"Worst Case Scenario" to "Best Case Scenario" By Jacklyn Smith
Flash back to four years ago, when I first started applying to teaching jobs. It was not an easy process. While I was interviewing, my mom, also a teacher, and I played the “Worse Case Scenario” game. The rules of the game were simple: play out the worse case scenario that could happen during the interview process. I said not getting a job would be a worse case scenario, but she had said getting a job, but not having the right materials to support students. I thought about that long and hard. Little did I know that would have a big effect on me.
Flash forward, two years later, I just finished up distance learning in the beginning of the Covid-19 Pandemic. I had noticed one big problem, it was a problem I had encountered before the pandemic started. Students were unable to come to class because they did not have a best fit device for distance learning. It was a big problem because I am a twenty-first century teacher. I strive for students to be independent learners by having the ability to learn on their own in order for them to learn for their unknown future. I have the ability to teach others skills that they need for their unknown future. I wanted to be able to apply those skills to my teaching. So, to advance my knowledge and accelerate my learning, I applied to the Master of Arts in Educational Technology program at Michigan State University with two goals:
1. To be more confident in my role as a teacher. Prior to the MAET program, I realized that not only do I want to be more confident in my role as a teacher, but also have students feel more confident in how they are learning. I wanted to adapt the way I assess by using multiple platforms to increase student engagement.
2. To utilize technology in my classroom as a mode of learning, but also for assessing. My original hope from this goal is to be a resource for other teachers and be a stronger resource for them to learn from. Although these goals have progressed through the past two years, my goals have slightly been adapted and changed. My first goal in being more confident in my role as a teacher has broadened to other roles as well. For a majority of my time in my masters program, I realized I want to take on leadership roles. This does not necessarily mean having a new title, but I want to teach others what I know in order to help them. From one of my classes, I led a professional development on “How to use Drop and Drag Slides” in order to increase student engagement during remote learning. Experiences like this allow me to be more confident in my role as a teacher, but also as a leader in my school.
Overall, using technology in the classroom is more than just a tool. It is a way we adapt to the twenty-first century. We need these skills to prepare for the unknown future, have real world problem solving skills, and be able to navigate information. However, what has changed in this goal is the ability to purposefully implement the use of technology into my lessons such as adding a Kahoot to review number sentences. Technology has become a way of life for teachers, students, and through our education system. These two goals are at the forefront of what I do and allow me to adapt and grow.