As I reflect on the last six weeks of this course, I am amazed at the growth that I have experienced. I remember opening my Arduino Kit and thinking I would not be able to complete the challenges in any way, shape, or form. I nearly had a meltdown when I read the instructions for our first build; we would have little guidance on our builds. I was uneasy with this concept, but I began feeling more confident as the weeks progressed.
Even though I am proud of each build I completed, I was most proud of the challenge build for week four. The Dice Roller challenge. I remember having several aha moments when breaking apart my initial build because it was not working. I was floored when I configured everything on the boards using the knowledge I had gained from my prior builds. I thought, WOW, Something stuck! I was also able to create my own graphs to display the data. I enjoyed making those specifically because I could use the interactive charts with my students, and the randomizer was not truly random.
I started week one feeling genuinely uncomfortable, and for a split second, I doubted my choice to take this course. I saw the change when I stopped forgetting my curly braces in the sketch and how creating my design diagrams became much easier and more fluid. By weeks five and six, I felt more comfortable manipulating my boards and codes. By the end of week 6, I felt more comfortable and confident with my abilities.
I had no prior coding experience. I learned how to code, create sketches and draw my circuits. I could combine codes, be bold, and play with my builds by the course's end.
Conducting a lot of research was necessary to learn in this course. I often visited the Arduino library and many other online resources when the tasks became challenging. Sometimes the codes would not work, and I had to troubleshoot a way to figure out how to get them to work. I also collaborated a lot with my peers. This is the first time in any of my courses that I have collaborated so much with a group.
I learned to believe the words that I share daily with my students. "If at first, you don't succeed, try try again." -T.H. Palmer. I also had to keep an open mind and think about my growth mindset.
By reading my submissions and reflecting on what I wrote each week, I told myself that even though I was nervous. At times I felt like I was failing, but I kept telling myself not to give up, and each time I was successful after going back and tackling the challenges again, I told myself to celebrate the new milestone.
The challenges I had that improved over time were forgetting the curly symbols {braces}, and the technical vocabulary used when describing the challenges. I still have to continue to work on the vocabulary.
The challenges definitely changed over time; They became more challenging. However, I also found that several were building upon the concepts of the other projects previously completed (scaffolding).
In my next adventure, I would like to learn about 3D printing. As I researched for my maker vision, one of the maker spaces that I wanted to incorporate into my maker space area was a 3D printer. It would be excellent for students and teachers to have the ability to bring their abstract designs to life.
My next steps are to continue researching different maker spaces and looking into grant funding to provide engaging maker spaces for my future school. I am glad that I decided to take this course. I pushed myself to new realizations, and I learned that it was okay if things were not completely structured. Learning based on exploration helped me retain several concepts I learned in this course. As an educator, I know how important it is for my students to have guidance, but providing them with opportunities to work independently is also crucial. I will use the skills in this course to expand my student's horizons.
No comments:
Post a Comment