​Blair Schwartz

 

Have you ever gone back and looked through your old childhood videos?  What about your old school projects?  The feeling gives you a rush, a sense of pride (even if it’s the worst project or most embarrassing video.)  Although written only two years ago, that is how I felt when I looked back over my goal statement.  Looking back at what I wrote was an exciting feeling for me.  I was proud of what I wrote and even a little surprised.   

 

I applied for my Master’s program a year after I had student taught.  I was a teacher without a job.  During my year after student teaching, I decided to substitute teach while continuing to look for a job.  Before even re-looking at my goal statement, I had assumed my goal would be somewhat irrelevant to what I currently believe. 

 

While certain parts of my life have changed since I wrote my initial goal statement, the statement itself has not.  My goal when I applied is the same goal I live by every day: to make a difference in my students’ lives.  I was lucky enough to find a full time teaching job the fall I started my Master’s program.  I would start my first day of school as both a teacher in a 5^th grade public school classroom, and a student in Michigan States Master’s program. 

 

Every morning I go into my classroom with a new outlook on how I want to teach.  This includes changing my teaching practices, or ways of learning.  Being a teacher with little technology in the classroom, I have had to push myself to think outside the box.  Taking my Masters in Technology and Learning has allowed my to soar to heights I didn’t think were possible before.

 

I have not only made myself a better learner and teacher, I have impacted the learning of my students; which of course is my main goal.  By taking my Master’s program in Technology and Learning I have learned how to use the Internet to create an online course; a course that my students now use on a weekly basis.  Not only was I able to learn how to incorporate this technology into my classroom, I was able to explore and experiment with different websites that I will now be able to use in the future for my learners.  I was also able to take this learning and exploring one step further and share certain projects of my program with my school.  I was able to incorporate a school wide goal into a video presentation.  This is something I would have never thought possible, especially being a first year teacher at the time.

 

It doesn’t matter if it has only been two years of learning and exploration, or a lifetime of videos and projects, the pride, excitement, and even surprise feeling is still there.  I can call myself a better teacher due to the classes and path I choose to take over the last two years.  I have soared to new heights, as a teacher that I didn’t think was possible before and have made a difference in the learning of my students as a result.