RESTRUCTURING MY APPROACH
The first day in my own classroom was a day I’ll never forget. More than four years of preparation had gone into that moment, and yet, I still found myself standing at my classroom door feeling completely excited and nervous for the task ahead of me. I realized that day that my personal development towards becoming the teacher I wanted to be was only just beginning, so at the end of my second year of teaching, I applied to the Master of Education (MAED) program at Michigan State University in hopes of attaining a graduate degree with concentrations in Special Education and Science and Mathematics Education.
My goals when applying to the program were straight forward, and they focused around what most teachers spend their careers working towards: better outcomes for students academically, socially, and emotionally. Specifically, I wanted to improve my ability to differentiate instruction to better serve my students with disabilities, and I also wanted to increase my competency in delivering science and mathematics content to students with disabilities, an area that is often overlooked in teacher preparation programs and professional development for low-incidence special education teachers.
Arriving nearly at the completion of my degree, my goals have shifted. I have undoubtedly achieved some of my goals to learn new strategies for differentiating and delivering content. Now, however, my goals cast a wider net over my teaching practice. Moving forward, I want to continue to engage in a personal learning process that leads to better outcomes for my students, and I would also like to continue to build a presence and continue to interact within a professional network of teachers.
Striving to improve my differentiation strategies as well as my delivery of science and mathematics content is something I will always try to do, but my goal now has evolved from simply filling my toolbox to fine tuning and developing a process for effectively serving students. Psychologist Howard Gardner describes knowledge as “convergence on truth,” and that is how I want to serve my students. I will work on improving my teaching practice in a way that converges on the greatest benefit for students through evaluating needs, selecting meaningful strategies, and reflecting on results. With this process-oriented goal in mind, my learning does not stop at the end of my program.
Another general shift in my goals is the move from a “me” centered approach to a “we” centered approach. The MAED program allowed me to see the wealth of knowledge and wisdom that can be found within a professional network, even when that network is completely digital. Collaboration with other teachers has been the foundation of so much of my learning and development throughout the MAED program, and our increased reliance on technology due to the COVID-19 pandemic has shown me the benefit of learning on others and sharing ideas across multiple platforms. The restructuring of my professional goals nearing the completion of the MAED program will allow me to continue to improve my teaching practice in order to cultivate spaces where children are able to thrive.