The Journey Continues...
Future as a Leader Essay
As my work for my Master’s in Educational Technology comes to a close, it would be easy to think that this is the end of my learning. However it is really just the beginning. My ultimate goal in my career is to become the best teacher that I can be. In order to accomplish this; I have goals in which I feel will help me reach this in my future. There are so many new and innovative technologies occurring constantly, the field of educational technology changes rapidly all the time. I believe that I am on a path of continuous learning and evolving in order to continue to be the best teacher that I can be. The three goals that I plan on focusing on in my future are student learning, collaboration and technology.
I truly believe that technology, when used correctly, can increase student learning. I am very fortunate to have a great school and strong personal learning community to assist me with continuing to learn and reach my educational goals. For the first 3 years of my teaching career I taught at a low-income school where resources, especially technology, were very limited. This year I have been very fortunate to join a new school who has the same values as myself and believe in how important it is to have technology to take student learning to the next level.
My school is planning on rolling out one to one iPads next year and therefore I have been spending the last year, learning what are going to be the best ways for all teachers to use these in their classrooms. It is my plan to be a part of the educational technology leadership team at my school this spring/summer in which I will continue to push myself to learn new things about technology as well as instruct and assist other teacher in my building/district on how to incorporate their new tools in the most effective way. Unfortunately, I will not be able to continue to assist my current school, due to my husband’s job transfer taking us to a new state but I hope that the knowledge and skills that I have shared with them and will continue to share with them through the end of the year will be beneficial in helping them prepare for their new technology.
It is my plan to find a new job in a new state in which I can bring my knowledge of technology to help be able to jump in and be a team player. While I am still a fairly new teacher and the fact that I have am going to be moving schools again I think that my new knowledge will help me feel more confident and comfortable in my teaching practices as well as to help my future colleagues.
The last thing that I plan to do throughout my career as an educator, is to never stop learning. I plan on seeking out professional development classes to take to help keep me up to date on new educational practices, especially those including technology. As long as I am in the classroom I am determined to stay up to date and not get stuck in a rut or with old habits and be unwilling to be open to change. The education field has changed dramatically since even I was in school, primarily due to the increase of technology in our lives.
While I do not see it likely that I will ever leave the classroom setting, it is what I love best, I am sure that as I continue down the path of learning more about educational technology that many options will become available to me. I would consider being a technology coach or having some extra roll in schools in which I would assist teachers in incorporating technology. The future is unknown, who knows the different kinds of opportunities that will arise. I am excited to see what the future holds as a learner and as a teacher.
