Learning

My Motivation

My major motivation to pursue my college degree is my personal growth and development goals. Since childhood, I have always desired to excel in my career and help in changing the lives of others. I believe that pursuing a college degree is a critical step towards realizing this life-long dream. I am also motivated by my family, which has always supported me and challenged me to the best I can be in my professional career.
My Purpose
My purpose in seeking a college degree is to enhance my abilities in shaping the lives of others. I am interested in becoming an early childhood educator who will help shape the lives of young children through teaching. I believe that this college degree will provide me the necessary knowledge and skills for success as an early childhood educator. My professional career as an educator will enable me to make positive impacts on the society by shaping children’s lives.
My Values
As I pursue this college degree, I am demonstrating the value of self-belief, which is essential for success in college. I am also demonstrating perseverance since the education process is not easy and can be very challenging. The third value I am demonstrating is determination to achieve my dreams. My determination is evident in the commitment I have made even when challenges emerge.
Self Discipline
One of the major challenges in my pursuit of my college degree is time management. While I am determined and committed toward achieving my dream, time management is going to be my biggest challenge due to the demands of education. However, I have conducted research on time management and examined my schedule to include time for study and preparation for class. Based on insights I have obtained from the research, I am willing to create a daily schedule of activities that incorporates study and preparation for class.
My Focus
One of the things I will to say to myself to help me persist and persevere in the pursuit of my college degree is that all great achievements requires commitment and time. I will always remind myself that no great achievement has ever been realized without commitment and time. I will also remind myself of the ultimate goal of this process. In this case, I will remind myself the overall result of my hard work and persistence and fulfillment that comes with it.
My Readiness
I have prepared for my online degree by ensuring my laptop and other resources are available and compatible with what I would require for my classes. I have purchased the necessary resources in order to take notes. I have enlisted the support of my family as they encourage me to be the best I can be. I have examined the financial resources I require for my online degree and established measures for obtaining the money.
Week 2 Discussion (1)
One new or interesting thing I learned last week was that a critical aspect to achieving my academic and professional goals is identifying my learning patterns. I found it interesting because I always assumed that people have the same learning style. While I know that life is not as simple as green and red lights as described by Bennis (2003), I always that there are no differences in learning patterns. I have always believed that all an individual requires to learn is to be in a learning environment where he/she is exposed to different learning materials or tasks. However, my perspective has since changed as I now understand that people respond differently to similar stimulus. Therefore, being in a learning environment does not automatically mean that learning will occur because of differences in responses to stimulus. Consequently, its important for one to understand him/herself as a learner in order to respond more appropriately to the several stimuli in the learning environment and daily life (Bennis, 2003).
Week 2 Discussion (2)
Having learned that every individual responds differently to stimulus and has a unique learning pattern, I completed the Learning Connections Inventory (LCI) to help identify my learning pattern. My LCI scores for each of the four learning patterns; are Sequence – 32, Precise – 32, Technical – 15, and Confluence – 28. Based on these scores, my level of use of Sequence is Use First Level, Precise is Use First Level, Technical is Avoid, and Confluence is Use First Level. Therefore, since three of my learning patterns (i.e. Sequence, Precise, and Confluence) have scores that exceed 24, I use them as needed while I do not use Technical learning pattern since my scores are below the range of 18-24. According to Johnston (2018), if an individual uses three or more learning patterns at the Use First Level, he/she is a strong-willed learner. Since I use three learning patterns at the Use First Level, I am a strong-willed learner who tends to seek opportunities to lead instead of being led.
I use Sequence to keep my work space organized and know the directions of an activity or assignment prior to undertaking it. I tend to ensure that I have the information or as much information as possible about what I am working on. When working on something, I tend to follow step-by-step directions based on the information I have. I find it difficult to engage in any task without all information and step-by-step directions.
I use Precision to research all necessary information and directions for any activity/task at hand. I research all information because I always want to be accurate and correct. When completing any activity, I always strive to provide complete and thorough explanations. I not only ask lots of questions when completing an activity, but also answer questions.
I use Technical Reasoning to demonstrate how a task is to be completed based on the available information and directions. However, when working on a task at hand, I don’t always look for practicality as long as I follow the directions given. Additionally, I tend to choose tasks to engage in based on whether I consider them meaningful. I don’t like working by myself and would always enlist the support of others.
I use Confluence to pitch my ideas and attempt something new. I love taking risks even when the task at hand seems difficult and impossible to do. I always find risk taking to be meaningful process of learning and growth. I would rather make mistakes in order to learn instead of not making mistakes.
Week 3 Discussion (1)
After reading the materials and completing last week’s assignments, I would like to learn more about self-regulation. Last week’s reading materials have shown the importance of self-regulation in determining suitable responses to different situations. These materials define self-regulation as the ability to monitor and control one’s behaviors, thoughts or emotions and change them based on the demands of the prevailing circumstances. While this concept is considered critical toward responding to different situations, its relatively difficult to practice and apply. This is primarily because it requires metacognition (conscious thought) and deliberate action that contributes to behavior change. I would like to learn more about self-regulation since its difficult to practice despite its significance in responding to different situations. I believe that learning more about this concept would be helpful in my personal and professional growth and will help develop the necessary skills to respond to different situations appropriately. I would like to learn more on how to develop effective self-regulation of my learning patterns.
Week 3 Discussion (2)
In light of the steps of metacognition, I believe that the step I use with ease in my progress as an intentional learner is mulling. As a strong willed learner who likes to gather all information and follow step-by-step directions when completing a task at hand, I like to use mulling to gather all possible information and research prior to undertaking a task. I always like to read over the requirements of a task before starting to work on it. If the task requires additional information, I always search for that information and re-read the assignment and its requirements before I start working on it. I finding mulling to be a critical step in my ability to complete any activity or assignment accurately and correctly.
The metacognitive step I find most challenging to use is revisiting since I don’t like doing the same thing over and over. I believe that when I am given an opportunity, I should do something right the first time to avoid any chances of redoing/revisiting it. I consider revisiting something I’ve done to be a waste of time that can be used to complete other activities. The metacognitive step I tend to skip over or ignore completely is rehearsing. Even though I read all requirements and gather as much information as possible prior to undertaking a task, I tend to ignore rehearsing. I avoid rehearsing since it would mean repeating the task as many times as possible, which I do not like.
If someone sought to find out the kind of student I am, I would answer that I am hardworking student with a determination and commitment to succeed. I consider myself a hardworking student because I take my academics seriously and tend to do follow instructions to the latter in order to succeed. My hard work as a student would be evident in the fact that I read all course resources and complete assignments on time, follow a strict schedule in attending my online classes, and participates in discussion forums. Nonetheless, I would like to be a more committed and thoughtful student who goes the extra mile to achieve my personal and professional goals. As a result, I am currently working on how to revisit my assignments or learning tasks to help identify areas of improvement. Secondly, I am learning how to rehearse for my learning activities prior to undertaking them. Third, I am striving to create a school-life balance in which I attend my online classes regularly and consistently.
Week 1 Journal
Part 1

