As the end of my master´s program comes to its conclusion, the moment of reflection starts.
COVA and CSLE are now embedded in my life.
Once I heard:
“Become the teacher that you wanted to have when you were a student.”
I recently heard this line, and it was very pleasant to witness how this motto has driven the way I share information with others. Being a professional teacher is my 1st career, but I can say that sharing knowledge and help others is my true calling. Even when I had my own business back in my home country, I continuously was in the search of inner growth so I could help my customers. I not only fulfilled the requested services, but I also worked hard to make a meaningful relationship with my customers. One of the ways I achieved this was by explaining everything that was needed to be done in a simple and understandable manner. I constantly support my customers by giving them a personalized and unique experience. At the same time, by explaining them the way things worked, I invited them become part of their received service. My intention was to make them aware so they could prevent any foreseeable problem and understand the importance of continuous maintenance.
I always believed that this set me apart from other similar businesses. This belief, this way of being has been on me all the times. When I changed to education, I applied the same belief but now with a dedicated and meaningful purpose: help my students succeed. This has helped me to become more of a facilitator than a teacher. This has helped me to focus on my students and their growth. This has helped me to be hungry to learn more things so I can be more helpful for my students.
When I came to the Apple Program and met Dr. H and Dr. T and started to learn about COVA and CSLE, it was a huge relief. Witnessing that what I have been doing for a long time has a name and other people were doing it made me feel that I was not alone, nor crazy. Once somebody said: “By the fruit of their labor”. This was a strong mindset that has helped me to keep doing what I was doing. I could see others doing different things, but I always saw that what I was doing was being fructiferous, so I kept doing what for my head, heart and soul felt well. Now, I know I have been in the right track. Suddenly, my thoughts, mind and heart started to find a place to belong to. Suddenly my heart found relief and my doubts were cleared. Suddenly, all the pieces started to fall into their place.
At the beginning, I struggled with the acronyms, but once I understood the soul of them, it was clear for me what they were really about. COVA is about myself and owning my learning. CVA has put me in the right track to apply in my learning what I nurture in my students. COVA has given me the opportunity to have structure in my own learning and set to practice everything that I´ve been learning during this amazing process. It has been a great experience to observe how my learning process has been pivoting over and over. This has happened because I learn more and more. My perception of my surroundings keeps changing. Therefore, my thoughts and ideas had been evolving. Reflecting in this specific area, now I can see how I started as a naïve dreamer of what I wanted to know, to a more realistic plan. My original plan lacked a lot of structure and knowledge, now I can differentiate between an idea that might work to an idea that will work.
Similar situation happened with CSLE. Since I started teaching, my teaching has been purposefully done and designed where students will learn the most. I constantly believe that meaningful teaching happens when the environment where the learners are is positive. We cannot expect a student to be willingly to participate in a classroom where she/he doesn´t feel valuable nor respected. In my classroom, I work every day very hard to give my students a significant learning environment where their learning will stay with them forever. Adding to this idea, I constantly do differentiation. I try to put myself in their shoes and find ways to keep them engaged. And not only this, but I also try to find the best way where my students can understand concepts better. I explain them the why of what are we learning, so they can make sense out of it. Doing this has given me the opportunity to see students more engaged, making more mental connections and trying their best. This is a great feeling, overall seeing the growth of my students. I had experienced great changes and it is just amazing. My students change from: “What? Homework again?” to “I’m done Mr. Marque, what is next?” And this is just to share a simple example. One more thing to add about CSLE is that in my class, I assign different assignments where students can share their understanding. I give them options where they can express themselves and be creative and analytical. As part of my CSLE, COVA must be present.
Reflecting on all this gives me a big smile. I am thankful for being in this path and being able to learn a lot about COVA and CSLE. They have given my structure to my life and my teaching, but it also has reflected all these benefits in my students. COVA and CLSE are now embedded in me and are an important part of my life.
USING COVA WITH MY STUDENTS
I shared before how COVA and CSLE had become part of my life, and I am more than excited to keep using it with my students. For me, one of the best ways to learn is by applying the new learned skill or knowledge in a meaningful way. This means that if my students learned about the Plot Diagram or the geography of a country, they must apply that knowledge into a situation where they can relate with the new information. That is why I continuously try to give meaningful assignments to my students. I believe that if they use this knowledge and practice it by creating their own product, their learning will be part of them.
This means that a vast majority of assignments that I create for my students has to do with creating something. It can be a graphic representation of a comparison, or a one-pager where all their knowledge and thinking are shown, or a video with Flipgrid, an online discussion where they reflect their findings, or create a digital image, and so on. By doing this, I nurture my students to start to have their own voice and be owners of their learning. Also, by giving them several type of assignments, I develop different skills and tastes for different ways for them to express themselves. This way, when they are asked to create a product, they can have the choice to choose whatever they feel more comfortable with, or the one they feel they can convey their ideas in a much better way. Finally, this whole process must be connected in meaningful way so authentic learning will happen in my classroom. Therefore, my assignments have a real-life connection, and this connection must be with their lives, otherwise, the magic of learning might not occur that easily,
For all these reasons is that I love COVA. I love the idea to teach my students to have their voice, to own their learning, to have a choice in their learning and create authentic learning so they can embrace not only their learning, but their whole lives.
Next, some of my students creations and participations in my classroom.
Digital Learning Mindset 