Continuing Education
My Future Learning goals
Life is like a novel in which we are the authors. We have the opportunity to write the story of our lives. I have written my own story that is revolved around education; educating students, peers, and myself. I am at the end of a chapter finishing up my Masters of Arts in Educational Technology (MAET), however, my story is still incomplete. As an educator the learning never stops, therefore my story never ends. Something that I learned throughout my master’s program was that the more I was learning, the more I was able to adapt my teaching style and lessons to incorporate the new ideas that I had learned, thus continuing my own story and influencing my students’ stories as well. As an educator I want to continue to drive my students to be their own authors helping them to obtain their goals along the way and bringing out their creativity, curiosity, and innovation. In our everyday lives, we are constantly learning things and I want to continue extending my own education in three specific areas. They include exploring more opportunities to facilitate technology use in school with my students, teaching online, and being a leader in technology. I have been so intrigued with the advancements in technology and I would like to continue climbing the ladder in the teaching with technology world, first adapting it into my classroom, moving to fully teaching online so that I can raise my family, and then eventually becoming a leader in technology in a school district. This path allows me some freedom and choice all while helping other.
When writing my own life story, I had always anticipated on becoming a teacher at a young age. In finishing a chapter by completing my masters degree, I now want to focus on using the skills I learned and teaching them to my students. Although I teach kindergarten and it may be difficult to teach at first, I think that by setting goals, it makes it easier for me to obtain them and my students. Technology is on the rise and continues to make gains each and every day. My goal is to provide my students with the knowledge, skills, and opportunities to explore various technologies (ex: popplet, storymaker, etc.) and use it to drive their creativity and curiosity. It may start off slow, but anything is better than nothing at all and by giving students the chance to explore and learn for themselves. I think they will surprise me with just how much they already know, how fast they can learn, and how eager they are to get started. In order to keep up with the ever changing times of technology, I have chosen to connect myself on Twitter and follow eSchool News and eduTecher. By following these accounts on Twitter, it will help me stay connected and lead me to new technologies.
After taking a few courses in the MAET program, I found a love for creating and teaching online. It was difficult for me at first to try new things, video tape myself, and learn new technologies that I had little prior knowledge with. However, these courses pushed me to think outside the box, learn using my PLN (Personal Learning Network), create, and most importantly have fun while doing that. Since these courses, I have chosen to adapt these ideas and use it for my own classroom creating videos of myself that students can watch at home, displaying students work online, and making a home-school connection with my students. This has driven me to fall in love with the idea of teaching online. There are so many opportunities for learning that can take place in cyberspace and I am intrigued and excited to learn more about it. My dream is to keep my full time teaching job and teach part time for an online school such as K12 to help me continually keep up and learn all of the new technologies that become available. In trying to stay in touch with the online learning community as well as teaching full time in a classroom, I have chosen to gain more insight into the online world by following the Online Teaching board through Flipboard.
Lastly, I have a goal to be a leader in technology. Whether it be at my school or for the district, I want to have a voice. The amount of teachers that are unaware of all these exciting and innovating technologies is huge. I want to be the difference. I want to help teachers learn new technologies by sharing my experiences with them, guide them in adapting new technologies, and help them implement these technologies into their own classrooms. I do not feel as though technology is at the forefront of learning and I want to be the leader that shows just how much students can learn through technology. I want to make an impact on students and teachers allowing them to be creative, using collaboration, and be engaged with their learning. I plan to start by taking an online facilitator training program through EdTech Leaders Online to help get me started.
As I continue to write my story, it revolves around the love of children, the love of learning, and technology. Through my chapters, I will strive to make a difference, to continue my own learning, learning in the classroom and online as well as help others to continue their learning whether it be adults or children. I want to have a chapter in the lives of others and I want it to be an impactful one that helps change their stories for the better. In doing so, I will continue to seek opportunities to facilitate technology use in school with my students, look for a part-time job to teach online, and be a leader in technology - one that others feel comfortable to come to when help is needed.
When writing my own life story, I had always anticipated on becoming a teacher at a young age. In finishing a chapter by completing my masters degree, I now want to focus on using the skills I learned and teaching them to my students. Although I teach kindergarten and it may be difficult to teach at first, I think that by setting goals, it makes it easier for me to obtain them and my students. Technology is on the rise and continues to make gains each and every day. My goal is to provide my students with the knowledge, skills, and opportunities to explore various technologies (ex: popplet, storymaker, etc.) and use it to drive their creativity and curiosity. It may start off slow, but anything is better than nothing at all and by giving students the chance to explore and learn for themselves. I think they will surprise me with just how much they already know, how fast they can learn, and how eager they are to get started. In order to keep up with the ever changing times of technology, I have chosen to connect myself on Twitter and follow eSchool News and eduTecher. By following these accounts on Twitter, it will help me stay connected and lead me to new technologies.
After taking a few courses in the MAET program, I found a love for creating and teaching online. It was difficult for me at first to try new things, video tape myself, and learn new technologies that I had little prior knowledge with. However, these courses pushed me to think outside the box, learn using my PLN (Personal Learning Network), create, and most importantly have fun while doing that. Since these courses, I have chosen to adapt these ideas and use it for my own classroom creating videos of myself that students can watch at home, displaying students work online, and making a home-school connection with my students. This has driven me to fall in love with the idea of teaching online. There are so many opportunities for learning that can take place in cyberspace and I am intrigued and excited to learn more about it. My dream is to keep my full time teaching job and teach part time for an online school such as K12 to help me continually keep up and learn all of the new technologies that become available. In trying to stay in touch with the online learning community as well as teaching full time in a classroom, I have chosen to gain more insight into the online world by following the Online Teaching board through Flipboard.
Lastly, I have a goal to be a leader in technology. Whether it be at my school or for the district, I want to have a voice. The amount of teachers that are unaware of all these exciting and innovating technologies is huge. I want to be the difference. I want to help teachers learn new technologies by sharing my experiences with them, guide them in adapting new technologies, and help them implement these technologies into their own classrooms. I do not feel as though technology is at the forefront of learning and I want to be the leader that shows just how much students can learn through technology. I want to make an impact on students and teachers allowing them to be creative, using collaboration, and be engaged with their learning. I plan to start by taking an online facilitator training program through EdTech Leaders Online to help get me started.
As I continue to write my story, it revolves around the love of children, the love of learning, and technology. Through my chapters, I will strive to make a difference, to continue my own learning, learning in the classroom and online as well as help others to continue their learning whether it be adults or children. I want to have a chapter in the lives of others and I want it to be an impactful one that helps change their stories for the better. In doing so, I will continue to seek opportunities to facilitate technology use in school with my students, look for a part-time job to teach online, and be a leader in technology - one that others feel comfortable to come to when help is needed.