Characteristics Of The Innovator's Mindset Found Reflection

My previous two #immooc reflections for part one were poems.  I had intended for my reflection for chapter three of George Couros's book The Innovator's Mindset to be a found poem. Not sure if I have achieved a poem. So let's call it a found reflection. Each phrase is one that someone else wrote but resonated with me. Each phrase is linked back to its source. As I was collecting items for my found reflection, I came across someone who had a similar idea, a blog tour.

One of things I love about #IMMOOC is reading so many interesting blogs that are new to me, & having new people comment on my blog. For me, Part One of The Innovators Mindset has one resounding key word ... empathy. Empathetic: Look at teaching from the learner's perspective.

Does something stop being innovative after the first time it exists? Use what you've got. Tweak it. Add to it. Take away. Make it better. Your lessons will lead your students and you to new destinations! I am always wondering if I do enough to set the grounds for student-led curiosity, as opposed to teacher-led instruction? I need that push to make sure I’m not getting comfortable. I think we all do. Be better today than you were yesterday. 

Dusting Off The Blog

Deja Vu?

I started this particular blog when Dr. Alec Couros did #etmooc. Now I am dusting it off for his brother's (George Couros) #immooc. Another similarity between now and then: commenting. I was debating not setting up a spot for me to blog this time. I already find the massive amount of blogs (155 when I last looked) and FaceBook posts for #immooc to be daunting. Do I really want to add my small voice to that noise? Then George Couros set a challenge:

Yes. That is how we take the noise and make it a conversation. Which is the point to all of this, right? And these thoughts turned out to be very similar to my thinking three years ago: you put yourself out there when you post but I think sometimes that is easier than commenting.

Starting Conversations

I checked out Amy Stanley blog - Challenging myself to innovate! #IMMOOC. One phrase that really stood out for me was: "the spark of interest really changed into a fire to start something happening for myself and my district."

Next stop was David Wallace's blog - Create - Connect - Reflect. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I was not the first person to comment on his blog. The title of his first blog post, I Don't Really Know The Destination, also resonated with others as well. One of the comments was a suggestion to join #immooc (which he already had done).  

Like selecting a new book to read, I am all about the titles. If there were covers for each blog post listed in the #immooc blog list, I would probably be swayed by the grooviest cover or anything containing Wonder Woman or glitter. So as someone who is passionate about technology integration in elementary school, I was drawn to the title of Alice Vigor's blog, Passionate About Primary, K-6 Teacher and Technology Leader. I was impressed by her student's curiosity that she brought out with starting a genius hour. You'll have to read her blog post to see what I am talking about. 

Jeff Nelson's short blog post, The First Step, really resonated with me. I really found myself turning a corner in the last few years as a professional. I have started realizing that I need to make time for professional reading, which is what brought me to #immooc. Like anything that we think something is important, as Jeff says, ….the time can be found.