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As I reflect on myself as a learner, I feel this has been a long but powerful journey over the past year that has certainly changed my perspective in more ways than one on learning and leadership. I have always considered myself hard working, driven, caring, and passionate about my personal learning as well as student learning within my classroom. As I began my Master of Arts in Educational Technology (MAET) degree from Michigan State University, I continued down that same path. In beginning this process, my goal was to enhance my teaching strategies, learn new skills and tools to implement within my classroom, but never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be leaving the program with such an incredibly different and profound take on learning, teaching, leadership, and in a way, life. I not only learned valuable skills and tools to take with me in teaching, but I learned so much more about critical thinking/problem solving, true perspectives on leadership and where I fall in this, as well as how open and out of the box learning can and should be each day. I have accomplished my goals of becoming a stronger leader and educator, and so much more. This journey has been more valuable to me in ways I never could have imagined, teaching me to never stop learning, evolving, and be open to change every step of the way. I have been amazed at what I have learned and discovered as I took leaps of faith, stepped out of my comfort zone, and pushed ahead within each course in the program no matter how hard and impossible at times it felt.

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The first course of my program, CEP 810 (Teaching Understanding with Technology), set the tone in a powerful and positive way for what was to come throughout my learning journey. I learned many core concepts such as TPACK, the Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge framework and PLN’s, Professional Learning Networks. I explored many creative and innovative ways to use technology. This completely opened my world up to all that can be created and made at the fingertips of students. No longer are the days of paper and pencil worksheets, students can create and make something meaningful, real, solve real world problems, question the world around them and be present in their educations! The main project I worked on within CEP 810 was my Network Learning Project. I used online forums for the first time and YouTube videos to learn a brand new skill. From this experience I learned how to create authentic Mediterranean hummus. As silly as this may sound, this project had a profound effect on me. Through this process I learned about the power and knowledge that exists on the internet and how connected you can be if you take the time to explore and learn. This is something I now take with me in everything I do, regardless of in the classroom teaching or not. Remembering the tools around me, and the vast knowledge that exists on the internet is a powerful lesson I learned through this course. I no longer see teaching as a “get through the content” approach; I let my little learners drive us. I let them guide our process and thinking to make each experience authentic and meaningful for them in new ways each day.

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Another course that had a strong effect on me as an educator was CEP 820 (Teaching Students Online). This course began with focusing on a variety of LMS’s, which are Learning Management Systems. I spent time exploring their capabilities and eventually chose a platform and created my very own online learning course. I created this course using Weebly. In this course I explored the world of online and blended learning and designed a hybrid kindergarten reading course for students and parents to go through along with what was happening in the classroom. This experience allowed me to explore the creation of a website and how to best communicate learning through this platform in a meaningful way, which I currently still use in my classroom today. I had no ideas the capabilities that existed in creating an online website, I learned so much through this process and how students can access new learning in this way which can have very positive effects on learning. This course had a major effect on my teaching techniques because I had never before even considered using an online course for five year olds, let alone one where I had to give in a way “homework” to them for parents to work with their children as well. This course completely took me out of my comfort zone and expectations of what kindergarteners can and should be doing. Once creating and implementing this course in my own classroom, I saw the profound effects it had on my student’s learning, especially with having those at home reinforcements of content. As well as I found a much more plugged in and connected relationship with families of my students throughout the school year. It was a huge shift in how I have taught in previous years and it opened me up to much more of a “can do” and “let’s try it out” attitude in teaching. Since taking this course, going forward with any new initiative, technology integration, I have a different perspective and take on things. I no longer say it cannot be done, and they are too young for this. We try, we adapt, we make it happen, and we do great things together, more than most think possible, including the students themselves.

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In regards to the shifts in my thinking through the program, CEP 812 (Applying Educational Technology to Issues of Practice) pushed me further than any other course in the program. The main focus of the course was to examine a wicked problem in education. I worked with a group, “think tank” within the course and came together to use technological tools, research, and deep reflective thinking and collaboration to create an answer to a wicked problem in education. My group focused on the issue of personalized learning. We began our inquiry through asking “why” questions, then conducted research, proposed potential solution, developed solutions, surveyed colleagues, and lastly put together all of the gathered information to propose the best bad solution to our wicked problem. Although I learned a lot about project based learning and flipped learning which was very valuable to my teaching instruction through this project, the biggest shift made was by the process this course made us go through in the wicked problem project. I now believe in this process through thinking about my own personal life choices as well as how I instruct in the classroom. We rarely ask questions any more that cannot simply be answered by picking up our cell phone and typing into Google. Keeping the passion and fire alive in questioning and wondering is something I now make a point to instill in my students and in myself as I have gone through the rest of my courses and beyond. This is a lesson and format of questioning that will stick with my forever. I will forever be grateful for the shifts this course made in my thinking.

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Lastly, another course that has positively influenced me in many ways, especially with going forward out of the classroom in future career endeavors is, CEP 815 (Technology and Leadership). This course may have been the most challenging for me at first but proved to be the most beneficial. CEP 815 is centered around becoming a technology leader and giving you the tools to be successful in managing this goal through learning about the different types and styles of leaders. I learned about the history and evolution of technology and the aims of education. This course took me so far out of my comfort zone of the perspective of a classroom teacher and forced me to take on a role completely new to me and think about the big picture and tiny details, at the leadership level, something I had never been asked to do before. It taught me to focus on the important relationships between technology, teaching and learning. I had been in leadership roles throughout my career and even in high school as the captain for sports teams, but learning and acting in the leadership roles made through this course as a true agent of change and creating a movement having all parties on board from staff members, to community and board members took me completely out of my element and forced me to dig deep. This course allowed me to practice being in the movement through researching and engaging in “thorny issues” in education regarding technology integration effectiveness and put me in the shoes of an administrator time and time again in creating authentic professional developments, writing learning initiatives and more. My biggest take away from the course especially in going forward in new positions outside of the classroom, is a true leader needs to understand their local content “understand the present” and an endpoint must be determined for the leader to develop a vision and drive any change for the future. By the end of this course I was able to create a shared understanding of the ways technology, learning, and leadership go hand in hand and the roles and actions necessary to be a sound leader. To wrap up my thinking and leadership learning throughout the course, I created a vision statement that will drive me in all future endeavors related to technology integration going forward.

 

 

 

To wrap up my thinking, I am incredibly grateful for everything the MAET degree program at Michigan State has taught me. I am thankful for the experiences I have had, the deep learning and content knowledge I have gained, as well as my entire perspective on thinking, learning, and leading. Through my many positive and challenging experiences in this program I find myself truly feeling confident in a way I never thought possible. I do not necessarily have the confidence to say I “know it all”, that I am the technology guru of the century. Instead, I am very confident in myself as an experienced and well rounded educator, future and current leader, and learner. I believe I have reached my goals of improving my teaching practices through learning and implementing technology to provide authentic learning experiences for students. Far beyond becoming an effective educator, I have become a leader in ways I never could have imagined. My core, my goals, my beliefs systems are incredibly engrained through the core foundational concepts and ideals I have learned through this program.  A powerful message I am left with through this program that  will continue to ring through my mind going forward after all is said and done in this program is: while knowing what to do is important, being able to translate ideas into action that  cascade throughout an organization is completely different.  I look forward to what lies ahead of me, future leadership opportunities in a new field where I can take all that I have learned with effective implementation of technology, critical thinking, questioning, and creating, and find a place where I can use all that Michigan State has given me over this past year to lead, learn, and take ACTION.