I am a very procedural person who does exceptionally well with lists and steps. Therefore, it’s not much of a surprise that my hobby is cooking. I know that if I follow the steps precisely, then it will yield the result that I’m expecting. Baking, however, is a different story. Baking is a science (another field I’m not strong in) with too many variables that could cause it to fail. I will stick to making beef wellington over French macaroons any day! 

For my project, I want to make something that I’ve spent years avoiding: Souffles. This dish seems to be the brunt of all Gordon Ramsay’s jokes and looks suspiciously simple, with far too many opportunities to mess it up. It has  been a goal of mine to learn how to make them; now seems like the perfect opportunity

1.       Egg white: The egg whites have to be whipped to a particular point. Once they’re stiff, they’re done-they shouldn’t be overwhipped. They need just the right amount of air.

2.       Egg yolks: if there’s an egg yolk in the mixture, the recipe is destined to fail. 

3.       There are dozens of recipes and versions of this dish. Which one is the most credible?

4.       Temperature: if the temperature is too low, the souffle won’t rise; if the temperature is too high, the souffle will pop over the edge of the ramekin.  

I have several reasons for why I chose to focus on this specific project, besides just that I find ASL incredibly interesting. The first is that my school is going to be doing interest-based group learning this year. Teachers and other staff members have selected a topic that they would be interested in teaching to a group of students from kindergarten through sixth grade. At the beginning of the school year, students will be able to pick the topic that interests them most. Once a month, we will meet with our groups and will engage in a learning opportunity together. I have chosen to do ASL for my topic. I know a few (less than 10) basic signs in ASL, but not anywhere near enough to consider myself proficient. I am really looking forward to learning alongside my students this year. Another reason that I have chosen to focus my project on ASL is because we are having an incoming kindergarten student who relies almost solely on ASL to communicate. Having some foundational and basic conversational skills will allow me to better communicate with him and for him to be able to better communicate his needs. 

The goals and success criteria that I have set is that I would like to learn at least 50 new signs, as well as 10 phrases. 

One possible challenge would be around choosing which signs to learn.  I am going to try to prioritize signs that would allow me to communicate in the school setting.  Another possible challenge would be having someone to practice with. My teaching partner also knows some American Sign Language, so I am hoping that she will be interested in working together on this project.

-Not crumble or break when cut

-Not get soggy when baked

-Have a similar texture and flavor to the original that does not detract from the filling

-Be shaped and molded several times

I can already foresee that texture is going to be an issue. Like I mentioned, gluten is crucial to the integrity of the dough; it’s what makes it strong and stretchy enough to be rolled and folded. Gluten free flours tend to create flakier, crumblier textures. Some of the flour substitutes also can have distinct flavors that might not work well with the fillings. I’m going to try and use thicker fillings to prevent some of these issues. For consistency, I’m going to try and stick with a single type of filling, but that kind of depends on what I have available.

One of the biggest barriers I believe I will have getting started. I have heard that meditation is difficult at first but once you stick with it it becomes much easier. I hope that this project will hold me accountable to sticking with it during the first difficult weeks. Another barrier I am anticipating is finding a quiet time in my home to meditate. Whether it is my family or someone texting me it seems like I have a more difficult time finding an uninterrupted 15 minutes of quiet time on a regular basis. 

Goals:

Potential Obstacles:

I will research and implement a Mobility Training Plan (MTP). 3 times a week I will complete mobility exercises as well as stretching so that I can feel my best when exercising. 

Some possible challenges will be doing the exercises correctly for maximum support, doing them for enough repetitions and frequency so that they actually help out my body.

 

One issue I will face is a physical limitation. I have cubital tunnel syndrome in my dominant, right hand. Working exacerbates this condition, so I’m hopeful I can find a careful way around this. Maybe wearing my wrist brace will help. Another challenge is being positive and not being too self-critical during the learning process. I think whenever learning something new that it’s easy to get discouraged if it is taking time to improve. Overall, I’m excited to practice something I will enjoy and the desire to learn will be my motivation! 

