When I first began my masters program at Michigan State University, my goals were quite simple.  I had just graduated with my degree in Elementary Education with a focus in Language Arts and a ZS Endorsement (Early Childhood with Special Education).  At that point, I was student teaching and all I really wanted was to learn anything that I could take with me into my own classroom one day.  I also was eager to get a classroom of my own in which I could try out all these wonderful things I had learned.  Once I got hired as a classroom teacher, my job became my first priority and I took a little break in my master's work to develop my own pedagogy and teaching craft in the classroom.  I was learning a lot about teaching, creativity, best-practices, and assessment within my building and district professional development.  

 

As I began getting more comfortable in my career, I decided it was time to go back and finish my masters degree.   At this point, I wanted to learn as much as I could to help me become a stronger and more effective teacher.  Specifically, I was really interested in learning about ways to integrate technology in the lower-elementary classroom in meaningful ways.  I had recently been hired as the building technology integration leader and I was very new to this role.  I wanted to do it, and I wanted to do it well.  However, with little formal training with technology, I was unsure I was fit for this type of leadership role.  I was determined to take back new ideas to my district and continue to grow in my own teaching, as well.

 

Now, as I am getting ready to graduate with my Masters of Arts in Education with a focus in technology, I feel that my goals have changed once more.  I feel far more comfortable than ever before in exploring new technology tools and taking risks with my students to try new tools.  I feel more confident in my ability to lead other teachers, as I have had quite a bit of practice.  Moving forward, my goals are leaning more toward leadership itself.  I would love to have more opportunities to lead other teachers in a variety of different ways.  I want to become a stronger leader by learning the skills and strategies that come along with highly effective leadership.  I want to continue to stay current with the latest technology and tools available in the classroom and use these in ways that are not a substitution, but rather an enhancement to the learning.

In some ways, my goals have stayed the same.  I will always strive to become a better teacher.  I will always want to learn the latest technology and will always be a risk-taker with trying these new things with my first graders.  I will always want to learn best practices and apply them to my own teaching.  However, when I first started this masters program I could really only see myself leading within the walls of my classroom.  As time went on, I started to see myself as a leader within the building.  Moving forward, I want to continue to find ways to gain leadership experience beyond the four walls of my building--but rather on a higher level, such as the district or county level.  I do not quite know what that looks like for me, yet; however, I do know that I will continue to seek out opportunities to lead others and share my love of learning and technology with others.