Although my time in the Master’s of Arts in Educational Technology (MAET) is nearing an end, my time as a lifelong learner is not complete. Down the road, I still envision myself continuing my education no matter what direction I go. I value the education that I receive as it is not only important for myself to grow as an educator, but important to my students to help me be the best teacher that I can be. In all honesty, I started this degree during the first summer of the COVID-19 Pandemic and I truly did not know what I was going to get out of it. However, as I look forward to the future, I have set goals and aspirations for myself to continue to learn and better myself. Those three goals are:
Integrate the use of Technology into the classroom and beyond
Further my education through a doctoral program
Take on a leadership role in my career or school
Integrate the use of technology into the classroom and beyond First, let’s flashback to March 2020, the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many institutions had closed and decided to continue learning using a virtual platform like Zoom or Google Meet. However, many were lacking appropriate training or knowledge of resources to use in remote learning. Many educators are intimidated by the thought of using chromebooks in the classroom because they are use to the traditional paper and pencil route. I plan to implement 21st century skills into the classroom to allow my students to prepare for their unknown future, become independent learners, and be capable of advocating for their learning. While I acknowledge my growth in using Educational technology tools, I know that there is still learning to do. Starting this May 2022, I plan to enroll myself in the Google Educator Certification Program. This will allow me to grow my knowledge within technology tools. Also, I plan to look at other certification programs such as Flipgrid, Kaltura and more. This knowledge will allow me to have a better understanding of educational tools to appropriately integrate into lessons.
Further my education through a doctoral program
Through the MAET program, I realized that my educational journey is not over. I plan to enroll in a doctoral program in my future to continue this journey. Although I am not sure which program I will complete, I have many desires. From classes I have done in the MAET program, I desire to take on leadership roles in my career such as STEM head or be a Professional Development head in the district showing different teachers new skills. This would allocate a phD program in educational policy to create change within the system. Also, I want to have as many resources as possible to be the best teacher possible so aphD in curriculum, instruction, and teacher education could also be best suited. Although I love my role as a classroom teacher, I want the opportunity to spread my knowledge and take on any career or leadership role in education.
Take on a Leadership role in my school or career Through my time in my master’s program, I have realized that I need to be an advocate for change in my career. In any career or school there is always something to change based on things that go wrong or things that are just not working. I want to advance my role as an educator into a department head to become more involved in choices that the school makes to reiterate the importance of their mission or vision. Even as a teacher, I still have the potential to be a part of change. I have the ability to be apart of committees and meet with school leaders to help change our vision for the better. Something I will do to grow my leadership abilities is participate in various professional developments like NIET’s teacher leadership series or the National Academy of Advanced Teacher Education (NAATE) trainingsto deepen my understanding of classroom practice and equip myself in leadership skills to support other classroom teachers. Overall, I hope to advance my role in teacher education through various professional development opportunities that will allow me to grow.
Moving forward, I plan to take on the role of a teacher and the role of a student as learning is never truly done. It is lifelong. I pride myself on the growth I have done professionally and academically the past two years. I continue to envision that growth in order to be the best teacher I can be, to refine my teaching practices, and drive a deeper understanding of concepts within the classroom and beyond.