As long as I can remember my goal was to become a teacher. My motivation and drive to be successful through highschool and undergraduate degree revolved around achieving this goal. In Summer of 2017, I was elated to accept my dream job as a S.T.E.M. teacher. On the first day of school my excitement quickly led to feeling unprepared and underqualified. I spent years preparing to be a teacher, confident in my major, graduated with a decent GPA, only to second guess my career choice. I got through that first year by researching, asking questions to anyone who would give me information, and watching every S.T.E.M. video on YouTube. It took about three years to gain the experience and confidence to consider myself a successful S.T.E.M. educator, but I still felt like I needed more formal training. 

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        I then decided to return to my alma mater, Michigan State University, and applied to their Master of Arts in Educational Technology Program. On my application I described my short term goals as  looking “forward to having formal educational technology instruction that I can bring to my classroom every day to influence my students’ learning and critical thinking skills. Not only will I learn content that is applicable for the class I teach, it will also provide me with many strategies and ways of thinking about teaching and using technology in my classroom.” From there I expanded my long term goals to a position of technology leadership within my current district, hoping to have a “broader impact by teaching teachers and hosting professional development that focus on educational technology.” I applied in October, was accepted in November and began graduate school the next January. The process moved so quickly, that I did not realize until the start of the new year the apprehension I had about returning to school. I was worried that the courses would be over my head, I’d be overwhelmed by graduate school while working full time, and that I was too far removed from school to remember how to be a productive student. Ultimately, I was scared of the unknown.  

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        It took a few weeks into my Spring 2020 semester for my fears of being unprepared and overwhelmed by graduate level courses began to fade. I realized that the courses were not only doable but they were thought provoking, engaging and pushed my thoughts about education. I began thinking about my goals and challenging myself to dream bigger. I went from focusing on skills and knowledge that would improve my teaching on an individual scale, to thinking about impacting teachers and S.T.E.M. education as a whole, far beyond my district. Through new experiences, feedback, connections and ultimately confidence gained through my time in Michigan State University’s Master of Arts in Educational Technology Program my goals expanded. Although still centered around S.T.E.M. education, currently my goals include continuing my education at Michigan State University's Educational Technology Doctoral Program, then  go on and create a teacher preparation course centered around S.T.E.M. education.  These goals will reach far beyond my 150 students a year and will prepare teachers to be S.T.E.M. educators without the defeat and apprehension I experienced. 

 

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Michigan State University: https://education.msu.edu 

National Science Foundation: https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=295999&org=NSF&from=news