Roselinde Torres says, "Great leaders dare to be different. They don't just talk about risk-taking, they actually do it." To me, I think this is so key. In my experience, the leaders that I have worked with are comfortable. They see what leaders before them have done and often do the exact same thing, not willing to be innovative or risk scrutiny from peers or those higher above them. Having a leader who is willing to put themselves out there, make a change, and go back to the drawing board if it doesn't work out the way they thought can take a school from good to amazing.

My passion for education and commitment to my students' growth has always driven me to seek new ways to enhance my teaching skills. Embarking on the journey of earning a Master's degree in Applied Digital Learning (ADL) at Lamar University has been an exhilarating and transformative experience. This blog post serves as a final reflection on my journey, highlighting the bursts of inspiration, the challenges faced, the milestones achieved, and the invaluable lessons learned along the way. Join me as I look back on this incredible educational adventure and share the insights that have lit up my path, just like fireworks illuminating the night sky.

What a wild and crazy ride this has been! I am amazed at how much I have grown as a digital learner and leader. The program has been instrumental in shaping my understanding and application of various principles and strategies, leading to significant accomplishments. Here’s a detailed reflection on how each component has contributed to my development:

In today's rapidly changing world, students mastering essential skills is crucial. The video we explored highlights key questions to determine understanding: What are the seven survival skills outlined by the speaker? How do these skills address the educational crisis? Why are traditional educational methods insufficient for today's challenges?

I'm constantly inspired by the potential for leadership in everyday moments. This perspective was wonderfully reinforced by Drew Dudley's "Everyday Leadership" talk. Dudley emphasizes that leadership isn't just about grand gestures or world-changing events, but about small, meaningful interactions—what he calls "lollipop moments." In his talk, Dudley shares a story about a small, seemingly insignificant act of kindness that had a profound impact on someone's life. He calls these instances "lollipop moments." These are times when we do something simple yet meaningful that positively affects another person's life, often without realizing it. This idea is beautiful to me.

Innovation in education often stems from identifying areas that need improvement and exploring creative solutions. Through my innovation planning, I discovered the potential of ePortfolios as a tool to enhance student engagement and learning. I knew that because of all of the research I have already done on implementing ePortfolios and that writing is something that most third graders really struggle with I wanted to combine these two things and see what positive impacts the ePortfolio can have on their writing. This exploration led me to question how ePortfolios could specifically benefit writing instruction in my classroom. The result? A well-defined research topic: "The Impact of 

The four stages of action based research are planning, acting, developing, and reflecting. Considering the additional steps involved in each stage and the amount of time teachers generally have for planning, I would have to say the planning stage will be the most difficult to carry out completely. I am lucky to get a 50 minute planning time once a week to plan for the week ahead. In order to do all the steps, we would need a much longer time. I also think that many of the other stages, we do naturally. While I am teaching a lesson, I am able to change the direction and the questions I ask to fit the needs of my students and after every lesson, I take them time to reflect and change things for the next lesson.

This is a reflection on my contributions to my own learning and my learning community for both 5318 and 5389. This will be the fourth set of classes I have taken for the ADL program. I feel like this semester just got started and we are already to the end.

Don't let the fears of what's next stop you from moving forward. Change can be scary for everyone involved. There are always concerns and problems that can stop you in your tracks if you aren't dedicated enough to the change you are trying to make. Being comfortable with being uncomfortable means that even though you feel like you don't know what you are doing and that can unsettling, you are growing from the things you learn.

Much like our students, teachers are also looking for a more engaging way to learn. The traditional sit-and-get method is not the most effective when it comes to professional development either. As a teacher who often has to sit through professional development classes many times a year, I have found that the ones I get the most out of are the ones that I have the opportunity to collaborate with other teachers and get to either make plans for use in my classroom or create things to use in the classroom.

There is so much that goes into making PD effective and meaningful. Including active learning and collaboration among different people across the education field is vital. Using the constructivist theory to improve learning in professional development requires taking a holistic approach to the course design. It involves aligning activities with learning objectives, crafting authentic tasks that reflect real-world scenarios, and fostering inquiry-based learning to encourage curiosity and exploration. Collaboration among learners is promoted through group projects and discussions, while scaffolding provides support for navigating complex tasks. Reflective opportunities deepen understanding, and varied assessment methods allow for

As a presenter, you don't want to be just "another meeting". My goal, as I'm most presenters have the same goal, is to "give meaning"(Five Simple Rules for Creating World Changing Presentations, 2009). I have been to so many professional developments where it was a struggle to get through. Watching these videos was eye-opening and should be a prerequisite to every presenter before they can present.

I have been to my fair share of professional developments and I can say that most that I have attended have been fun but not impactful on my teaching or lessons. My favorite part of professional development is seeing other teachers and hearing about things they are doing at their schools. When we are able to share our ideas with each other I find that the most interesting and helpful. I consider myself to be a pretty efficient technology user and I like to share that knowledge with my team and my students in different projects we do. I feel like I have learned so much more from my fellow teachers than I have ever learned in a professional development.

This is a reflection on my contributions to my own learning and my learning community for both 5317 and 5304. This will be the third set of classes I have taken for the ADL program. I feel like this semester just got started and we are already to the end.

Being an effective leader presents many challenges. I have always struggled with anxiety so I do think that it would be difficult for me to "hide" or regulate that part of me. I do think that showing your team that side of you but that you are able to still succeed and be a leader is what true leadership can be. Having the leader stay connected with others while also maintaining their own identity and values, fosters a healthy emotional environment within the organization. When others on the team project their emotions onto other members it can create problems. Addressing the issue prevents undermining and sabotaging the group's goals.

As a teacher, I am no stranger to the "whirlwind". The amount of things we have on our plate on a regular basis is unreal. Between paperwork, planning, emails, meeting with parents and admin, and actually teaching it is so hard to do anything innovative without a real plan of execution. I do believe that installing the 4DX plan for our innovation plan will lead us to be more successful. 

This is my first official podcast.