As the end of the semester approaches, I will soon have earned an undergraduate and a graduate degree related to education. I remain in the classroom daily learning how to improve my craft. As an early career educator, I know I am still at the beginning stages of my own education. Teachers throughout the nation are required to continue taking classes by their state and also because of their own desire to stay updated on the most effective ways to educate students. The impending completion of my program has me reflecting on how my own learning and thinking has progressed through the courses I’ve taken, and also how I will maintain this momentum. Three areas I would like to improve over the short and the long term are in communicating with the community in which I work, seeking new ways to implement geoliteracy into my classroom, and gaining the knowledge to build infrastructure to inspire positive change.
Being realistically cognizant of the state of education-related job security, if I had my way I would stay in my current position until the day of my retirement. The district is making serious aims to improve, the community is vibrant and growing, and I absolutely love being able to teach geography to sixth graders. Students that are coming up from elementary schools are often lacking basic social studies skills. Rather than seeing that as a hindrance, I embrace it as an exciting challenge to instill those skills and also an interest about the wider world. An area where I feel inadequate is in effectively communicating, in class and outside school hours, with some of my students and many parents. The area of Southwest Detroit where I teach has a largely hispanic population and most of my students speak Spanish at home. We all come from different backgrounds and while this I see as another exciting challenge to embrace, my graduate education has occupied most of my after school hours. As I’m completing my degree and continuing in my position, I am dedicating myself to learning Spanish. There are many free resources available to begin and also classes offered in my local area. It’s especially fortuitous since I do not lack practice partners!
Being able to communicate with students and parents will improve their understanding of their, and their student’s, growth. Most of my own students are at low levels of geoliteracy. It is important to be able to read a book, do math, solve problems, and express yourself. It is also crucial to have the spatial, temporal thinking skills to navigate life. While I try and take every opportunity to learn about new ways to teach social studies, new techniques will continue to develop over time. In the winter of 2016, I attended the National Social Studies Conference in Washington, D.C. This incredible opportunity provided many resources and an eye-opening outlook on critical facets of social studies education. As I progress in my own career, I plan on continuing to attend the Michigan Social Studies Conference and, when time and money allow, the National conference, as well. While I do not see myself aspiring to an administrative position, I have developed an interest in the possibility of an instructional leadership position. Someday presenting at one of these conferences would provide a small example of trying to instruct teachers in my own district.
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The culmination of my two previous goals will ultimately aid me in accomplishing my last. Working in such a strong neighborhood of students, parents, teachers, and community partners has shown me all that can be accomplished with cooperation. My students already participate in several truly inspiring citizen science projects through the efforts of our sixth grade science teacher. Working with her, I’m beginning the process of learning how to build the infrastructure (community partners, funding, contacts, projects) to engage my students in authentic social-studies learning. Being able to communicate within the community and learning more about how we can connect geography to students lives will be crucial to build a program that works and can endure.
When I came into the MAET degree program my goals were vaguely worded and not S.M.A.R.T, in any regard. My learning goals for the future reflect, in some ways, much that I have learned throughout this program. They range from the more practical language acquisition to the more experiential (and experimental!) development of programs that encourage my students to become global citizens. As you may have read in my Personal Theory of Learning on the Showcase page, I truly believe in the importance of lifelong learning and wholeheartedly in the importance of social studies education. By helping to build a world where people learn to understand one another and work together, we aspire to a better future for everyone.