Goal
Reflection
Looking Ahead
My entrance into graduate school should prove that I do not want to become a “laminated teacher”. I encourage my students to be life-long learners and I know that students learn from example, not from just being told to do something. My students have helped in my time at Michigan State and have been a large part of my success. I shared my academic accomplishments and struggles with my students during morning meeting since I was encouraging them to do the same with their own academic pursuits. Although obtaining my Masters Degree will be a fulfillment of one of my most major life goals, I still have a few more dreams that I am hoping to achieve. I understand that all three of these goals are not likely. I am not entirely sure yet which two of the three I would like to go for. I am currently trying to feel out all three areas to decide which goals I am most interested in. My three major continued goals are to become a Literacy Leader or Literacy Coach in my district, to potentially become an administrator, and to become a Professor of Literacy at the college level.
I absolutely love my job as an elementary teacher and I enjoy teaching all subjects, but my absolute love of in my job is teaching literacy. I adore teaching children how to read with deeper depth and understanding. I spend a lot of time reading professional development books on literacy and I made it my concentration for my degree from MSU. I want to continue learning more about literacy education eventually become a Literacy Leader in my building. That is a teacher who attends literacy professional development and helps teachers in the building who have questions about teaching literacy to their students. I would also be interested in becoming a Literacy Coach and travel between schools and helping educators with their literacy work which is an imperative part of education.
My second goal is to potentially become an administrator. This is an idea I have been toying around with, but I am not entirely sure if it is something I want to pursue yet. The only thing I am absolutely certain about right now is that I am not finished being in the classroom by any means, but I have started laying groundwork down in case I ever decide it is time to try to move to administration. My first step was getting my graduate degree. The second is signing up for a program offered in my district called Galileo. This program teaching administrative leadership skills necessary for administrators, and it is difficult to become a principal in my district without this certification. Even if I decide not to become an administrator, I will still have learned more and grown from the Galileo program.
Click here to learn more about the Galileo program.
Image is taken from Oaklanduniversity.edu/galileo/
My final goal is a goal I have had since I started my teaching program at Central Michigan University. After I have had my fill of teaching elementary, I want to become a professor in an education college at a university and teach literacy. I have recently applied to be an adjunct literacy professor at a local community college. My hope is that getting my feet wet in this area would help me decide whether or not I really want to pursue professorship, and if I decide I like it I will begin looking into doctoral programs. I have already done some research on the program offered at Michigan State University. Once I know for sure that it is something I want to do, after a year or two of hopefully teaching night classes at the community college, I will apply. I think that this will be an either-or situation with an administration position. I want to explore both areas and discover which one I think I will enjoy more. I am not in a rush to switch gears in my career anytime soon, I am just looking down the road and making sure I have options in the future.
Click here to learn more about the MSU Education doctoral program.
This image is the intellectual property of MSU.
In conclusion, I plan to be a life-long learner. I recognize that it is unlikely I obtain all three of these positions. I am unsure which one or combination of the two I would like right now, so I am getting my feet wet in different areas and keeping all the doors open. I am not in a rush to change positions and I expect my goals and tastes may potentially change as my career progresses. For these reasons, I am going to stay open to all opportunities and keep pushing myself in all areas.