Reaching Our Peak

Over the past few weeks I have been reading COVA Choice, Ownership and Voice Through Authentic Learning and taking lots of notes. This is now the third course in my Master’s Degree program in Digital Learning and Leading at Lamar University that is rooted in the COVA teaching philosophy and I am honestly so excited to finally be able to implement this into my own practice. I am glad that I decided to go ahead and finally make the decision to get my Master’s degree and the fact that it just happens to be in this area is truly a gift.

I have been a public school teacher now for the past 12 years and one of the first and most important issues that Dr. Harapnuik brings up in this book, is the inability of students, and let's be honest, most people have absolutely no clue what it means to learn how they learn best. Dr. Harapnuik discusses how “authentic learning has its benefits, it also is more challenging for students to learn how to learn and unfortunately too many students are more interested in getting credential than they are in learning how to learn” (pg. 10). As much as educators want to include authentic learning projects into their curriculum, it is hard to do when most students know that they can play the system to get the grade that they are looking for with minimal effort and without really learning to actually do anything. This is one area that I am hoping to change in my own classroom once I return from my sabbatical leave next year. I really want to start the year off focusing on this one point. As an educator and a parent of two small children, that I am currently homeschooling due to the pandemic, it is of utmost importance that my students learn this one lesson from me if they learn anything at all. I want them all to leave my classroom knowing the ways that they learn best so that they are able to apply that knowledge to any other situation that comes their way in the future.

I have already decided that I am going to spend this next month off from classes rebuilding my entire freshman English curriculum to center around teaching my students how to learn. Dr. Harapnuik believes that it is “purposeful to build our courses and programs as significant learning environments that inspire, foster and facilitate deeper learning” (pg. 60). I absolutely agree with this statement. There is nothing better for our students than to build the entire curriculum around THEM and THEIR LEARNING! Isn’t that the whole point? Easier said than done with all of the mandated curriculum and standardized testing that is forced down our throats, but I am going to disrupt the system and try something new. I believe wholeheartedly that if I focus my energy on creating a significant learning environment for my students to learn at a deeper level, that the rest will fall into place with little to no effort on my part.

Many teachers are afraid of giving the control of the classroom over to their students. Dr. Harapnuik states that, “since the learning is the responsibility of the learner giving the learner choice means that we as teachers must give up control or give back the control of the learning process to the learner” (pg. 78). He is 100% correct. I have had the opportunity to be able to do this already in my television production classes. I have seen how well that my students live up to the challenge of solving problems on their own and completing projects front the ground up. It is really incredible to watch students who have always been the ones that sit in the back of the class and never speak up come out of their shell to voice their opinions and truly make a difference in a group dynamic.

After reading this book and taking these courses, I have finally decided to really try and take the plunge in my English courses with my freshman students. (For those of you who remember what it is like to be a freshman in high school, you know it is a tough crowd to get through to.) I am truly looking forward to reworking my innovation plan to reach out to my students in order for them to be able to let their voices be heard through authentic learning opportunities. I owe it to myself and to them to give them the chance to focus on their individual learning needs and to allow them to become the learners that our world needs them to be.

References:

Harapnuik D., Thibodeaux, T., & Cummings C. (2018, January.) COVA choice, ownership and voice through authentic learning. Creative Commons License. http://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=7291