random searches on the internet
By Amiee Stiverson
In order to apply to the Educational Technology program a requirement was to write a goal essay. I was asked by my instructors to look back at that goal essay that I wrote so long ago and reflect on it as a learner.
I would
like to take you back five years to the beginning of 2009. This is when I started considering what I was
going to do about continuing my education.
I was sitting on my couch randomly searching university Master’s courses,
thinking I would have to pick a Master course of study. I stumbled onto to Michigan State
Universities Master's of Arts in Educational Technology. Digging deeper, I found that you could receive
a certificate, an endorsement, and then a Masters.
This Master's program seemed to be right up my alley. I enjoyed using a computer, but was unsure how to bring a lot of computer use into my third grade classroom. This program also appealed to me because an endorsement was 21 credits. This amount of credits would allow me to apply for my professional teaching certificate as well as have a lane change within my pay grade. The cherry on top of all this was that I would be able to take all of these courses in the summer and only two courses needed a book. Summer courses, bookless classes, using a computer for all my work, & courses between 8 and 12 weeks. How could I pass that up!?
When I first applied to the program, my philosophy was to have students enjoy learning by doing activities that they do not realize are lessons. I still believe that, but with additions. I feel that teaching needs to be performed in many different ways to meet the needs of all students. I still use games to teach. These games come in a variety of medias: technology, card games, iPad applications, and dice games to name a few. The students have to have the background knowledge in order to be successful in these games. When a student does not understand the concept they typically guess to play the game which makes it easy for me to pick them out and give them more interventions for understanding. That was my ultimate goal was learn more technology to be more innovative in my classroom. My goals were going to be to create a classroom experience unique to me and the use of my technology and to increase my knowledge of other technologies out there that I was unaware of.
Since I now teach second grade I do not use as much technology as I have in the past, but I do use more technology in my everyday school life. I am called on as a School Improvement Team representative to use technologies to collect data, desegregate data, and more.
When I started this process five long years ago I wanted to get the endorsement and then continue on with a Master's in the subject of reading. With our society moving so quickly down the technology road I feel that a Master's in Educational Technology would better serve my educational needs. I feel that technology has come so far in just the last few years that I will be continuing my education well past my Masters.
Technology changes so quickly that if I want to stay in the know, I will have to find other avenues to continue learning new technology innovations. I feel like I will always be that lifelong learner that we want our own students to be. My own technology journey has gone by far above and beyond what I had ever expected. As a teacher, my goal is always to create a positive classroom environment making it unique to me with the use of technology. There are times when this is more successful than others, but I must keep up the goal of reaching for this to be the standard in my room at all times no matter the grade I am teaching.
This Master's program seemed to be right up my alley. I enjoyed using a computer, but was unsure how to bring a lot of computer use into my third grade classroom. This program also appealed to me because an endorsement was 21 credits. This amount of credits would allow me to apply for my professional teaching certificate as well as have a lane change within my pay grade. The cherry on top of all this was that I would be able to take all of these courses in the summer and only two courses needed a book. Summer courses, bookless classes, using a computer for all my work, & courses between 8 and 12 weeks. How could I pass that up!?
When I first applied to the program, my philosophy was to have students enjoy learning by doing activities that they do not realize are lessons. I still believe that, but with additions. I feel that teaching needs to be performed in many different ways to meet the needs of all students. I still use games to teach. These games come in a variety of medias: technology, card games, iPad applications, and dice games to name a few. The students have to have the background knowledge in order to be successful in these games. When a student does not understand the concept they typically guess to play the game which makes it easy for me to pick them out and give them more interventions for understanding. That was my ultimate goal was learn more technology to be more innovative in my classroom. My goals were going to be to create a classroom experience unique to me and the use of my technology and to increase my knowledge of other technologies out there that I was unaware of.
Since I now teach second grade I do not use as much technology as I have in the past, but I do use more technology in my everyday school life. I am called on as a School Improvement Team representative to use technologies to collect data, desegregate data, and more.
When I started this process five long years ago I wanted to get the endorsement and then continue on with a Master's in the subject of reading. With our society moving so quickly down the technology road I feel that a Master's in Educational Technology would better serve my educational needs. I feel that technology has come so far in just the last few years that I will be continuing my education well past my Masters.
Technology changes so quickly that if I want to stay in the know, I will have to find other avenues to continue learning new technology innovations. I feel like I will always be that lifelong learner that we want our own students to be. My own technology journey has gone by far above and beyond what I had ever expected. As a teacher, my goal is always to create a positive classroom environment making it unique to me with the use of technology. There are times when this is more successful than others, but I must keep up the goal of reaching for this to be the standard in my room at all times no matter the grade I am teaching.