Approaching this project has certainly already tested if I can practice what I preach to my students about adopting a growth mindset. For my entire young-adult life, I have avoided learning the craft of cooking. It’s unfair for me to even say I dislike cooking because I haven’t truly given myself a fair chance to practice it. However, cooking is an essential skill and I value my health too much to rely on frozen meals the rest of my life. Therefore, I’ve decided to dedicate this project to learning some of the basics to cooking. 

My all-time favorite meals to eat are from Mexican culture. I believe if I focus my skills around preparing some of my favorite dishes then I will stay motivated to keep learning. Listed below are the two goals I will be working towards over a four week period. I want to achieve my first goal of developing proper knife skills because it will be a key part to meeting my second goal, and it’s applicable to many other things I may attempt cooking in the future. My second goal is to learn how to make a couple different versions of salsa. I chose this goal because salsa is a very common component to traditional Mexican dishes, and I love to eat it. I anticipate the challenges to this project will be accessing and selecting quality ingredients, and adapting recipes to satisfy my personal taste and spice level. 

The goals of this project for me is to be able to hold a conversation with my husband in primarily ASL. While I do know some American Sign Language already, it is very broken and I am very much back at square one in this endeavor. Some challenges I think I will be face is my stamina in reading my husband’s signs and communicating in a language so different from my native language. I also think I will have to overcome my own fear of messing up repeatedly and commitment to doing this regularly. 

I plan to set aside time each day to communicate only in American Sign Language with my husband, building up from ten minutes up to the half hour goal. I understand that I may not be completely successful and I hope to continue in this course of learning after the class ends. 

For my Learning Something New Project I wanted to tie in with my current health and fitness goals I have set for myself and yoga and practiced breathing fits nicely. I have currently been on a path working towards my health goals, and like others, COVID kept me inside and unable to regulate my time and space as my home became my classroom. I have set a goal to complete a half marathon in October and in my current training I found that I was struggling to breath properly for longer runs. Yoga is something that will assist with balance, coordination, and will help regulate my breathing for the longer runs I will be doing in the coming months. 

As I have recently been getting back outside for runs, I have realized that my prior running times and pace are not where they were pre-COVID. I foresee the struggles of overcoming my novice balance in daily Yog and the accompanying sore muscle being strained from my longer runs. Strength is another challenge I will have to improve as I begin my yoga journey as I have always preferred cardio and know that certain muscle groups are not strong enough yet to complete some yoga positions. 

Part of the reasoning for why I chose this activity to learn that I have always been interested in the health benefits associated with yoga; and if we are being honest I have limited abilities to calm down (hence the long distance running.) Finding the ability to move my body in a focused, strong, and intentional way will help me on my way to reaching my marathon goals.

Currently, I have begun stretching more and through the youtube algorithm stumbled upon a delightful yoga instructor who has a 30 Day Yoga introduction that I signed up for. I know that financial limitations are usually what stop people from accomplishing fitness goals so by signing up for a free yoga class online I will eliminate one constraint. As time and location/space can limit people from completing health/fitness goals I have set up a special area in my living room as a reminder to wind down from my runs. 

I think some challenges/obstacles that may come up are having my toddler struggle going to bed early enough and maybe the fear of where my mind might wander as I meditate. (This may be a good thing though because I will be forced to face some challenging past experiences, anxieties, or negative feelings that have impacted me). 

My goal is to complete reading the lessons, watching the videos, and completing all drawing assignments for Lesson 1 and 2 by the end of our 4 week class, as well as the mandatory free drawing time included in the program.

Possible challenges are the procrastination and avoidance behaviors that have kept me from already accomplishing this goal, as well as failure to set up a routine that would help me succeed.

The learning project that I am wanting to explore more and learn is  to start learning is cooking! I chose this because I have been married for almost 7 years and I believe my husband and my 5 year old deserves a hot yummy meal daily. Also because my mom is an incredible cooker and she has always wanted to teach me her cooking skills and family recipes in person but I have not had the patience, time, or desire to do so. I think this assignment is awesome and I can’t wait to learn. 

