Always a Learner
I like to say that I am keeper of random knowledge, which I can contribute to the fact that I have always had a hunger for learning. My mom likes to remind me that as a child I never stopped talking, questioning and theorizing about the world and everything in it. As an only child, I was often lonely for someone to play with. Without having access to a sibling or neighborhood friend that was my age on a regular basis, I instead read books. Some would take me to faraway places, many allowed me to become a scientist, expert or researcher on whatever topic I was obsessed with at the time. As I grew and continued to learn and grow, so did my love for learning. It only seemed natural for me to become a teacher. Now, as an adult, I can say that my love of knowledge still exists. My curiosity about topics such as providing students with high quality instructional practices, being a technology and teacher leader in my district currently drives my quest to continue to learn and grow.
Education is constantly evolving and changing. As my teaching career continues, so does my desire to learn and know what the best educational practices are currently. This means that I will continue to take advantage of trainings, workshops and conferences that I find or are offered by my district. I will also continue to participate in the educational communities that I currently belong to. As of this summer, I have joined the Study of Early Literacy (SOEL) cohort, which is a two year long commitment to understanding and learning how to develop and promote early literacy skills and growth in our schools and communities. This is a long term commitment to learning in which I will take part of an action research project that is driven by my own interests and I have chosen to focus on reading practices and instruction.
As a future learner I would also like to continue to learn and grow as a technology leader in my school, district and beyond. I have been an active member of different educational technology communities, and through the Master’s of Arts in Educational Technology (MAET) program, my exposure and interest in these communities has grown immensely. I am looking forward to being more active on Twitter, and participating in conversations and activities using the #MichEd and #edtech hashtags to participate in conversations about technology integration in the classroom. I also have a long term goal of presenting more at educational conferences and sharing the work that I have done in my own classroom with technology. I would love to be able to present at the MACUL conference or even the ISTE conferences,
Reaching the first two goals will be different for me starting this year. After eleven amazing years in the classroom I am transitioning into a Kindergarten thru 6 grade instructional Coach position. With this change comes new opportunities for personal growth and learning. I have always been involved in district initiatives and have thought of myself as a “Teacher Leader” in the schools and districts that I work in. Now, my actual role is to be a Teacher Leader in the district, and to support teacher growth and learning. I know that I have so many new things to learn and have already started to reach out to other instructional coaches and coaching communities to help me do this through social media, mentor programs within my school and books. The andragogy of teaching adults is all new to me, and something that I am very interested in learning, however it also means that I am going to be in that uncomfortable learning spot for sometime, and that I need to learn how to grow through it even though it is going to take time to do so.
As I come to the conclusion of the MAET program, I feel as though I have many more tools to help me continue to work and grow as a learner. I also know that as I embark on my new adventures as an instructional coach I will have many more opportunities for learning and growth, and that excites me. I feel ready to take on new challenges and opportunities to acquire knowledge whether it be about instructional practices, technology in the classroom or how to be a positive teacher leader in my district. Using the words of Warren Berger from his book A More Beautiful Question (2014), “When you’re trying to do something that’s never before been done...the key is to learn and adapt as you go. You will have to ask a lot of questions.” you guide my learning, I think that I will be able to continue my path as a learner for life, and hopefully help, encourage and motivate others to join me along the way.