With a few years of teaching experience under my belt, my application for graduate school at Michigan State included more general and attainable goals. My goals were to learn new teaching strategies to help all students learn and to drastically improve my skills in teaching literacy. I claimed that literacy was the most important component of a child’s schooling. In my experience of teaching second grade, I have found that improved reading skills can also pave the way for growth in other academic areas.
Now that I am almost finished with my Master of Arts in Education (MAED) program, I am thankful for the opportunity to reflect on these goals. I still fully believe that all students (regardless of their background, gender, race, etc.) deserve a fair chance to learn. It is so important to celebrate the differences in our students because they have so much to offer. By tapping into their interests, learning styles, and abilities, teachers are better equipped to design differentiated lessons that are engaging and meaningful for all of their students.
Looking Back:
My Journey as a Lifelong Learner
When I entered my first year of teaching, I was excited to have my own classroom and confident in what I had learned during my undergraduate experiences at Michigan State University. I went into the school year expecting everything to run smoothly. My lessons would be engaging, students would make substantial growth, positive relationships would develop, and everyone would get along with each other. My first few years of teaching proved that these seemingly simple tasks were much more complicated. Each group of students had different needs and backgrounds that required me to tailor my instruction to help meet their unique and individualized needs.
One of my previous goals needs to be modified. As I spend more time in the classroom and get to know my students, I am realizing that literacy education is a very important component of school, but it is not the most important. The children are the most important part of our jobs. Ensuring that children feel safe and welcome in their classroom and school should be the top priority of educators. Developing these positive relationships with my students is more important than any academic subject in school, even literacy. Once these positive relationships are established, students will be more willing to listen to me and learn what I am trying to teach them.
My current goals are to ensure all students can learn and to develop positive student relationships. I think these goals work in tandem because getting to know my students will help me create lessons that are interesting to them and also accessible to them at their level. When I decided to pursue a career in teaching, I understood that being a teacher meant that I would also be a lifelong learner. The saying “you learn something new every day” certainly rings true for this profession. This program has helped me learn a lot about what it takes to be an effective teacher. Each day really is an exciting adventure and I’m looking forward to the new things I will learn as I develop and grow as an educator.
