“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” – George Bernard Shaw
Initially, when I took my first steps towards receiving a Master of Arts degree in Education, through the Masters of Education program with Michigan State University, I had goals of utilizing my graduate degree and concentrations both in and out of the classroom. Hoping to take the skills I would learn in the program, and promote fluid literacy growth within my Chicago Public Schools classroom, I was motivated to effectively manage my courses in order to better my school community. I planned to grow through the classes I enrolled in, completing my concentration in literacy education, in order to help my school devise an improvement plan where we can support all readers in our building and allow them to become lovers of literacy. I created goals for myself at the beginning of this program, in order to meet my career objective of becoming a reading specialist and supporting struggling readers in their educational journey. These initial goals are as stated:
Promote a fluid literacy growth within my specific classroom
Devise a school improvement plan to support all readers in the building
As I traveled along my own educational journey however, I found my goals evolving as I continued to progress towards the completion of my degree. Initially I was motivated to gain a skill set that would alter my career completely, from classroom teacher to reading specialist. However, the MAED program has made me more determined to make changes in my current general education classroom instead. Through taking courses on culturally responsive education, numerous pathways of literacy instruction, and ways to support bilingual learners I have developed goals of providing all students in my classroom with equitable instruction rooted in best practices. The reinvigorated list of goals I have created for myself are deeply rooted in both the things I have studied through this program, as well as the ways my students have shaped me as a person.
Develop an effective literacy education plan, rooted in best practices, to ensure literacy improvement within my classroom
Provide students with equitable and differentiated literacy instruction that will support their specific individual needs
While looking back at my original goals for the MAED program I am able to see that many of my initial central goals have remained the same, however the environments I have been able to teach within have caused many of the goals to be altered. While I no longer hope to use these skills in a reading specialist position, I am more motivated than ever to bring the best practices I have studied into the learning map of the second graders in my classroom. I have developed a skill set that will allow me to support my students and allow them to fall in love with education. I am driven to provide the best instruction possible for all students in my community in order to help them prepare for their academic future accomplishments. I am still in love with literacy education and I have found so many inspiring ways to bring the things I have learned through my MAED courses into the classroom. This right here, however, is where my goals have changed. I firmly believe that teachers help grow young children’s minds by guiding and encouraging them to be actively curious learners both inside and outside the classroom. I know that in order to reach these goals, I myself, can never stop furthering my personal education and growing my teaching practice.