I have three goals for this learning experience and that is to 
1. Learn as many easy and yummy recipes.
2. Be able to enjoy learning hot to cook with family members especially my mom.
3. Be able to gain experience and enjoy cooking from now on. 

I think my biggest obstacles right now is that I am out of town and I am not close to my mom so she can teach me how to cook but I am going to try to learn here with my mother in law (the truth is that she doesn’t like cooking either :). Another challenge is that my son is autistic so she has many therapy appointments, social time, play time and a set routine daily during the day that is why we do a lot of take out because of me not being able to have time. Finally I think that another obstacle that I may have is that I am not have the energy and fun experience that I think I should have in order to cook daily. 

I have found out that when I eat dairy products I tend to get more acne on my face. It is difficult to stop eating dairy products when I have been eating dairy products all my life. I don’t know how to supplement sour cream, fresh Mexican cheese, yogurt, cream cheese and the most difficult ice cream and frozen yogurt. 

Description: 

The learning project I would like to learn more about is eating dairy free products meals. I have never tried to stop eating dairy before. This will help me  accomplish goals and develop a better growth mindset. Since I’m always working, sometimes it is hard to eat dairy free meals. For breakfast I always drink milk, smoothies, liquid yogurt, cream cheese or cheese. It is important to start a routine for a while before starting doing it. So now I think this is a great opportunity to start a new eating plan.

Goal: 

Challenges

Over the next four weeks I will be relocating my classroom from the first grade classroom to the kindergarten classroom, and will be needing to familiarize myself with the kindergarten curriculum at my school, all while completing two grad school classes. Taking excellent care of my mental health will be essential for my success as I embark on the responsibilities I have this summer. 

One possible challenge I need to be aware of is following through with engaging in the practice of meditation for at least 10 minutes each day. When I took the meditation course, it required me to engage in a group which led to me feeling accountable to show up. Now that the course has ended, I will need to set aside time each day to practice meditation. Truthfully, I often forget to meditate so I am going to set an alarm on my phone at the same time each day so that I am able to form a daily habit. Another challenge I can see being a possible obstacle is my family members distracting me. With my children being home for the summer, my house is much more lively than when my children are at school. It will be important for me to find a time that works well with my schedule and then set an expectation with my family that they do not disrupt me during my sessions. I am excited to see how meditation can improve my life!

A while ago, I also bought a box of Mindfulness Meditation cards with exercises and tips/practices you can use in your everyday life to keep you going.  But, I’ve never even read one card!  

I think I must just like the idea of it all, but have never really been able to feel like I was ready to learn to do it.  

So, first  I will read enough of the book I already have to get me started. 

I will also read and use the meditation cards every day. 

I read the post about moving meditation, which sounds really cool, too.  So I will research that and see if that is something I can incorporate into this experience.  I am thinking that I could see if it works with walking, too.  I have a goal to go on an extra walk this summer.  

I will research and find any other websites, books, or apps that will help me do this every day. 

I am also curious to find out if there is a way to incorporate my meditation into my artmaking somehow.  So, if so, I’ll do that, too! 

 

Success will be discovering a way that keeps me doing this every day and feeling the positive impacts from it.  

Possible challenges will be finding a quiet time and place to do it.  I’m also afraid of just being bored or falling asleep, to be honest!  Don’t know yet!  Just what I’m thinking at this point! 

I want to learn how to be a cloudspotter! 

Cloudspotting is something I am interested in and have very limited to no understanding of.  In fact, I just found out this is a thing, and just the idea of it makes me happy.  Think of it like stargazing, but during the day with clouds.  I love looking at clouds and the dynamic changes in our beautiful PNW skies and am often curious about the names and types of clouds I see.  The white puffballs, the wispy long ones, the giant layered multicolored grays and white ones.  What are those called? What do they mean about the weather and atmospheric changes? Do some types of clouds lead to other types of clouds? I am constantly drawn to appreciating the beauty of our skies and gorgeous cloud scapes, let alone the jaw dropping beauty of a sunset with glowing multicolored layers of clouds. 

