Pursuing Excellence in Teaching
By: Christine Sherwood
During my second year of teaching, I decided I wanted to return to Michigan State University to obtain my master’s degree in order to improve my teaching skills. Therefore, I submitted my professional goal statement along with my application to MSU Master of Art in Education Program in November of 2009. I am continuously reflecting upon my teaching practices with a strong desire to grow as an educator. In my professional goal statement, I had many aspirations that I wanted to accomplish while in the MAED Program.
I believed that earning a master’s degree would help me fulfill my passion for education and assist in reaching my goal of becoming a more effective, meaningful, and inspirational educator. I have a passion for math and science and I hope to instill this drive and enthusiasm in my students. In order to accomplish this goal, I needed to be a more effective inquiry based facilitator and strengthen my ability to teach for conceptual knowledge. Furthermore, I am striving to create a more authentic learning experience for my students in which they can take ownership of their education and become more critical thinkers, questioners, and problem-solvers. I believe it is important that I learn more about the different forms of technology and have a deeper understanding of them so I can be better suited to integrate technology across the curriculum. This would help my students stay engaged and interact with their learning in a more creative and enjoyable way.
Overall, my goals have remained very similar to my professional goal statement. I was able to achieve them throughout the MAED Program. However, I am continuously striving to improve these teaching skills. I learned a great deal about the distinction between conceptual verse procedural knowledge and how students need a balance between the two methods. I have also gained greater insight into 21st Century Skills. For instance, how I can assist my students to become critical thinkers, questioners, and problem-solvers. I became more knowledgeable on how to integrate technology into each math strand and found different online technologies that achieved those goals. In addition, I took several technology courses that taught me many new technologies that I can utilize with my students along with helping me professionally grow and network with other educators.
During my undergraduate program, I was always focused on mathematics. Throughout this master’s program, I gained a new passion and excitement for technology. I also have a better idea of how to integrate technology into the math curriculum.
This online program has successfully allowed me to grow as an educator and achieve my professional goals while being a full time teacher. This program has inspired me to always strive to better my teaching practices. I was able to implement many teaching methods and strategies that I learned throughout the MAED Program with my students this year. My students were greatly and positively impacted by my improved teaching methods.