As a 6th year educator, I have been able to experience many different highs, lows, and in betweens within my career.I have seen myself fail as well as succeed. As I move forward in my career, I have realized that those successes and mistakes have not defined me yet they have pushed me to reflect. The joy of teaching cannot be replaced by any other career but I have found that my interests have started to grow into aspirations beyond “just” a 1st grade teacher. As I wrap up my Masters in Arts and Educational Technology, I have been able to experience innovative teaching and how to utilize technology to improve student success and achievement. I have also always had a passion for teaching literacy within my career. During my undergraduate experience at Michigan State University, I chose to focus on English Language Arts within the field of education. My passion for literacy is easily seen within my teaching methods and student engagement during reading, small group interventions, and phonics instruction within my classroom. As my passions for technology and literacy continue to grow, there is another area that I would like to further my growth in. I also have a passion for leading, finding solutions, and thinking critically. 

​

Technology has always been something that has interested me. Unfortunately, our school was not given 1-1 technology, training within technology, or a wide variety of opportunities to explore and use technology within education. So, I took it upon myself to dive into using it with my first graders. I started following multiple innovative teachers on Instagram and stumbled upon the technology tool called Seesaw. After following this account I was able to find other teachers who used this tool in their classrooms. It was so refreshing to see other teachers explore technology and to see how engaged students were when learning content through technology. This sparked my interest and was why I chose to get my Masters in Arts and Educational Technology at Michigan State University. Five years later, I am still actively using Seesaw. In fact, I was asked by the administration to present a professional development on using this technology tool in elementary classrooms. The presentation was a success and developed into a new goal. I want to share my passion for technology to others and show them the endless possibilities. In order to do this, I am setting my sights on becoming a technology consultant. Our district does not currently have one but as times are progressing and the demand for online learning is increasing, I look forward to the process of finishing my masters and continuing to divulge myself in professional development opportunities amongst my school district and learning the skills it will take to meet this professional goal.

​

As technology and literacy continue to progress and change overtime. Another goal of mine, is to integrate technology into my literacy lessons in a meaningful and engaging way. During my time studying education technology, I learned a lot about the framework TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge). This framework emphasizes the importance of connecting technology, pedagogy, and content into instruction. In other words, it is important to think of meaningful ways to incorporate technology into lessons that also connect to the content standards. As a teacher, I want to avoid giving students a technology tool without a purpose. Usually, technology goes hand and hand with mathematics. Although, I believe technology can also have a large impact on literacy in the classroom. My goal is to widen my professional learning network and find resources and fellow educators to connect with on this topic. This will allow me to gain insight into different ways that technology and literacy can be integrated. 

​

I would consider myself a teacher who is unafraid of taking risks and exploring new avenues. Whether that be with integrating technology or trying new tools. Although, often new teachers can be timid or uncertain about the role they play amongst fellow teachers. I believe this is the case due to lack of experience and time spent in their teaching career. Another goal of mine is to challenge myself to become a leader within my school community. I enjoy helping others but I also find solidarity in guiding others. During the COVID-19 school shut down in March 2020, I was asked to join a Grade-Level Leadership Team. This team met monthly and consisted of teachers within the school district. We discussed action plans, potential solutions, and concerns during this unprecedented time. This experience pushed to think of not only myself, but of my fellow teachers as well. I was able to practice giving feedback and brought back information to my team members to help further make decisions for our school. This experience has pushed me to think closer about joining leadership committees and exploring positions such as a district consultant or coach. Ideally, I would like to become a leader or consultant in the areas of technology or literacy. These areas of focus have slowly evolved into passions and have sparked my interest in pursuing these future endeavors. 

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​