Looking Back...
Goal Reflection Essay
Goals are an important piece of my everyday life as an educator. When I applied to Michigan State University I was asked to provide the goals that I had for the degree I had chosen in educational technology. My main goals were to increase student engagement through the use of technology in my classroom and to become more fluent in my own use of technology. I also chose this degree just in case I wanted to move out of the classroom environment but remain connected to education. My goals have evolved through my work in the MAET program. I have become more concrete with my goals and they less broad and more to the point. As I have moved through the program I have learned more about the importance of setting goals and working towards them.
In the beginning my goals were broad. I wanted to use technology to increase engagement towards learning among my students and my thought process was really just getting to "the how" of accomplishing this. My reasoning behind this goal was to better prepare them for a future that would most likely involve technology in one form or another as well as to increase their proficiency in different subject areas. As I have worked my way through classes I have learned the importance of missional thinking over instrumental thinking which brings goal setting into the selection process of using technology to supplement or to teach content in an educational setting. I've also learned how to use technology so that its implementation is meaningful to the content being taught using the TPACK model for teaching with technology.
I also wanted to become more fluent with technology. I have narrowed this goal down as well seeing as how when I first thought about it, the wording was "I want to be able to use any type of technology, fluently." The way this was written makes the goal unattainable and I'm not sure I agree with myself now that I'm looking back on what I wanted to accomplish. I feel that I have learned a lot about a lot of different technologies, some I am fluent with because I use them in almost every class and some I'm still learning about but am familiar with. I think what my goal is now is to continue to learn and work on becoming fluent with new technologies. This way I can continue to learn and progress as an educator.
The last goal that I had for beginning my educational technology journey was to expand my options in case I ever wanted to leave the classroom but remain connected to education. This goal is on the backburner when it comes to my career, but I learned a lot about possible options for putting this degree to good use outside the classroom. Much of what I learned about my options came from CEP 815: Technology and Leadership. As I have worked my way through the course I have kept this goal the same but I have also come to the realization that I love being in the classroom and that I don't really see myself leaving my profession as an elementary classroom teacher.
Goals are important to every profession, they are constantly being set and met in the educational community. We set goals as educators daily, weekly, monthly, etc. We set goals in our personal life and our professional life. The goals I have set for myself in this program started out as broad and somewhat undefined and they have become more clear to me as I have worked through the content of each course. What has remained constant through my work is that my students are a primary focus for the accomplishments I have made. I want the work that I have done to benefit them in terms of engagement, achievement, and readiness for the future that lies ahead of them. I have also maintained that I want to continue to learn about technology and what it can do for education even after my MAET days are over. Lastly, I want the knowledge I gain about technology in education to always have the ability to open new doors for me if I am looking for a new path or passion.
In the beginning my goals were broad. I wanted to use technology to increase engagement towards learning among my students and my thought process was really just getting to "the how" of accomplishing this. My reasoning behind this goal was to better prepare them for a future that would most likely involve technology in one form or another as well as to increase their proficiency in different subject areas. As I have worked my way through classes I have learned the importance of missional thinking over instrumental thinking which brings goal setting into the selection process of using technology to supplement or to teach content in an educational setting. I've also learned how to use technology so that its implementation is meaningful to the content being taught using the TPACK model for teaching with technology.
I also wanted to become more fluent with technology. I have narrowed this goal down as well seeing as how when I first thought about it, the wording was "I want to be able to use any type of technology, fluently." The way this was written makes the goal unattainable and I'm not sure I agree with myself now that I'm looking back on what I wanted to accomplish. I feel that I have learned a lot about a lot of different technologies, some I am fluent with because I use them in almost every class and some I'm still learning about but am familiar with. I think what my goal is now is to continue to learn and work on becoming fluent with new technologies. This way I can continue to learn and progress as an educator.
The last goal that I had for beginning my educational technology journey was to expand my options in case I ever wanted to leave the classroom but remain connected to education. This goal is on the backburner when it comes to my career, but I learned a lot about possible options for putting this degree to good use outside the classroom. Much of what I learned about my options came from CEP 815: Technology and Leadership. As I have worked my way through the course I have kept this goal the same but I have also come to the realization that I love being in the classroom and that I don't really see myself leaving my profession as an elementary classroom teacher.
Goals are important to every profession, they are constantly being set and met in the educational community. We set goals as educators daily, weekly, monthly, etc. We set goals in our personal life and our professional life. The goals I have set for myself in this program started out as broad and somewhat undefined and they have become more clear to me as I have worked through the content of each course. What has remained constant through my work is that my students are a primary focus for the accomplishments I have made. I want the work that I have done to benefit them in terms of engagement, achievement, and readiness for the future that lies ahead of them. I have also maintained that I want to continue to learn about technology and what it can do for education even after my MAET days are over. Lastly, I want the knowledge I gain about technology in education to always have the ability to open new doors for me if I am looking for a new path or passion.