My goals for cloudspotting are to learn the names of clouds and to be able to apply that knowledge to label the types of clouds I see on a daily basis.  I am curious about the weather that is associated with different types of clouds and would like to learn about the patterns of cloud types, what types follow what types, to be able to predict what types of clouds will come our way next.  I want to be able to share this knowledge with other people around me to draw them into the joy of cloud gazing.  I want to read books about clouds and get a cloudspotting app. (!)

I think possible challenges to learning about cloudspotting will be the smoky haze from wildfires this summer, and the potential for low lying socked in solid gray rainy days. 

Possible challenges: I am very busy this summer with 2 young children (one newborn) and moving so I will need to develop a strict schedule to stick to. Communication between my spouse and I might be a challenge as he is not a teacher and I have expectations on “how” I should be taught. I will need to temper those expectations. And lastly, my engagement might prove to be a challenge as I have never really been interested in golf, so my husband and I will need to find creative ways to stay engaged.

As a mom of two toddler boys, I find myself yelling just to get my point across. 

I am going to learn how to Parent without yelling for the next few weeks. Even though I do it as a means of discipline, I also realize that It’s not very effective. Not only am I modelling screaming as a conflict-resolution strategy, but I am now becoming my parents!

I am going to focus on the following steps:

1.       Know my triggers:  If I can figure out causes me to raise my voice, I will be better equipped at handling it when it occurs. When I am hungry I tend to yell more at the kids.

2.        Give the boys a warning: Sometimes saying, “mom is giving you 5 mins to clean up” helps the transition, so I will focus on finding ways to give them time to do what I am asking.

3.       Take a mommy time out: I take for granted the ability to walk away and regroup my thoughts. I will practice going into my room when I feel like I want to raise my octave.

4.       Practice parental patience – ties into #5

5.        Know what’s considered normal behavior – kids are going to be kids, and my frustration often comes when I expect them to be real human adults.

6.       Have a conversation about yelling WITHOUT yelling – my parents never apologized for anything, and I want to be able to say sorry after I have yelled and explain why I did it, and why I am trying to do better.

I am going to use yelling only when there’s real danger associated, because otherwise they’ll just learn to tune me out, and when I need to really convey a message they’re be deaf to you.

This past week I was able to cook two elaborate meals. My first meal was garbanzo pasta with marinara sauce and ground turkey and my second meal was steak fajitas with spanish rice and refried beans (I will provide pictures next week). I was pleasantly surprised that my wife was happy with the results which honestly made my day. As I mentioned last week, she is a picky eater. Also, my little one loved the garbanzo pasta recipe although not so much the fajitas. I feel motivated after seeing my family enjoying these meals and I am hoping to continue this way. Reading through Bransford Chapter 3, I found it very interesting to read the connection between learning and motivation. I feel that motivation is going to be the main factor that is going to push me to succeed in my project. 

On the other hand, I am a little nervous about next week in terms of accomplishing my project. We are going to be very busy doing many activities throughout the week. We are celebrating my 30th birthday, we are going to the beach, we are planning on playing golf, going to the pool, going to the zoo... These kinds of activities are time consuming which means I am not sure if I will have enough energy or time to cook these elaborate meals. All I can say is that I will try my best.

 A few struggles I am having is that since I am not in my hometown (in Canby were I live) it has been a struggle navigating the different stores to look for specific food ingredientes. If I were in Canby I know my local stores therefore I know where I can look for specific ingredientes in certain stores and here in Texas there are not many common local stores like we have in Canby. Another struggle has been that my mother in laws kitchen is small and not more than three people fit in it therefore, we aren’t enjoying cooking as a family as much because we all can’t be in the process of cooking because of the space. 

One delay I am having is that when prepping certain foods I am also trying to learn how to manage certain food prep cooking pots. For example my sister gave my mother in law an AirFryer and though I have one at home too I am not experienced at using it. It has been a delay to learn how to properly use it and how to set it up to cook specific foods. I have been learning so much. I think I am loving this AirFryer and will definitely use it more when I get home. 

