Reflecting on My Journey

I have always dreamed of being a teacher, ever since I was young and would play school with my stuffed animals. I was lucky enough to have incredible educators and mentors that allowed me to explore my love for learning. I am always trying to grow as a learner and an educator and present myself as the best version possible. My original goal with the Master of Arts in Educational Technology Graduate Program at Michigan State was to further my education and learn more about teaching and learning. I knew that as a teacher, I would be able to bring more to the table and expand my horizons. But, I learned so much more than I could’ve imagined.

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I chose to pursue this degree mostly overseas through the MAET Overseas Program in Galway, Ireland. This program pushed me out of my comfort zone in the best way possible. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, it had been a while since I had collaborated with people in person to discuss, learn and grow. Even my spring 2020 graduate credits through Michigan State became virtual and took away the piece that I really value- the face-to-face interaction and collaboration of learning. I had the opportunity to learn from 20 incredibly talented, driven and open-minded individuals who brought their own experiences into my learning. I was able to learn from them, learn with them and expand upon my own knowledge as an educator. We used many different tools and types of technology to learn which helped to enrich my learning and the conversations we had helped to build upon my learning. I am grateful for the experiences I had in this program and the growth I saw myself achieve as a student AND a teacher.

What I Learned

One of the most important things I learned throughout my MAET experience was how to learn from my mistakes and learn through the work I create. As a teacher, I have always believed that making mistakes is an integral part of learning, but I haven’t held myself to that same belief. I put pressure on myself to make everything perfect the first time, when in reality, this is unrealistic and puts pressure on perfection. The structure of all of my MAET classes was essentially as follows: create, reflect & revise. This meant I made my original project, reflected on with my peers, professors, and myself and then I would revise. This took away the pressure I felt to produce something perfect the first time. This allowed me to try something without the fear of failure or of being wrong. I was presented opportunities to improve my work and make it even better. I received incredible feedback from my peers, professors and took time to reflect on this and change what I needed to. I put all my expectations aside at the beginning and just did what I wanted and felt was right in regards to the assignment, knowing that I will receive feedback and can change as I go. This has been a really impactful experience on my learning. I am not afraid to try new things, branch out and make mistakes. This impacted me in the workplace as well because I realized that it is okay to make mistakes as an adult too, and being open to learning and reflecting on those mistakes is important and often yields favorable results. I have felt confident in the classroom as an educator because I know that any mistakes or blips in my lessons will help me to learn and grow.

 

In my context as a teacher, I realized how important reflection is. Since education is so faced pace, I often teach a lesson and move on so quickly I don’t have a chance to reflect. However, as I’ve worked through my MAET courses, I realized how vital and impactful reflection is as a teacher. I can ask myself questions such as, what went well with that lesson? What can I improve for next time? What did the kids take out of this? What can I do to make this lesson even more impactful for the students? These questions have allowed me to reflect on myself as a teacher and improve to be the best I can be. Working with children almost ensures things will never go perfectly, therefore, having the open mindset of reflection and learning from mistakes as an adult has been transformative for myself in my career.

Another important skill I learned through my time in MAET was to always challenge ideas and ask questions. Change happens when you choose to push yourself past your comfort zone and see things from a different perspective. The MAET program was rooted in identifying problems and discussing how we could use information and equitable standpoints to solve these problems. This opened my mind to the importance of challenging existing assumptions and seeing things from a different lens. From the large projects, to the smaller assignments and daily readings, the materials and resources we were exposed to were meant to challenge thoughts and break norms. This was really eye-opening to me as a learner, as I could learn from others and gain new perspectives. I used these perspectives and values as an educator and was able to implement new strategies and better teach my students. I improved my ability to see things in a new way and that allowed me to differentiate, scaffold and support the learner’s in my class. 

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Impactful Courses

All of the courses I took through this program were meaningful, eye-opening and impactful on myself as an educator. However, when I think about three specific courses that have affected my thinking as a teacher and a learner I think about CEP 800, CEP 812 and CEP 818. All three of these courses pushed me to think about things in new contexts and replace the current schemas I have in my life with new ideas. They took my misconceptions and transformed my thinking as an educator and a student. 

