To the future we go...
Now that one chapter is ending, my time at MSU, and another is beginning, it is an appropriate time to think about the next chapter because it isn’t going to write itself. As an educator, it is very important to be a life-long learner. It is not only important for the teacher to be a life-long learner so that they can serve their students the best that they can, but so that the teacher is a role model for their students.
In order to start this new chapter, I need to set a few goals. My first goal is to attain a teaching job for this school year. Last year I graduated and had a long-term sub position for about 16 weeks. I want to be able to apply what I learned in these courses with students. I want to be able to take risks, succeed, as well as fail. I believe that it is very important to implement what we learn into the classroom because we can see how technology can change and affect student learning, in particular student engagement.
My next goal is to, eventually, go back to school to continue my education. I would like to have a job at this point, so I am not paying for it :), and not jump right back into school. I am not sure what I want to study yet. I know that I definitely want to go to Spain, or another Spanish-speaking country to a summer and take formal courses. I either want to go back to school for my M.A. in Spanish or go back for curriculum and instruction and look into working more on the administrative level. Regardless, I definitely would like to go back to school.
Another goal that I have is to continue with informal education. I want to be able to take time to do research about using technology in the classroom, attend conferences and be more responsible for my own learning. I want to attend professional developments and learn more about web 2.0 tools that I haven’t learned about yet. Before I started at MSU, I wanted to make a wikispace for teachers to use as a resources. In one of my certificate classes I created a wikispace with start-up pages. This is something that I want to continue to use so I can show other teachers. I would also like to get back into using twitter and becoming more involved in the weekly edchats.
I also want to be able to be a technology leader wherever I am working. If I can’t get a job as a teacher, but rather a technology specialist/coach, that will be great. Either way, I want to be able to teach other teachers about how to use technology in their classrooms, specifically world language teachers. Many times the “specials and electives” are forgotten about and most classes focus on English, Social Studies, Mathematics and Science. I want to be able to encourage all teachers to take chances using technology as well as guide them in doing so, because they will most likely like the changes that they see in their lessons and students.
I believe that I have to skills and the means to reach all of these goals due to my undergraduate technology classes and experiences as well as these classes that I have taken as MSU. I have been able to learn so much and I have been able to see the vast and positive effects that technology can have on learning, students and the teachers. I know that technology is always changing so I will be pushed to continue learning.
There is a Tom Petty quote that I really like that talks about life, college and “living” the 4 years of college because “the work never ends, but college does...”. Even though our time at MSU and our programs may be ending, that certainly does not mean that learning ends. We are constantly and continuously learning in order to better ourselves. It is impossible not to live every day and not learn something new. Sometimes we do not seek learning and rather learning will seek us. Regardless we are all life-long learners and this is just the beginning for each of us.
In order to start this new chapter, I need to set a few goals. My first goal is to attain a teaching job for this school year. Last year I graduated and had a long-term sub position for about 16 weeks. I want to be able to apply what I learned in these courses with students. I want to be able to take risks, succeed, as well as fail. I believe that it is very important to implement what we learn into the classroom because we can see how technology can change and affect student learning, in particular student engagement.
My next goal is to, eventually, go back to school to continue my education. I would like to have a job at this point, so I am not paying for it :), and not jump right back into school. I am not sure what I want to study yet. I know that I definitely want to go to Spain, or another Spanish-speaking country to a summer and take formal courses. I either want to go back to school for my M.A. in Spanish or go back for curriculum and instruction and look into working more on the administrative level. Regardless, I definitely would like to go back to school.
Another goal that I have is to continue with informal education. I want to be able to take time to do research about using technology in the classroom, attend conferences and be more responsible for my own learning. I want to attend professional developments and learn more about web 2.0 tools that I haven’t learned about yet. Before I started at MSU, I wanted to make a wikispace for teachers to use as a resources. In one of my certificate classes I created a wikispace with start-up pages. This is something that I want to continue to use so I can show other teachers. I would also like to get back into using twitter and becoming more involved in the weekly edchats.
I also want to be able to be a technology leader wherever I am working. If I can’t get a job as a teacher, but rather a technology specialist/coach, that will be great. Either way, I want to be able to teach other teachers about how to use technology in their classrooms, specifically world language teachers. Many times the “specials and electives” are forgotten about and most classes focus on English, Social Studies, Mathematics and Science. I want to be able to encourage all teachers to take chances using technology as well as guide them in doing so, because they will most likely like the changes that they see in their lessons and students.
I believe that I have to skills and the means to reach all of these goals due to my undergraduate technology classes and experiences as well as these classes that I have taken as MSU. I have been able to learn so much and I have been able to see the vast and positive effects that technology can have on learning, students and the teachers. I know that technology is always changing so I will be pushed to continue learning.
There is a Tom Petty quote that I really like that talks about life, college and “living” the 4 years of college because “the work never ends, but college does...”. Even though our time at MSU and our programs may be ending, that certainly does not mean that learning ends. We are constantly and continuously learning in order to better ourselves. It is impossible not to live every day and not learn something new. Sometimes we do not seek learning and rather learning will seek us. Regardless we are all life-long learners and this is just the beginning for each of us.
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