I chose Piktochart as the infographic to summarize the main ideas that I took out of "The Innovator's Mindset" by George Couros. My thought process was to think about my own classroom and what concepts I can utilize to advance the learning environment for my students. The infographic shows the the ideals I feel will create an innovator's mindset within the classroom. I utilized images from Pixabay and other resources to enhance the reinforce the message I am presenting. The process that I used to create my infographic started with the idea of creating a student-centered classroom. I included the 4 main ideals that I wanted to have in my classroom to create and promote students being the center of their own learning environment; culture, risk-taking, building relationships, and creating an innovator's mindset. This was a very difficult challenge for my to synthesize all of the knowledge I have gained, through reading the book. I want to always come back to two questions.
1. Would I want to be a learner in my classroom? 2. What is best for the students? I feel as if I keep these two questions in mind, I have created a path to plan, organize, and execute opportunities for students to be successful in my classroom. Lastly, I included some quotes from the book that resonated with me personally. There were so many great quotes throughout the book that inspired my blog and other projects. But it always came back to the the students and realizing for them to be their best, I also need to do my best to continue in developing my own growth/innovator's mindset!
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What did I learn from the 3 videos that I just watched?
I learned that there is a global marketplace where there is a group for everyone. Information can be accessed throughout the world via Youtube and the use of video to support different ideas, interests, and innovation is limitless. I also learned that certain conditions need to be met to build a successful organization, school, or business. Trust and cooperation of leadership is essential in creating an environment to promote growth amongst all staff. You don’t have to be the boss or CEO to be a leader. Leadership starts with the heart, caring, and showing empathy, treating everyone like you would like to be treated. I also learned that leaders take risks first! Our world is changing, technology is advancing, but yet our schools have seen limited change for over 70 years. As teaches, we need to give our students the skills they need to be successful. Success cannot always be viewed through test scores. Technology is a powerful tool for learning but doing something that is boring using technology is still boring. Don’t be afraid to take risks, use the tools to enhance the curriculum instead of teach the curriculum. Student-centered classrooms allow the student to teach and learn from each other, utilizing collaboration, communication, and creativity. What did I learn from Part 3 of Innovators mindset? Couros says, to create a culture where innovation flourishes, we have to realize, that in many cases, we already have everything that we need, we just need to figure out how to tap into it. (pp.127). After reflecting on the idea of utilizing talents of my colleagues, realizing that I am already doing this whether they know this or not. If I need help on developing a writing concept, I know the fellow teach I am going to speak too. Sometimes innovation is happening without evening understanding that is exactly what is happening. I also enjoyed how Couros explains, that “titles don’t create culture, people do”. I have worked, previously, in a large business that had all of the fancy vision and mission statements, but didn’t really hold true. After thinking about this concept, that if the concepts are driven top-down, rarely are they ever carried forth by the staff. A joint theme between the video and the book is that people will not feel comfortable taking risks unless leaders are willing to take risks themselves. As teachers, we are taught that modeling skills and behaviors to our students is an effective principle to increase desired outcomes. As has been mentioned on Flipgrid, if we don’t model “risk-taking” will are student be open to the behavior. The same principle applies to leaders of organizations, model behaviors you want attributed to your staff. Recognizing individuals for their own unique qualities, allows for a growth-mindset rather than a deficit model of teaching. By asking these four questions, allows for the optimum learning environment.
Couros, discusses the TED Talk given by Chris Andersen showing how the growth of of Youtube has spurred growth and innovation globally. While finishing my basement, I referred to Youtube on numerous occasions to see how someone accomplished basic home task. My 71 year old father, was utterly amazed that there were videos showing how to accomplish all of our projects. He now uses Youtube weekly to help with questions. This coming from a guy who still has an early 2000’s flip phone! THREE TAKEAWAYS...
The first takeaway I have involves relationships. When discussing relationships, the first thought that comes to mind is those that involve students. Developing personal relationships, trust, and caring provides the basis for a positive learning environment. But, often times, these discussions do not include the development of relationships with colleagues and other staff members. Why is that? Couros says, "Do you see the personal moments you have with your staff as investments or expenditures"? I hope that I see opportunities to build relationships as investments in people, ultimately helping to create a positive culture within our community. The second takeaway is how to model and promote a growth mindset. Take it a step further, to help students take a growth mindset and turn it into an innovators mindset. The opportunity to create an innovators mindset begins with the mindset modeled by the teacher. If teachers are not willing to take risks and questions, will the students being to show the desired mindset? Maybe, a few students may be able to create and innovate but the great majority need to see and have the innovators mindset reinforced to be willing to do so themselves. The last takeaway I have from the first part of the Innovators Mindset brings me back to the question of "Would I want to be a learner in my own classroom"? The power of this question is understated in terms of how I have viewed my (our) classroom, the learners, that I am there to serve, and the environment I am trying to create. My perspective has changes and I try and view the things I do through the eyes of my learners in mind. |
AuthorI currently teach 5th grade and am working on completing my Masters in Educational Technology. Archives
April 2020
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