1. Describe how you felt when you read through your results of the Mindset Assessment. Were you surprised? Did you agree? Why or why not? Provide examples to support your response.

The results of the Mindset Assessment basically reflected my belief about intelligence. These results did not surprise me since I have always cared about learning and been willing to work hard in order to be successful. I have always believed that hard work is the key towards becoming successful in academics and in life. For example, I always read through all instructions and assignments prior to completing a learning task. I also tend to do research when necessary in order to know how to complete a learning activity.

2. Choose three strategies from the “25 Ways to Develop a Growth Mindset” article and explain how you will use each strategy in your academic, personal, or professional life to help you develop a growth mindset.

The results of my Mindset Assessment demonstrated that I want to have a growth mindset. One of the strategies I will employ toward achieving this is viewing challenges as opportunities. I will apply this through looking at every challenge as an opportunity to learn and grow instead of allowing challenges to discourage and prevent me from accomplishing my goals. Secondly, I will try different learning styles through using a different approach to complete any task at hand as well as trying to learn through different avenues. Third, I will substitute the word failing with learning because I tend to get discouraged whenever I fail in any learning activity. I will always remind myself that failure is not final and its only feedback on what I am not doing right (Briggs, 2015).

3. Explain what you learned about how a growth mindset can help you learn.
I have learned that a growth mindset is critical toward my improvement as a learner in my academic, personal and professional life. This lesson has enabled me to understand that its almost impossible to improve in life without having a growth mindset. I have also learned that there are different strategies that I can use to develop a growth mindset and achieve personal growth. I will explore and utilize these strategies in different contexts in my personal, academic or professional life.

Part 2

Directions: Did you know that what you say to yourself or others can boost your productivity, confidence, and relieve stress? When you replace negative phrases with more positive ones, you can change your outlook and your outcomes.

Below are some common negative statements that students tell themselves. Restate them using a growth mindset perspective. The first two are done for you as an example.


Original Statement
Statement Reframed

This stuff is too hard. I’m not going to pass the test.
EXAMPLE: The test is hard, but if I get help and study, I can pass the test.

I am no good at math.
EXAMPLE: I struggle with math because I don’t work very hard at it. When I work hard and solve the problem I grow my brain capacity.

I got a terrible grade. My teacher must hate me.
My teacher is disappointed that I got a terrible grade but he can help me improve.

This assignment is impossible.
This assignment seems impossible, but can be don through hard work and support from others.

This is a waste of my time. It has nothing to do with my major.
Every lesson is important for me in my personal, academic, and professional life.

I don’t get it. I give up.
This thing seems impossible because I haven’t learned how to do. I need to know how to do it.

I’m worried I might make a mistake.
If I make a mistake, I will have learned how not do it and will increase my chances of doing it right.

I’m too embarrassed to post my response.
My response is basically my opinion about the issue and differs from others’ opinions.

I don’t think I’m advanced enough. I’m not prepared.
I am not where I would like to be, but with adequate preparation and hard work, I will get there.

I don’t know if this is for me. I’m too old.
This is an opportunity to learn something new no matter how irrelevant it may seem.

I’ve never been a good student.
I can always improve in this and become a better student.

This task looks too hard. Why bother trying?
It always looks impossible and unachievable until its done.



References
Briggs, S. (2015, February 10). 25 Ways to Develop a Growth Mindset. Retrieved September 24, 2018, from https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/develop-a-growth-mindset/
Johnston, C.A. (2018). Intentional learning for college success (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Bennis, W. (2003). On becoming a leader. Jackson, TN: Basic Books.