They Scared to come outside: Reflections of 5389

Taking this course helped me connect all the dots from the other courses I’ve taken throughout the ADL program. Before this class, I understood different pieces like innovation plans, professional learning, instructional design, and action research separately, but this course really showed me how everything works together as one big picture. It made me realize that creating meaningful change is not just about having a good idea. It is about understanding the process, building a strong foundation, getting stakeholder buy in, planning intentionally, and knowing how to carry something through from start to finish. I feel like this course helped me finally see the why behind what we have been learning.

One of the biggest things that helped me get through this course was working with Stafanie Vaughn and Erica Cedillo. We spent a lot of time talking through assignments, frustrations, and even wins we experienced throughout the course. Absolutely were their moments where we all felt overwhelmed trying to balance work, life, and coursework, but having people to vent to and brainstorm with made a huge difference. At the same time, we also celebrated the good moments together, especially when something finally clicked or when we saw our projects starting to come together. It honestly reminded me how important collaboration is in learning because sometimes hearing another person’s perspective helps everything make more sense.

I appreciated how much this course pushed me to reflect on my own growth. Watching the videos, participating in discussions, and completing the assignments really forced me to think deeper instead of just completing work to check a box. Some of the discussions stood out because they allowed me to connect my experiences in special education and compliance with the concepts we were learning in class. I found myself constantly relating the coursework back to real situations I see every day with teachers, students, AAC implementation, and professional learning challenges. That made the course feel more meaningful instead of just theoretical.

I would like to say, one thing I gained from this course was confidence. I feel like I now have a better understanding of how to organize ideas, create intentional learning experiences, and think through implementation in a more structured way. Looking at everything from a systems perspective helped me realize how much planning, reflection, and adaptability are needed to create sustainable change. It also helped me understand that innovation is not something that happens overnight. There are a lot of moving parts involved, and this course really highlighted those steps clearly.

I would grade myself around a 92 in this course. I stayed actively involved through watching the videos, participating in discussions, collaborating with classmates, and completing assignments thoughtfully. While there were definitely stressful moments balancing everything going on in my professional life, I still put in consistent effort and tried to engage meaningfully throughout the course. More than anything, I feel like this class gave me a stronger understanding of how all the pieces from the program fit together to create something much bigger and more impactful.