FUTURE LEARNING GOALS
My personal mission is to empower students with the leadership skills and knowledge to become agents of positive change.
To fulfill my personal mission statement, I have established the following goals for myself: continue to develop my knowledge of best teaching practices, create a classroom culture with a love of reading, and to help students develop an innovator's mindset.
GOAL #1
Continue to Develop My Knowledge of Best Teaching Practices
I want to continue to learn and use research-based practices to better my classroom instruction. While completing my coursework at Michigan State University, I learned several highly effective teaching practices, particularly in reading and writing instruction. I would like to continue to develop and grow. When I am teaching, I always ask myself "Am I doing enough?" and "Is the way I am teaching the most effective way to help my students?"
I plan on meeting this goal by going to training put on by the Kalamazoo Regional Education Association, attending conferences such as the Michigan Reading Association Conference, and collaborating with my peers and coworkers. I do not want to ever remain stagnant in my teaching and am looking to always grow and improve, which is why this goal is to continue to grow in my practice.
GOAL #2
Create a Classroom Culture with a Love of Reading
Reading is important to the personal and intellectual development of a child. Students who enjoy reading will be able to learn more than I could ever teach them. During my time at Michigan State University, I learned how to differentiate my reading instruction and work to accommodate for different literacy learners. I learned that giving students a voice and choice in what they read is a key part of motivating students in literacy learning.
I would like to focus on growing a classroom culture with a love of reading. I have learned through professionals such as Pernille Ripp, Colby Sharp, and Donalyn Miller different strategies to foster a love of reading. With my class, we can have "book talks" to create a dialogue about reading, utilize "book clubs" and "read alouds" to bring the classroom together, and promote an interest in reading through activities such as "First Chapter Friday." With "First Chapter Friday," the first chapter of a new book is read aloud, with the intention of engaging students and encouraging them to read a new book. I also would be interested in creating a school Youtube channel to have students share book recommendations. Through these activities, my goal is to create classrooms full of lifelong readers and learners.
GOAL #3
Inspire Students to Develop an Innovator's Mindset
George Couros, the author of "The Innovator's Mindset," came to my school district for our back to school professional development. Couros expanded my thinking about technology and my role as an educator and inspired me to take on an innovator's mindset. He defined an innovator's mindset as "Belief that abilities, intelligence, and talents are developed so that they lead to the creation of new and better ideas." As an educator, I believe it is important to teach my students the power of this mindset. I have asked myself the 5 Critical Questions Couros outlines on his blog to create new and better opportunities for students and their learning. The 5 questions are: "Would I want to be a learner in my own classroom?" "What is best for this student?" "What is this student's passion?" "What are some ways that we can create a true learning community?" and "How did this work for our students?" By asking myself these questions, I hope to empathize with my students and help to understand them as learners. I want to create more opportunities for my students to engineer, problem-solve, and create in the classroom. I understand that when my students are empowered to become innovative thinkers and learners, they will see that they have the potential to create a better world.
My goals are centered around becoming a better educator, inspiring my students to lifelong learners, and empowering my students to become world-changers. That is why I believe it is important to utilize best-teaching practices, foster a love of literacy, and promote an innovator's mindset among my students.
“If we are going to help our students thrive, we have to move past “the way we have always done it,” and create better learning experiences for our students than we had ourselves. This does not mean replacing everything we do, but we must be willing to look with fresh eyes at what we do and ask, “Is there a better way?” We would expect the same mindset from our students, and, as educators, that question is the first step on the path to a better future for education.”