Lifelong learning is the ultimate goal for every teacher to have for his or her students. As we work hard year after year to instill a thirst for knowledge in our students, we hope their curiosity and exploration does not end when they leave our classrooms. As such, we must also lead by example, and show our students that we, too, continue to learn and grow every day. While our profession requires continuing education, many teachers find the path to growth thrilling and exciting. The avenues and platforms teachers choose to follow can vary greatly, but as the profession continues to change rapidly, we must change with it. As I continue with my growth as an educator, I hope to make meaningful changes in my classroom, grow as a teacher leader, and work towards a future as a professor of education.

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I will graduate in August of 2019 with my Master’s degree, and now have a much better handle on where I can see my career taking me. For right now, I am enjoying my time in the classroom, gaining valuable experience that will help me help others in the future. I will be starting my sixth year of teaching, having worked with three different grade levels and multiple subjects taught. I will continue to expand my horizons by attending multiple conferences and workshops, such as the MACUL conference for exploring new technology and the Add+Vantage Math Recovery program to help students build foundational skills in mathematics, in the coming year. As I explore and reflect on my own learning and goals, I have also decided to make this a priority for the students in my classroom. I found this resource from Scholastic that I plan to use in the next school year to teach my students how to set their own goals.

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No matter what avenue I chose to pursue, I knew that becoming a successful leader would have a critical role. I  was recently inspired by this TED talk by Roselinde Torres. There are many points in this talk where Torres drives home what it takes to be a great leader, with some great ideas to keep in mind. I encountered this talk while taking an educational leadership course during my Master’s degree studies at MSU, where I chose a concentration area of P-12 School and Postsecondary Leadership. As I was just beginning my graduate studies, this left my options open while I was deciding what I wanted my future to hold.

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Although I am happy progressing my knowledge of elementary school teaching at this time, I also have a much larger goal in the works. Classroom teaching has been my life’s work up to this point, but I know that there is valuable information I have learned that can be shared with other educators. This could happen in many different formats, but the avenue I’d eventually like to pursue is in postsecondary education, where I would be able to teach future teachers. Becoming a professor, to me, embodies everything about teaching that I am passionate about, while giving me the opportunity to help countless children in the process. The world of education has changed significantly since I was in my teaching program only a few years ago. I think it is important for me to share this knowledge with many students to come. Not that I can predict the future to see what the world of education will bring, but I can help prospective teachers understand that there is more to teaching than simply teaching. This is a large bite to chew, and will certainly take time. It will require more graduate work - potentially a doctoral degree, and will take years to accomplish. This process can begin with adjunct work - working part-time for a college on a limited basis - while still teaching in the classroom full-time. The ideal here would be to work for a college during the summer, so as not to distract from the school-year. From there, I can explore options for more graduate work or a full-time position at a small college. 

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Whatever my future brings, short-term or long-term, I know it will always include sharing my passion for teaching and learning, whether it be with young students or adult educators, and anyone in between. Starting with small improvements in the classroom, becoming a more effective leader, and someday becoming a teacher of teachers makes me very excited to see what my future holds.

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