The End of a dream
By Amiee Stiverson
When I was younger, I was obsessed with Michigan State University, MSU! See, my dad was the only member of my extended family
to attend college and he went to Michigan State University. I was a daddy’s girl and immediately rooted
for MSU…I had all the clothes. But, at
that age that is all I could do…root for a team.
Finally, it was my turn to go off to college. I had a very smart older brother that went to Kettering (GMI) University and a second brother that was also very smart and went to Grand Valley. As the last member of my siblings to head off to college I wanted to get away and still be in a small setting. As I had gone to a small school my entire life Michigan State was not even on my mind of schools to look into. I decided on a smaller university, Lake Superior State University, to complete my education degree. I received my first teaching job in 2006. In 2009 I began my search for a Master's program. I had thought I would be doing some type of reading program. I stumbled upon MSU’s Educational Technology program and was so thrilled that I could finally follow through with doing more than just rooting for a team. I could actually follow in my father’s footsteps and attend the same school as him and feel confident that I could succeed in completing the Educational Technology endorsement and then my Masters.
As I look to the future again I see myself being a leader. Not only a leader when it comes to integrating technology in a meaningful way, but also being a leader among my colleagues in other ways. Every course throughout my Masters has been focusing in on that idea…technology needs to be used in a way that adds meaning and not to just use it for the sake of using it. Being a leader with technology will simply mean that I will encourage the use of technology within classrooms in meaningful ways as well as encouraging my colleagues to use technology to benefit themselves. Many of our courses have touched on points about the negative affects of shoving technology down teachers’ throats and giving them options to incorporate technologies in their own way.
At this point in my life I do not feel that I will be looking to commit to another Master's planned course or a PhD. I think that I will be taking a far less traveled road. I will be looking to further my technological self by attending conferences that integrate technology or by finding other professional development opportunities within my own school and Hillsdale County ISD. For example, I recently attended a Michigan Science conference in Lansing and there was a section dedicated to technology. I was surprised to have the section led by a MSU Educational Technology graduate. I received tons of new technologies to add into my class and offer to other professionals just from an hour long section through a science conference.
At this point in my career I feel that finding professional development opportunities throughout other avenues is a better option to stay on top of technologies. I am going to be searching for technology professional development opportunities at every turn. I feel that technology is always on the move, always changing and in order to stay in the know I need to be proactive in furthering myself with today’s technologies, instead of only relying on my MSU courses. I will also be finding other courses, webinars, professional development, etc in other areas to always push myself to become a better me.
I have entertained the idea of becoming a technology teacher. I do not want to become a computer teacher, but a technology integrator. I find that many teachers in my school only know the basics when it comes to ‘technology’. This means that they can use Microsoft Office tools but not much more than that. They do not realize that there is a whole realm of possibilities out there just at the tips of their fingers. Having a specific person in charge of helping teachers integrate multiple technology tools within their classroom might be a better option than giving all teachers a Smart board as a way to help add technology into their rooms. This is an idea that I will continue to think about and possibly speak with my supervisors about.
It took me believing in myself and having years of experience to finally finish a dream that I did not realize I still had…to follow my father and finally become a Michigan State Spartan.
Finally, it was my turn to go off to college. I had a very smart older brother that went to Kettering (GMI) University and a second brother that was also very smart and went to Grand Valley. As the last member of my siblings to head off to college I wanted to get away and still be in a small setting. As I had gone to a small school my entire life Michigan State was not even on my mind of schools to look into. I decided on a smaller university, Lake Superior State University, to complete my education degree. I received my first teaching job in 2006. In 2009 I began my search for a Master's program. I had thought I would be doing some type of reading program. I stumbled upon MSU’s Educational Technology program and was so thrilled that I could finally follow through with doing more than just rooting for a team. I could actually follow in my father’s footsteps and attend the same school as him and feel confident that I could succeed in completing the Educational Technology endorsement and then my Masters.
As I look to the future again I see myself being a leader. Not only a leader when it comes to integrating technology in a meaningful way, but also being a leader among my colleagues in other ways. Every course throughout my Masters has been focusing in on that idea…technology needs to be used in a way that adds meaning and not to just use it for the sake of using it. Being a leader with technology will simply mean that I will encourage the use of technology within classrooms in meaningful ways as well as encouraging my colleagues to use technology to benefit themselves. Many of our courses have touched on points about the negative affects of shoving technology down teachers’ throats and giving them options to incorporate technologies in their own way.
At this point in my life I do not feel that I will be looking to commit to another Master's planned course or a PhD. I think that I will be taking a far less traveled road. I will be looking to further my technological self by attending conferences that integrate technology or by finding other professional development opportunities within my own school and Hillsdale County ISD. For example, I recently attended a Michigan Science conference in Lansing and there was a section dedicated to technology. I was surprised to have the section led by a MSU Educational Technology graduate. I received tons of new technologies to add into my class and offer to other professionals just from an hour long section through a science conference.
At this point in my career I feel that finding professional development opportunities throughout other avenues is a better option to stay on top of technologies. I am going to be searching for technology professional development opportunities at every turn. I feel that technology is always on the move, always changing and in order to stay in the know I need to be proactive in furthering myself with today’s technologies, instead of only relying on my MSU courses. I will also be finding other courses, webinars, professional development, etc in other areas to always push myself to become a better me.
I have entertained the idea of becoming a technology teacher. I do not want to become a computer teacher, but a technology integrator. I find that many teachers in my school only know the basics when it comes to ‘technology’. This means that they can use Microsoft Office tools but not much more than that. They do not realize that there is a whole realm of possibilities out there just at the tips of their fingers. Having a specific person in charge of helping teachers integrate multiple technology tools within their classroom might be a better option than giving all teachers a Smart board as a way to help add technology into their rooms. This is an idea that I will continue to think about and possibly speak with my supervisors about.
It took me believing in myself and having years of experience to finally finish a dream that I did not realize I still had…to follow my father and finally become a Michigan State Spartan.