Goal Statement Reflection Essay
by Aubrey McClain
Summer. 2011. It had been ten years since I had earned my first Master of Arts in Teaching. I had been teaching for eleven years. It was time to learn once more. However, I had no clue what to do. I knew that I did not want to attend one of those online schools that I felt gave degrees to anyone who applied. I wanted more. I just didn’t know what that was yet. I knew I wasn’t ready to apply for a doctoral program, but I did not know what direction in which I wanted my educational journey to go.
I had a colleague who was attending Michigan State University and making his way through the Master of Arts in Educational Technology program. I began to investigate and research programs online knowing that I wanted to attend a reputable university. When I found the certificate program that preludes the MAET at MSU, I thought it was perfect. I could get a few college credits to renew my teaching license and move on. But, I fell in love with technology and the quality education at MSU, and decided in the summer of 2012 to apply to the MAET program. I have not regretted a single day since.
When taking my first steps on this adventure, I thought I possessed some tech-savviness. Boy was I wrong! I had basic knowledge at best. I thought I had done my students a great service by teaching them to use Microsoft products for essays and presentations. I quickly grew to realize the potential of Web 2.0 tools for my students. Through my study of TPACK (technological pedagogical content knowledge), I have developed better lessons for my students and have a complete approach on how to better prepare lessons. My students became engaged in the lessons I developed and created much better products using some of the Web 2.0 tools to which I was introduced during this program.
As I moved positions in my school from middle school writing teacher to Instructional Coach, I have become a technology leader in my building. I have also presented conference sessions at the Genesee Early Literacy Conference for the past two years where I have been able to introduce teachers to using Weebly to create online portfolios with their students, how to use digital storytelling applications, and how to create podcasts with their students to enhance writing and literacy skills.
Although I am ready to graduate this May, I will be continuing on for another three semesters in order to obtain my administrator’s license. I am not sure where this journey will lead as of yet. I have been researching doctoral programs and discovered I can continue my newfound passion for technology with a doctorate from MSU in Educational Technology. I have a few grandiose ideas of where I will go from here, but I find myself returning to the idea of opening my own educational technology consulting firm. I want to be a technology leader no matter where my journey takes me, and I owe it all to my education from MSU.