Part A

 

Starting school after 22 years took a lot of work. I had so many doubts, fears, and laziness, but I dared to study a master's degree in another country and another language that is not mine; the truth was a challenge. But I remember my first class, which was with Dr. Harapnuik, and I expected the traditional course where the instructor tells you what, how, when, and why to do the tasks. At the end of the class, I was in shock, terrified, and in my mind, I said, "leave the class; you will not be able to with these classes" in short, I remember that I could not sleep thinking about how I was going to do it. I had a fixed mindset. I am grateful that my husband and friend Nelly Roldan supported me with words of encouragement and motivated me to continue. From the first class, I understood that this master's degree was utterly mine, where I could be myself and write my ideas. 

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During my academic training, I always received instructions on how to do the assignments, so I was not ready to create an authentic project. However, having the freedom to select a topic and create an authentic project gave me the confidence to choose a problem that many teachers deal with daily, such as a lack of interest in reading. Although I was very nervous and worried, I decided to look for information and see the ePortfolios of other students to understand and have a clearer understanding of the expectations of each course.

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 During the first weeks of each class, I was nervous, confused, and afraid of not knowing what to do. I also designed a schedule where I scheduled what I had to do for the day. During the first weeks, I read the required readings and looked for other sources of information on the same topic; there was even a class that bought the book in English and Spanish because the book was difficult for me to understand. I also reviewed many examples of other students where I saw many examples to understand more clearly the objectives of each assignment. The only class I would design differently would be 5305 because I got a B. I am happy and proud of my performance during this adventure in Med. in Applied digital learning.
 

One quality or defect is that I am very stubborn; when I want to do something and feel safe and well-founded in what I want to do, I make my voice heard. Even though I made my voice heard in my school, it is always challenging to have teachers as an audience. Some teachers were against the change, but I helped and guided them to adopt the Blended learning approach in their classrooms. I felt comfortable showing my innovation plan to my peers because I received the support of my principal and principal assistant.

 

Change is not easy under any circumstances, but taking risks and trying to be better personally and professionally is necessary. In the professional field, we must make changes for our students to be successful. Start by yourself to make small changes and implement them in the classroom so we will serve as a model for other teachers and thus be able to arouse the curiosity of our co-workers. Being a leader is complicated, but I am positive to put it into practice because, throughout the program, the principal has set me as an example to follow in my strategies implemented in class. One of the strategies I started implementing in my students was to give them the freedom to choose which station they wanted to go to.
 

 My innovation plan was authentic because I needed to learn the terms such as blended learning, COVA approach itself was new to me. However, in my school, stations are implemented because it is the way to work in prekindergarten. I did not discover or invent anything new; I took ownership of the idea and implemented it in the classroom, and I love it and will continue to do so. During PLC meetings, I help my team implement new strategies to arouse interest in reading by implementing Blended Learning and COVA approach. I didn't expect to change my organization, but I did want to change myself as a teacher and help my students keep their creativity alive and help them practice a growth mindset. When we started the writing activity, the morning message, at the beginning of the year, my students felt frustrated and disappointed. They even said, "I can't write," and I told them, "don't worry, remember that we are learning and that we are in the process" now they write the morning message. I see them very excited at each achievement. 

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A quote has inspired me that I put into practice with the students: "Education is an act of love and thus an act of courage" by Paulo Freire. Love is my passion for education. As a teacher, creating a significant learning environment with love is an appropriate way to promote happy learning where creativity and play help lifelong learning. The student feels comfortable without the fear of being judged. We must change from traditional education to a more dynamic one with a good environment where students can develop critical thinking skills and creativity and learn to work collectively. Students need a teacher to guide them to grow and learn. My innovation plan, Cova approach, and learning philosophy are aligned to have a happy learning where lifelong learning is promoted without killing students' creativity. I am fascinated by the combination of the Cova approach and my learning philosophy in my innovation plan. Because the results that I am seeing in my students are of great satisfaction since they are happy in class; even parents tell me that their children come home happy and like to attend class. Academically my students are in the process of learning, and so I am making changes to my innovation plan. 

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 My learning philosophy has mostly stayed the same since, during 22 years of experience, I have implemented the game to learn. The only thing I added to my learning philosophy was new approaches like Cova and blended learning. The reason for these changes is that the game in children does not change; we only need to change the games and strategies in class. Although technology is changing by leaps and bounds, and we have to implement iPads in class, I can see that my students need help using technology in class. They prefer to use manipulatives, dramatic centers, and reading and writing centers. It's nice to use all the stations, even the technology.

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Part B

 

 I am not going to deny that, at first, the COVA approach seemed crazy to apply in prekindergarten. However, I accepted the challenge. Every day I wondered how I use the COVA approach in my class where I have Special Education students. It started with letting them choose which station they wanted to go to, and every 20 minutes, they would rotate to the next station. Now they put their picture at the literacy station they want to go on the Literacy Rotations chart.

 

My students have the confidence to tell me what they don't like to do, and they don't like the Ipad, so I opted to give them words of encouragement to motivate them to take responsibility for the activities required to enhance learning. I changed my strategy when using Ipads to put them on for 10 to 15 minutes twice a day, and it worked. Now my students have an engagement to learn.

 

At the writing station, my students have the freedom to write and draw what they decide; I am fascinated that they have ownership because they appreciate their work and want to take it home to show their parents. Lastly, in my class, there is an environment where the children can put into practice what they have learned; in the dramatic station, the students can see, manipulate and create a healthy dish.

 

When the principal did the walk-ins in each class, she asked me if the other teachers could come to see my classroom so they could get ideas. I am not the perfect teacher, and every day I reflect on what is right and wrong to adopt the appropriate strategies so that all students are successful.

 

I will continue to apply the COVA approach in my classroom. At the beginning of each school year, during the PLC meetings, I will invite my colleagues to implement the COVA approach, and I will give them all the help they need to be successful in their classes. All of this requires time and dedication, but in the Developing Effective Professional Learning class, I learned how to help my co-workers, and I will put what I learned into practice. Sometimes it is difficult for our students to provide property of choice and voice, but in my school, field trips are carried out, and one of them is to the Old Macdonald farm, where anchor chars are first spoken and created near the farm and its animals. Then we can go to the farm, and they can have a meaningful experience. Finally, a talk is made between the teacher and students about what they saw on the farm. This activity fascinates me because the students are very excited and happy.

 

One of the challenges I will face when using COVA and CSLE is finding teachers who refuse to change and implement new strategies because they are afraid of change and others because they are comfortable with the way of teaching they have done for years. The challenge with my students is focused on the education they have at home. For example, I have 16 students, eight EE, and eight regular classes this year. But I will mention in particular a boy that I love who has a growth mindset when he learns it; he has a serenity and is not afraid of failure, a nice anecdote that I can tell I remember that in the second week of school, he forgot his backpack at home. I ask him, "where is your backpack? He replies, "I forgot it, but things happen, so I'll bring it tomorrow" like this beautiful anecdote, I have a lot of it.

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On the other hand, I have a girl who, when she can't do something, gets frustrated and starts crying and saying I can't; help me. Here I could notice that the challenges I will face in class come from home. Of course, I help my students by modeling a growth mindset. It's funny to hear my students when they are pretending to be teachers, say words like "don't worry, remember we are learning," "keep practicing," "good job, I am very proud of you," and phrases like that. I always say something positive to my students to motivate them to continue learning.