GOALS' DRIVING FORCES
Background
Working as a coordinator of the pre-k and kindergarten department for several years, dealing with students from all around the world with different background knowledge and literacy skills, I felt the need to add more values and contributions to my profession and to get acquainted with the latest techniques in teaching. As a result, I decided to apply to Michigan State University to pursue a Master of Arts in Education making literacy my first concentration.
Original Goals
When I first started the Master of Arts in Education program at Michigan State University, I had these goals in mind:
1. To improve, broaden, and further develop the teaching of literary for kindergarten students in my school. Most of the students I work with are English Language Learners (ELL), and some never heard English before; I wanted to build a student’s comprehension, writing skills, and communication skills.
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2. To get involved in the mentoring and coaching of other teachers in my department as well as other teachers in the school. I wanted to teach and coach others while expanding my knowledge base and continuing the educational process.
A Reflection on my Goals
Looking back at my original goals now, I realize that these two goals are still of high importance to the students and teachers and I will continue to pursue them. As I have grown as an educator throughout the 4 years in the master's program, and as I have been attending several teachers’ development seminars and workshops, I would definitely add more to these goals. The first thing I would add is the importance of keeping in mind that students are different. Students come to school from different background with different abilities and skills; meeting the literacy needs of young ELLs is a challenging task that requires well-trained teachers.
While working on developing the literacy skills of these students, I will also add to my goals teaching them how to learn and providing them with the competence needed to be life-long learners. Students today don’t lack information, they lack the personal and social skills needed to become successful in life. They need to learn to be proactive, set their own goals, learn how to communicate and cooperate.
I was privileged to provide a few teachers’ development training myself, the advantage is that I can keep up with the implementation of these training daily. I was very delighted every time I learned something new during my master's journey, that I can convey to fellow teachers during our weekly meetings. I enjoyed the courses I took in Literacy Education, I think they added a lot to my knowledge. Also, the course I took about students with challenging behaviors, had broadened my horizon and provided me with good tools to work with Emotionally Disturbed (ED) students.
I will continue to learn and grow as an educator; I have a passion for learning and I will keep looking for new ways to help my young learners achieve their best.