PROFESSIONAL GOALS

I have been in the trenches teaching with technology for several years now. I have seen administrators discuss how to get technology into the classroom, but little talk or training on how to get it into teaching and learning. Too often I’ve found once cutting-edge tech becomes obsolete still in the bubble wrapping and boxes sitting in the resource closet of classrooms. I am fortunate to have found a school that approaches technology differently. In this school, it was never a matter of what tools ought to be purchased and pushed into the classroom, but rather how will these tools be used to improve learning. As a passionate young teacher, I took to this environment eagerly. I was eventually made a technology coach, coordinator of technology, and eventually the director of Educational Technology. Once I accepted this position, I knew that I needed the help and experience of expert educators in this field. And I found that mentorship in the teachers and Master of Arts in Educational Technology program (MAET) at Michigan State University.

It has been and continues to be my passion to lead by example, integrating technology and creativity in my student’s learning and my teaching. As an educator, coach, and Director of Ed Tech, I have the opportunity to work with teachers on designing learning spaces and innovative instruction. The MAET at Michigan State University has further equipped and inspired me to look even further beyond my local school building. 

It is my passion and goal to design curriculum, coach teachers, develop professional learning pathways, consult schools and third-party education companies, speak, write, and generally inspire other teachers to go beyond the status quo and stir-up a creative and fun learning environment. Indeed, however far-fetched, I want to even start a school from scratch, building a passionate team of like-minded educators to create something special. I would have never dreamed of something like that just a few years ago. Nothing seems impossible.

These goals expanded and grew from those that already existed. While the passion-filled fire was always within me, the MAET program fanned that flame. The courses introduced me to the perfect balance between theory and application. Often education programs can be overly etherial and forget the realities of the classrooms that we spend most of our days in. But this program always challenged me to find the problems and solutions within my own context. My school and my students have already been the beneficiaries of many ideas now being implemented which found their spark in the MAET classroom. I want to give my fellow teachers the same kind of inspiration through my coaching and consulting.  

To achieve these goals, I plan on continuing my education through micro-credentialing and perhaps continue into a Doctorate of Education program. The MAET program has well-prepared me for this next step and I look eagerly to the future for these aspirations to manifest.