
Part B: COVA and CSLE Application
The principles and strategies of COVA is where I established all the initial footing of my innovation plan. Now on its pilot implementation in my Kindergarten classroom, blended learning is already a part of our daily routine. I have initial data to where areas of success are evident, and records of areas needing improvement. One of the first considerations I planned for was how to restructure the existing learning environment. This does not only include the physical setting but more so, how to modify or even change the learning and teaching approaches that will affect the overall learning culture that will take place. Teacher and student roles and interactions were needed reorganized to demonstrate COVA. Activities are more student- centered, while teachers play a more active role as a facilitator/mentor. Mindsets had to re- coded, behaviors had to be modified, and daily practice paved the way for routines to be established. All these essential changes led us to where we are now. I completed an Action Research Plan to support this endeavor and guide the next steps in pursuing the other goals of the innovation plan.
At present, students are learning how to independently manage their “daily playlists” (assigned tasks). They are now able to transition from one activity to another with minimal teacher prompts. Teacher-student and peer-to-peer collaborations are happening more efficiently. Classroom management and student behavior have improved with lesser interruptions in instruction. I am able to provide more one-on-one or small group support and instruction to those who need it the most. The general atmosphere that is becoming evident is that students are once again demonstrating the excitement and love for learning, and that’s because they are thriving in a learning environment where they get to have the Choice, Ownership, Voice through Authentic (COVA) learning.
It has been almost 20 weeks since we have started the program, student performance is consistently improving, and it is looking more promising as students are progressing in all aspects, academically, socially, and emotionally. As opposed to the old-school way of learning that was restricted within just the 4 walls of the classroom, students now have more emerging skills, and confidently learn while having fun.
As exciting and promising as it may seem, the feeling of uncertainty is still apparent. The main concerns include how to make it sustainable and have others support or adopt it. Change as we all know entails resistance
and challenges. One of the persistent challenges we have and still continue to encounter is how to break away with the rigid schedules, pacing and expectations mandated by our district. During the first few weeks, it was a struggle to implement the new approach, its flexibility and unconventional structure. We have to completely change the routine, transitions, and the whole environment of the class to accommodate this alternative setting of learning. But with constant and consistent guided practice, routines can be established. This is just of one of my countless goals to continuously develop, promote and implement a new culture of learning in our school. As for complying with district-mandated lesson pacing and student expectations, I will continue to present to our school administrators the progress students are making in spite of the shift in the learning environment. There are still some strict guidelines/mandates we cannot change now, including participating in several standardized tests, but hopefully in the future we can gear towards a more valid, reliable assessment complementing the principles of COVA and CSLE.
Change becomes sustainable when more are involved. The support of my organization is vital for the success of the innovation plan. With the initiative of creating a more effective learning environment, I can model to my colleagues another approach to teaching and learning. Instead of just reading or attending PDs on ways to improve student learning, they get to see and witness the implementation of this approach. Just like a typical consumer, you patronize a product when you see results, and that is what I will show them. There will definitely be challenges, but nothing that cannot be resolved. COVA, CSLE and the rest of the pilot implementation of blended learning will hopefully ripple effects that others will adopt and impact the rest of my organization positively.
References:
Chan, P., Graham-Day, K. J., Ressa, V. A., Peters, M. T., & Konrad, M. (2014). Beyond involvement: Promoting student ownership of learning in the classroom. Intervention in School and Clinic; 50(2):105-113.
http://isc.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/05/30/1053451214536039
Macaruso, P., Wilkes, S., & Prescott, J. E. (2020). An investigation of blended learning to support reading instruction in elementary schools. Educational Technology Research and Development; Volume 68, Issue 6, Page 2839-2852 ; ISSN 1042- 1629 1556-6501. https://doi-org.libproxy.lamar.edu/10.1007/s11423-020-09785-2
Thibodeaux, T. Learner’s Mindset Retrieved April 5, 2022, from