My biggest success has definitely been this Sunday when I made a yummy guacamole from scratch and everyone absolutely loved it! Seeing my husbands, son and his family faces light up when they tasted the guacamole it was priceless. Which then gave me the courage and energy to make a “bionico dressing” (fruit bowl with a homemade dressing). Though this isn't as healthier besides the fruit it made my family very happy to eat.

These are some progress so far on my learning project experience; 

One of the challenges so far is that I am currently visiting family in Minnesota, so I have had a little bit more limited time to practice my signing.  However, I made sure to carve time out as part of my morning routine so that I am practicing daily.  Currently, I have watched the whole first video several times and have practiced each of those 25 signs daily.  My biggest challenge so far is remembering which sign is tied to which word.  Another challenge is remembering to have my facial expressions and body language match the tone that I am trying to convey.  Because I am focusing so much on getting the right sign, my facial expression often looks more serious than it should.  

Overall, I have been really enjoying this learning project so far.  I find that I am always very motivated to learn something new when it is immediately relevant to something that is important to me.  Because I want to support our new student as much as possible, I am finding myself very motivated to learn and make progress.  

I also chose three cards from my mindfulness pack to do and have tried them.  1) “Breath as anchor” card is great!  It is about finding a time throughout the day like before every meal that I can focus on my breath for about a minute.  So I haven’t succeeded in remembering this every time yet, but I am going to try a little harder.  The “Just This.” card reminds me of a sign I post in my classroom that says “Decide Before.”  The sign I have now is about choosing to be calm before anything happens for the day.  But I think I may add the “Just This” to my room since the intention here is to choose calm in the present as well.   Since I was having trouble with purposeful intention for my meditation, the card “Straight back, soft belly” seems to be good advice.  It explains how I should hold my body when meditating. So I may look over this card before trying next time before I begin. The next mindfulness card is about meditating while typing and using my computer!  I’ll let you know how that goes!   And thank you, Morgan, for suggesting the Calm app. I’ve only used it a couple of times but I plan on trying it out more.  I used a breathing in and out timer and it was awesome!   That’s all I’ve done so far.  My main struggle has been in making this a daily practice/habit. I’ve still been just sporadically adding it in!  

Normally I would be so bummed that I couldn't be outside working on my marathon goals, but instead I was quite happy this weekend doing the “Yoga for Runners,” stretching in front of my fan and A/C and feeling my muscles relax as they needed a break. Today is the first day I will hit a longer run since I really started incorporating yoga into my training program so I am excited to see what the results will be. What I can say now is that I feel more relaxed, and I don’t feel as off when something goes wrong, like this weekend with our insane heatwave. In the past, something like the heatwave would have totally shattered my motivation and patterns I would have fallen into. I am definitely a type-A kind of person and I do need things to be a certain way, when they aren’t I feel like things just are not right. This is why yoga has actually helped me learn to calm down and refocus.

Also on a side fun note- I learned about something super cool this weekend since we were all stuck inside away from the heat. I watched a video on why it is important to stretch. It turns out that our bodies have a layer of “Fascia,” around our muscles that becomes knotted if we do not stretch and use them regularly. This feeling of muscle tightness from not stretching that hurts new runners/athletes can be combated with proper and regular stretching. This is something I knew, but learning the science behind it for my type-A personality means I also am more likely to stick to this yoga program!

I think my biggest reflecting point on this learning project was that it is difficult to learn something in a short amount of time. I think oftentimes we're asking students to do a similar thing when at the same time they're learning about 4-5 other topics. It's difficult to switch between the two especially when one may call for a learning style that is unfamiliar to you. That was the case for this project. I'm a visual learner more often than not but sticking to that learning style for most of my life (especially going to art school for college) has made it difficult to engage in other ways of learning. At first in this project I wanted to draw out a few panels of the comic or create a digital illustration for it to help inform how the story progress, look, and give me an idea for the personalities the characters could have. However, that was too time consuming for the amount of time this required so I stuck with learning auditorily which made me realize I have a short attention span. I do believe this different learning style, coupled with the short time frame, and my interest in learning this help light a fire underneath me that I don't usually have when learning something new. Throughout school this was the case, knowing that it was for something/someone to see and interact with my work made me want to produce something I could be proud of. In that way it is a lot harder when you can't meet those expectations you set for yourself. Overall, this was a great project to open my eyes 
to that as well as a great reminder for what i ask students to do in the classroom.

