Future Learning

Being someone who strongly believes that education and learning are a continuous, lifelong experience, I always and looking for ways to improve myself and my career. My goals for the future of my own personal education have developed around my experiences working with students over the past decade. The first goal I ever decided on took place when I was at MSU studying for my undergrad and working part time at an after-school program for a district that is very inclusive of students with special needs such as autism, down syndrome, oppositional defiance disorder and many other emotional impairments. Another professional goal I have decided upon is continuing to become a trauma informed educator. This is something that has become very important to me as I wish knowing what I do now that my teachers growing up would have been more informed in this area and I now see students in my very own classroom dealing with similar forms of trauma I faced and many others. The last goal I have a huge interest in, is one that has developed throughout my master’s program. I took many classes that dealt with technology in education because I teach at a STEM school but also because I have always enjoyed using technology, but these classes really piqued my interest. While my goals for my future education as an educator are large and wide-ranging, the fact that I am always wanting to learn more drives my determination to reach all of my goals that I have for the future.

 

Special education was something I had never thought about as a direction for myself in my career originally. However, throughout my undergrad at Michigan State University I had the opportunity of working at an after-school program that was inclusive and welcoming to students with differing special needs. As I got to know the students in the program and their families, it opened up so many doors for me and what I wanted to do with my future. I spent much time seriously considering mastering in special education because of the pure joy I felt working with the students in the program. I always left feeling I left learning new lessons and things about the world from our students with these differing disabilities and getting the chance to see the world from their eyes and the many other ways people can communicate and interact with one another other than just what is considered to be “the norm.” While I did not choose to master’s in special education as I am not at the point in my career where I want to be out of the general education classroom, it is something that I am seriously considering in my future and more specifically focusing closely in ASD. The Autism Certification Center is somewhere I can look to for more training in the future.I look forward to continuing taking classes and finding other work experiences where I can again have the wonderful opportunity learning from and working more closely with those that qualify under special education.

 

The idea of trauma informed teaching is one that I have more recently been exposed to. Working in a district where many of our students have dealt with or encountered trauma already in their lives is something that led me to learning about this concept. Trauma comes in so many different forms and can impact the lives of our students in a multitude of ways. I have had a few small trainings about being trauma informed but it is something that I find truly important as I faced trauma myself as a child and wished that the teachers who I spent most of my time around were more aware of the signs and how to address incidents of things when I was comfortable enough disclosing information to them. I have had experience with students sharing their traumas with me and wish I could be better prepared in knowing the best and right thing to do or say for each student to help them cope and continue being successful as dealing with trauma can be expressed in such different extremes. I feel in the future I can work towards learning more about being trauma informed and be provided with full training and certification, one place I can lk to is Resilient Educators who offer a full in depth PD about being trauma informed for all age groups and different subject matters.

 

Technology is something that has always interested me, ever since I was a young child. I grew up playing computer games and loved all of the creative freedom that came along with them. I never truly realized how much technology could be incorporated into education until I reached my internship year of my undergrad and was placed at a STEM school. The variety of technologies and ways in which they were being incorporated was eye opening for me and got me excited about teaching in a whole new way. I ended up staying at this same STEM school after my internship and continue to teach there now. After the start of the pandemic and virtual teaching this year, I quickly became intrigued and invested in finding new and exciting ways to get my students learning with technology. However, I had already started my master’s program at the time in another area I am passionate about but took my interest in teaching with technology into account and picked courses that fit my program but were focused and based around incorporating technology. From these courses and my real-life experience using technology in the classroom this is something I would love to study farther. I know that I would like to become a STEM certified teacher in the near future and there are many online programs I can achieve that through, such as The National Institute for STEM Education. I am highly passionate about using technology when I teach, especially due to the fact that we are working in a world where are students are digital natives and technology is not going away any time soon.

 

Again, my future professional goals are very large, but encompass three areas that I find to be incredibly important in the world of education today. I have come to find a passion and strong desire to become more educated in the areas of special education, trauma informed teaching and teaching with technology throughout all different times in my life, but each was driven with my final destination being the best educator that I can be for all students who walk into my classroom. I will never be done learning and have much more to achieve and work towards in my future.