Learning Networks

My personal experience:

Being in this learning community, I felt engaged, connected, and valued in the educational process. I have learned so much, not only from my professors, but also from my classmates/peers. I enjoyed reading comments, or posts, and processing what was said by others, then responding with positive, supportive, and constructive feedback. I felt that we were in this together, so I did not feel alienated, or like I was doing it all on my own. I felt that it was a solid foundation to grow from, and that if I needed help, then I could get it. I really appreciate the open communication that was made available to all of us.

What I consumed:

Shared learning goals
Collaboration and Discussions
Connection with peers and professors

What I contributed:

Shared learning experience
Supported each others growth
Feedback and Discussions
Ideas and Examples

Professional Learning Networks that I joined:

We have a new principal at our school this year. Through the short time of getting to know her, I feel like she is a really good listener, and welcomes open communication. She has expressed on more than one occasion that it is at the top of her list to get 100% buy-in, and wants to have strong collaboration. These are things that I also agree with, so I think that she will support this type of work environment. It’s okay to not all agree, but in this case, we are encouraged to share our ideas, and voice our opinions. I look forward to working with her this year.

I believe in a collaborative learning community because I think that everyone has something of value to share with others. Especially when you learn something new, or tips, and tricks to make work easier. We need to learn to work smarter together, and not harder. Work is already hard enough. This type of learning community supports growth, effort, and learning from what you don’t know. It is a valuable networking tool because we can learn from each other, and help each other along the way of our personal journey. Knowledge can be gained faster, and easier since you know there are others out there on the same path as you, or have gone before you.

Feedback or Feedforward?

Both feedback and feedforward are beneficial. Feedback focuses on what went wrong, but feedforward is learning from it and fixing it for the future. Therefore, understanding that both can help you, but feedforward takes you to the next steps, and don’t just stop with the things that are wrong, use it as a leverage to make it right. When you use feedforward to help you, this means that you will improve, learn, and grow. You will focus on the future, to expand, and be dynamic. You are not stuck, but you have goals in place to keep trying until you get where you want to be. This leads to having a growth mindset and not stopping when you don’t understand something the first time around, but actually giving yourself room to grow, and learn. You can feel motivated through guidance and advice from others. It’s a new, improved perspective. Remember not to be so critical of yourself.