In my Innovation Proposal, I discuss a plan to help my students become independent learners. Not independent in the sense that they learn by themselves in a vacuum, but in a way that doesn’t rely on a teacher being the expert in the classroom. My innovation plan promotes students interacting with lessons, then engaging each other in discussions to share what they learned to increase knowledge and connect the dots with prior knowledge.

 

This course in creating significant learning environments has been valuable in helping me to craft a classroom environment where learning and experimentation are encouraged, and grades and rewards are based on their determination to learn and communicate their learning with others.       

Our first assignment was to read and Analyze A New Culture of Learning by Thomas and Brown (2011).  In my post, Creating the Environment, I analyzed how classrooms have changed in the past century, noting that the classrooms of the 20th century are not what students of the 21st century need. I argued that teachers and administration, myself included, need to let go of the concept of knowledge transfer as the basis for lessons.

 

Next, we analyzed learning philosophies to see which philosophies align with our beliefs about learning. In my post, Learning Philosophy, discuss how I was taught, how I began teaching in my career, and what my teaching has moved toward as I understand more about my own learning philosophy. I found that I subscribe to a discovery learning model. I believe this model supports my innovation proposal ideas of investigation lessons and follow-up discourse with classmates.

 

We were then tasked with connecting the dots: finding ways of connecting students’ prior knowledge to new concepts to make the learning relevant to our students. I outlined a unit based on Fink’s three-column table (Fink, 2003) and then compared and contrasted the 3 column table approach with the approach from Understanding By Design (UBD) (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005) using the same unit. I found that the working documents and the 3 column approach from Fink are great for organizing my thoughts and helping me see different dimensions I need to bring into my lessons. I also found that the UBD plan is similar to what I already do to plan for my students.

 

Finally, I revisited my Growth Mindset plan, based on the book Mindset: The new psychology of success (Dweck, 2006), which I created in my previous course, Concepts in Educational Technology.  In my post, The Power of the Growth Mindset, I discuss how I’ve implemented what I learned about the growth mindset with my students and the impact it has had on them. I also discuss how the growth mindset is an integral part of implementing discovery-based learning in my classroom.

 

This class has helped me think about learning from previous classes in different ways, connecting the dots to deepen my learning, and proving as a model for ways I can do the same for my students.

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