A 21st Century Teacher
Synthesis Essay
By: Stephanie Houser
I have known for a very long time that I wanted to be a teacher. As a little kid playing teacher was one of my favorite things to do, pretending to grade papers and writing on a chalkboard. In high school I truly realized that being a teacher was a career I was destined for, when I took a class called Educational Paradigms that was focused on the basics of teaching for anyone that was interesting in pursuing this in college. It was in high school that I designed and taught my first lesson plan and volunteered daily for several weeks in a nearby kindergarten classroom.
Knowing that it was my passion to become a teacher, naturally I wanted to go to college with the best teacher preparation program. During my undergraduate studies I took an elective called Teaching and Learning with Technology where I was drawn to the idea of enhancing the classroom with technology and learning more about this concept. This interest was put on the back burner while I did my student teaching and searched for my first teaching job. I was very fortunate to find a teaching job right away, in a 3rd grade classroom in Pontiac, Michigan. During the first year teaching, I was consumed with really learning how to be a good teacher and properly manage a classroom while learning all the ins and outs of the school. Then I transferred across the state to be closer to my fiancé and was back again with a new job, at a new school learning all new routines. This pattern of change continued as I have switched grade levels or schools every year of my teaching career so far.
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It was one day in my third year of teaching in my second different grade level and second different school that I realized that I enjoyed the challenge of learning new things all the time. It was at this point that I decided why not go back to school and finish my master’s degree. When trying to decide on a program I thought about how I was very tech savvy and was a go to person at my schools for technical issues and incorporating technology. I also knew how much I enjoyed the one technology class I took during my undergrad. I felt that the MAET program, Master of Arts in Educational Technology, at Michigan State University (MSU) was the right program for me. My husband and I met and both graduated with our bachelor’s degrees from MSU, so it felt right to go back to our Alma Mater, and the place that gave me all the tools to start out on my journey.
My master’s degree journey started during my internship year (student teaching), in which I was enrolled in four master’s level courses on teaching practices. TE 801 (Professional Roles and Teaching Practice), TE 802 (Reflection and Inquiry in Teaching Practice), TE 803 (Professional Roles and Teaching Practice II) and TE804 (Reflection and Inquiry in Teaching Practice II) were my first courses that focused on the teaching practices of each of the four major teaching areas, mathematics, language arts, science and social studies. During the time of taking these courses I was able to take risks and experiment with strategies while having a mentor teacher to watch and guide me through the process. Every time we learned about a teaching strategy in our masters classes we tried to implement that strategy in our classrooms with in the next week or so. Some lessons that I developed worked better than others but it was a chance to try new things and find ways of learning and teaching that would work for both me as the teacher and my students. I had an amazing mentor teacher that taught me a lot but I also realized that every teacher is different and what works for one teacher may not work for another teacher. I was fortunate enough to be student teaching at a school with some technology that also allowed me to try teaching strategies that included this technology in different ways to continue to reach all learners in my classroom and challenge them.
One of the first required courses that I took for the MAET program was CEP 810, Teaching for Understanding with Technology. Throughout this course I had the opportunity to interact with learning and technologies in order to create 21st century learning. We tested out and had experience with many technologies from different points of view of the teacher, student and professional. We then had to evaluate the pros and cons of each technology tool and consider the different learning opportunities in which we would use the different technologies. Tools such as Wordle, QR codes, Popplet and Screencast-o-Matic are just a few of the tools I was introduced to in this course. Each tool can play a role in teaching for understanding in a classroom but need to be used in an appropriate way. I also was introduced to TPACK, Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge theory in this course.
In this course, I completed a Network Learning Project in which I had to teach myself a new skill through using only YouTube Videos. I had never really thought of this idea before but after teaching myself how to draw using pastels. I created a video myself to document what I had learned. I continued this type of learning after finishing this course through researching videos of classrooms and teaching methods to improve myself as a teacher and learn from others. One of the most important things that I learned in this course is to use technology to support teaching in an efficient way and not to just use technology because you can. The ultimate goal in the classroom is for students to understand what they are learning and technology can help students understand concepts in a deeper way when used correctly.
In the fall of 2014, I began one of the many courses which I found to be incredibly helpful as a classroom teacher, TE 846: Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners. This course really helped me to become more confident as a literacy teacher. Even though I took this course as an elective to meet the state of Michigan Reading Requirement for license renewal and it was not technology based I still learned a lot. All three schools in which I have worked have been Title 1 schools and the ability level of the students in my classrooms, easily spread over multiple grade levels each year. Before taking this course I was unsure how to reach all my students at the same time. I learned a lot about using a wide variety of assessments to learn about my students on a deeper level.
I had the opportunity to choose one student to create a case study in which we observed a struggling learner in our own classroom, assessed, taught and evaluated on a deeper level. I also had the pleasure of working with peers from a variety of educational settings. I found it eye opening to discuss literacy with middle school teachers from various backgrounds as well as elementary school teachers. Even though this course was literacy based and not technology based, I found myself taking ideas that I have learned about using technology in other courses and applying them to literacy lessons that I taught with my students. It was very eye opening to be able to see the ideas of literacy instruction and educational technology come together rather easily.
As the culmination on the MAET program, I participated in the Capstone in Educational Technology (CEP 807). This course allowed me time to revisit all my experiences throughout the online Master of Arts in Educational Technology program in an informative way. The capstone seminar has helped me to create this digital online portfolio which demonstrates my experiences as a learner, who I am as a teacher, and has helped me to look back at my past and to look forward to my future as an educator. In this course I wrote my Goal Reflection Essay, in which I looked back at my goals when applying to the MAET program and analyzed how my thinking has changed over approximately the last two years. In the last 2 years I have kept a full time teaching job, gotten engaged, planned a wedding, got married, bought a house and am now relocating across the country for my husband’s new job.
All of these wonderful experiences can cloud all the learning that has really taken place throughout the program due to life being hectic. Sitting down to reflect and write the goal reflection essay helped me to really think about everything and all the learning that has taken place since I started the program, which was insightful. In this course, I also wrote a Future as a Learner Essay, which required me to look at myself as a lifelong learner. With my formal education coming to a close I had to ask myself what is next and how I plan on continuing to develop and learn as a teacher. This essay came at an interesting time in my life as I am getting ready to move across the country and try to start my career again in a different state. It allowed me to contemplate what I want for my future as a learner as well as an educator. I know that I will never stop learning new things on my own and learning from life’s experiences.
I was not real sure before starting the program exactly how it was going to help me and what I was going to learn. I knew that I liked the technology course that I took during my undergrad and that I had a family friend who had just completed the MAET program saying how great it was and therefore just went for it. Participation in the MAET program has allowed me to evolve as a teacher. I have learned what it means to integrate technology successfully and effectively into the classroom and inspire other teacher to integrate technology into their classrooms. Given technology’s every changing nature, I will continue to be inspired to continue to learn about new forms of technology and how to best used these tools in the classroom. While my formal education is finished for now, I know that my learning will never be finished and that I will continue to educate myself because of my passion for learning. I now know that I have gained skills that will significantly improve my career as a teacher and open up new opportunities for me.