Feedback helped me as motivation as well. To be quite honest, I have a hard time accepting constructive criticism because I tend to be a perfectionist; therefore, I try to perfect it in my own way the first time. I would assess my success by looking at my mental health along with  my physical health. In due time, I hope my anxiety will decrease along with my fatigue. 

One way John Dewey’s progressive learning theory aligned with my project was when I was collaborating with peers during a weight lifting session. The trainer acted as a guide and facilitator after teaching us the correct methods for lifting. 

Overall, I will take what I learned from this project and incorporate skills into my lessons with students. By establishing an end goal, I can work backwards when creating lessons so I know what the end product should be. Additionally, students will know what is expected.

Additionally, peer feedback helped me continue with the process until I feel comfortable in my own body again! 

My criteria for success were being able to start eating dairy-free meals and learning different recipes by substituting the dairy products for something else. For instance, when I made the berries smoothies with almond milk my husband and my kids really liked it. So that instant feedback motivates me to continue trying new recipes. Also when I made the pancakes substituting the butter for applesauce and regular milk with oatmeal milk. My children and husband really liked the pancakes so I forgot to take a picture at the end.

As a learner, I learned that if I purpose myself to accomplish something I will be motivated to do it.   Through this accomplishment process, there are many factors that influence me and some of them are feedback and self-motivation. When I cook, I like when my family praises me for the food. This positive feedback reinforces my motivation to continue learning and cooking more dairy-free meals. Then after receiving positive feedback I was setting a goal for myself of a positive mindset to continue my goal. For example, during Independence day we went to eat at my in-laws' house. They had a dessert that had milk on it. My husband reminded me that the cake had milk. Instead of eating cake I only ate watermelon. My mindset played a big role in my project. If I wasn't in the right mindset I wouldn’t be able to avoid eating dairy products. There were many factors that contributed to assessing my success on this project and some of them were self-motivation, having positive feedback, and setting a positive mindset. I think that if my family wouldn’t support me it would be a more challenging project to do it by myself.

This project aligns with Roger’s humanistic theory because it teaches me how the entire individual is motivated to reach their full potential or to self-actualize. During the time I was doing the project I was motivated to learn different recipes or try different food that didn't include dairy products. The implications I found is that many foods include dairy products and it is very difficult to avoid eating them. If I would like to include students in this project it will be super difficult for them to accomplish it. For example, the school lunches have dairy just thinking about the milk they provide for the students to drink, pizza, macaroni and cheese, cheese sticks, bean and cheese burritos, etc. This will be a very challenging goal for students to accomplish if they are not allergic to dairy.

As mentioned before peer feedback is very important for my learning but I feel that this project was more individualized. If I didn't have the right mindset I could easily consume dairy products but I really wanted to see the outcome so I avoided doing it. This was more like a personal goal but receiving positive feedback on the way was a motivation to continue doing it. My goal is to carry this goal in the future and avoid dairy as much as I can.

As I was working on the TIPP project, I realized that I had my own schema for how to make a pie crust. My group focused on Vygotsky and Piaget, so I saw my thought process reflected in those theories. I had constructed my own understanding for how a pie crust was made, but I was revising and adapting that based on the recipes I was trying, which also acted as scaffolding for me.

I also noticed the theories behind ecological systems at play in how I was learning to make the crust. The voice in my head narrating what I noticed and what I needed to do was my mom’s -- in other words, my system was influenced by my family. 

This project felt very science experiment-y to me. I found myself noticing what wasn’t right, noting it, and revising my steps in response. There were definitely moments where I was annoyed or frustrated -- I don’t usually feel annoyed or frustrated with my inability to do something as a teacher, but it reminded me of how I felt as a student when learning to do something new. 

