Growing My Big Picture Professional Goal

Upon looking back at my Michigan State University Masters of Arts in Education Technology (MAET) grad school application, I was very eager and focused on using technologies within the classroom to center my efforts on differentiation. During that time, my goal was to become a teacher in the forefront of piloting new classroom models using different technology avenues to support these efforts. I believed technology used in this way could have the reaching that I desired as a Kindergarten teacher to support the incredibly wide range of abilities coming into my classroom each year.

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Currently, my goal is the same for what I believe the focus of teachers should be regarding the use of appropriate technology platforms used to support powerful differentiated instruction for students. I want teachers to learn how to use technology as an avenue for richer instructional practices rather than a “one more thing”  type of experience. With that being said, my current goal has moved away from what I can do in my own classroom as a teacher, to how I can teach others looking for support, knowledge and experience in educating them on how to best support students in the classroom using technology in purposeful and meaningful ways. To summarize my current goal, I want to pull away from focusing on my own classroom, to the bigger picture of how I can support teachers and educational tech companies with their goals of supporting students in the classroom using technology as an avenue for meaningful and differentiated instructional purposes.

When I compare my goals, I see that I have grown as a teacher into wanting more of a leadership role in educating others with how to incorporate technology in classrooms. While I still want to focus on this important goal of incorporating technology into classrooms in meaningful ways, I currently want my reaching to go much further than the four walls of my classroom. I have changed and grown in my own classroom experiences related to technology and now wish to share this new knowledge and expertise with the world to help other educators and companies designing technology to support teachers and students in the classroom. My perspective has certainly changed with my initial goal statements solely focused on what “I” can do in “my” classroom to support students. I now feel a greater calling to extend this new knowledge to others. My goal no longer is focused on keeping me in the classroom. I am ready and excited for the possibilities that may await me as I finish my MAET program. I feel my goal has evolved with my confidence and experiences in teaching over the past six years along with my Master’s program learning. I find myself still focused on that main goal of supporting students in the classroom using technology in the best ways, but now focusing on how I can reach as many individuals as possible in this goal and serve many more students this way. While still in the classroom currently, I will continue to explore new technologies and build upon these experiences as I continue on this new big picture journey of reaching and educating others.