Looking At The Past While Teaching Towards the Future
I entered the Michigan State University Master of Arts in Education (MAED) program right after I finished my Bachelor’s degree, and as I was also beginning my first year as a classroom teacher. I wanted to pursue my master’s degree while being a full time teacher because I felt that the most authentic way to apply my learning in the program would be to do so in my daily profession. I decided to enroll with the concentration of Mathematics and Science education, because I wanted to learn more skills and refine my ideas and philosophy about current science teaching practices, as well as Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (STEM) based education. Upon my entering the program at MSU, the State of Connecticut had just adopted the Next Generation Science Standards, and I understood that the science practices that I was familiar with as a student were going to evolve greatly. Therefore, at this pinnacle time with the new standards already being implemented in the classroom, I felt that it was the perfect time to advance my education so that I would be able to apply the current STEM/inquiry based practices for teaching science immediately in my classroom. As I am nearing completion of my degree, my goals have evolved somewhat throughout the program. In fact, my goals expanded. I definitely felt strongly about pursuing my education STEM/ inquiry based teaching, but as I went through my first year of teaching I was able to identify other areas that I could grow in through my course work at MSU. New goals evolved in addition to my science/content based interests, and they included furthering my education on effective strategies for classroom management, and effectively teaching students with mild disabilities, as well as students that pose inordinately challenging behaviors. I believe that had I entered the program prior to actually working as a teacher, I would not have identified these areas of challenge for me, and would not have known to pursue them further through my course work. By completing my degree alongside working as a professional, I was able to determine areas where I felt could use improvement, and use my experiences to expand upon my educational goals. As a second year teacher, I know that despite nearing the end of my Master’s degree program, I still have a lot of learning to do! And any veteran teacher will tell you that no amount of schooling or preparation can replace the truly authentic lessons that a new teacher learns through trial and error throughout their first few years. However, my goals as I finish my program at MSU and my second year of teaching are to implement all that I have learned, especially in the areas of classroom management and STEM/inquiry based teaching and use those skills to continue to create a positive and lucrative learning environment full of rigor, inquiry and experimentation.