My criteria for success was to be able to communicate with my husband in regards to a minor activity (making dinner) without much issue. I chose this as my criteria for success because I have had experience in ASL in the past, but I know I need to relearn the basic vocabulary of the language. This seemed like a goal I could accomplish in the little time allotted for this project.

Feedback was integral to my learning during this project. As someone who knows some ASL, but not nearly enough to be considered fluent, I needed to check in on my handshapes, facial expression, and grammar frequently. Practicing with my husband and good friend who is fluent in ASL helped me greatly in my learning. They were able to break down some of my mistakes in ways I could easily understand without the need to translate what the feedback was from ASL to English. I didn’t feel I was being judged or critiqued as heavily when working with my close friends.

I always struggle with a growth mindset! I always encourage my students to remember the power of “yet” and that mistakes are required, etc. However, when it comes to my own learning I struggle with this thought. I think as an adult you expect to learn quickly with few mistakes – something that just isn’t realistic. I started each session with a quick mantra: “I’m relearning this. I’m allowed to make mistakes. Embrace them!” It was very difficult to stay in the mindset, but I had it written down on a little note on my monitor for my studying. This helped me open myself up to really learning in meaningful ways. This influenced my response to feedback by reminding me that I am in fact learning and my friends and husband are simply trying to help me. I found myself getting a bit less frustrated with the process and appreciated the feedback I was getting.

I think I was fairly successful in my goal to relearn basic vocabulary for ASL during this project. I enjoyed the process of making flashcards as it brought me back to my first years of learning the language. I was able to communicate basic points such as dinner plans or normal basic conversations. I know this is only a start and I fully plan on continuing on this learning project to ensure I am not leaving all the pressure on my husband to communicate effectively.

My learning style aligned quite a bit with John Dewey’s Progressivism with the necessity for students to be invested and engaged in their learning. During my project, my learning was primarily on actively practicing my ASL vocabulary and conversations. I did use a dictionary to learn vocabulary, however this would do no good for me without the practical aspect of learning a language. I was also able to discuss my strengths and (many) weaknesses in my process with my friends. (Progressivism Project, Ana, Leah, and Megan). 

Another theory that resonated with me while thinking about my learning project is that of Cognitivism. In this, I wasn’t merely learning by rote, but by practicing and applying what I learned to different aspects of my learning. For example, I can apply some of the vocabulary I learned to different contexts, broadening my ability to remember the words. (Cognitivism Project. Amber, Magdalena, Me)

The implications for these theories I connected with and its relation to race, equity, and inclusion of students is that students learn in a variety of ways - sometimes blending the styles in fun ways. This means that some cultures might focus on one style of learning, while others focus on a completely opposite theory of learning. I personally found myself connecting with at least two learning theories that tell me that it is likely my students have this same idea. I also think that there are so many different styles of learning that teachers can’t really use one way in the classroom. 

As a learner, I am one that likes to have hands-on experiences with something, so this was a perfect activity for me. I did watch a video to help get started, but my biggest learning curves were trying knots and stitches and making them better or more “perfected” the next time I did them. It was great! I generally have a positive attitude with learning new things so this carried into my growth mindset with this task. I never wanted to “quit,” which also made me stay up late some nights. :-) The beginner’s kit that I bought had a stencil that I followed with embroidery. Once I have that art complete, I will have a full feeling of success and satisfaction. 

My learning experience connects to a couple theories that I have learned about in this course. The first one I think about is Progressivism. Although this wasn’t a group experience, it was a hands-on experience which is a big part of Progressivism. It also reminded me of Piaget’s theories on constructivism. Myself as the learner had some schema, or background knowledge, in sewing which helped guide me to learning this new fine-detailed hobby. 

I am really happy that I chose hand embroidery as something new to learn! It has been slow to see progress, but I am seeing it either way. It gives me time to be calm and appreciate the art that I am making. This project let me be the learner this time instead of always the teacher. It was refreshing. :-)