CEP 800

I was challenged to think about different learning theories and the theorists in CEP 800 Psychology of Learning in School and Other Settings. This class was impactful because it opened my mind to the specific ways that children learn and the interactions students have while they are learning. I really enjoyed learning about the different learning theories and applying them to my context as a fourth grade teacher. This class provided multiple perspectives for ways people learn and how learning is personal to each and every student. This relates to equitable education because the way everyone learns is unique and specific to their personality. Knowing that, it helped me to consider the different ways people learn. This is helpful for me as an educator, but also as a human, thinking about other people and how we learn in life. This class included many readings about the different theories, theorists and situations. It was very interesting to read about these theories and see how they relate to real life and how we can use these theories as a way to guide and lead students. This class allowed me to look with different perspectives and a new lens. I created a Theory of Learning paper that synthesized all of these theories and discussed how people learn. It was very interesting to focus on the learner rather than the teacher, as that is usually what I do as an educator. But also, being a student in MAET allowed me to empathize with my learners and remember what it is like being a student, which helps me make informed decisions about teaching strategies to benefit and reach ALL students. 

 

CEP 812

As I am passionate about making education equitable for all, I felt a connection with the course CEP 812: Applying Educational Technology to Issues of Practice. It was very eye opening to read and discuss different educational problems of practice with people across different contexts, age groups and areas. It was helpful to bounce our ideas off each other and allowed me to gain a new perspective as a teacher and a learner. Focusing on a wicked problem, researching the problem and finding potential solutions were our roles and responsibilities for the Wicked Problems Project. My group chose to look deeper into inequity in educational funding which leads to more gaps in equitable education. This allowed me to focus on a specific problem and dig into the “why” behind it. I could present my frustrations with researched evidence and statistics. Then, my group members and I worked to research potential solutions and ways to educate ourselves and others on the problem.

 

This class allowed us to challenge the existing education system we currently work in and reframe it in a way that allows us to find solutions for the problems we see. Additionally, we took a critical eye to these issues and questioned them. We dug deeper into why these issues are present, what constraints they put on learners and how we can keep questioning and challenging these wicked problems we may face. 

 

CEP 818

I had misconceptions of myself as a creative learner until CEP 818: Creativity in Teaching and Learning challenged my thinking of myself as a creator. I convinced myself that I used to be creative, when I was younger and would play and use my wild imagination. I didn’t believe that I was creative anymore. I thought that I was only creative after the fact. This class made me realize that creativity is not black and white. You can find creativity in everything you do. I realized all the ways that I am actually creative and it inspired me to seek new ways to practice being creative. I realized in this course too, that my entire portfolio showcases my creativity throughout this program in different ways. I  now look at creativity as a way to challenge myself and my thinking about what education is and how I can improve my practice as a teacher. Creativity is also all of the ways I accommodate different learning styles in my classroom and work to create activities that are differentiated to help support to meet all the needs of my students.

 

This course was important to me because it allowed me to challenge the misconceptions I’ve held about myself and opened my eyes to all of the things I’ve done creatively and all of the things I can do in the future. This class also allowed me to discover all the ways I can encourage creativity in my students. In this class, I also had the opportunity to interview a close friend on what creativity means to her, and I realized all of the ways people can be creative in their workplace that isn’t just artistic. Art is a category of creativity, not the whole. It was eye-opening to hear about creativity from a new lens. 

 

In Summary

As I finish my classes in the educational technology program, I am grateful for all of the experiences I had to learn from. MAET also teaches from a lens that is equitable and focused on education that is inclusive, diverse, and student centered. I appreciated this lens, as it gave me a perspective to continue working on being a culturally present and aware educator. In addition, I learned so much about educational tools, strategies, ideas, and ways to incorporate technology into my context as a teacher. I also learned to give myself grace as a learner and find creativity in the simple things I do. I look forward to going forth and using the content I learned as well as using the personal skills I acquired from these classes.