Future Learning Goals

            When I first started my Masters of Arts in Education program, my goal was to pursue a degree program that would help to open up more possibilities in my future.  At the time, that meant being able to obtain a position at a college or university as an academic advisor.  Although I am still interested in one day pursuing a career at a Higher Education institute, I know that I am not yet ready to leave the classroom.  Throughout the program, I have become inspired to re-think the way in which I teach and the way in which my students interact with and learn new information.  In order to keep moving forward with my changing classroom, I will continue to explore 21st century teaching practices, integrate more technology within the classroom and capture creativity within my students.

 

21st Century Education-

            “Current formal education still prepares students primarily for the world of the past, rather than possible worlds of the future” (Gardner, 2013).  This belief that 20th century practices are still being used to prepare students for a 21st century workforce is common amongst many educators. In order to better prepare students their future within the dynamically changing world, I must stay relevant with 21st century teaching practices.  Currently, there are two large movements on the horizon; both of which I will need to educate myself on in order to successfully implement them in the near future.  The first is to become well versed in the Next Generation of Science Standards (NGSS).  In order to better understand these new standards, I will continue to attend Professional Development sessions on the modeling and teaching of these standards.  The second is to read articles, lesson plans and techniques for implementing these standards on the NGSS websites ngsx.org and nextgenscience.org. 

 

                  Secondly, I would like to become more knowledgeable in Project Based Learning (PBL).  PBL is a powerful and engaging process that focuses on providing students with significant content, 21st century skills, inquiry-based activities, the ability to guide their learning and the opportunity to collaborate with others to solve real-world issues. Over the past few months, I have attended a number of PBL professional development seminars and have been fortunate enough to gather books, articles, example projects, videos and webpages designed to help teachers implement PBL in their classrooms. One of the most helpful resources I have gathered is the book PBL Starter Kit created by the Buck Institute for Education. This book will hopefully prove instrumental in my on-going process of creating and implementing effective PBL units in both my chemistry and forensics classes.

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Technology-

                  The number of new educational applications, simulations and websites that have emerged over the past few years is astonishing.  I am constantly hearing about or discovering some new educational technology that radically changes the way in which I teach.  For example, kahoot.com, quizlet.com or quizizz.com have allowed me to create fun and engaging formative assessments that allows teachers and students to track progress towards mastery and modify learning or teaching where and when necessary.   In order to stay up to date on the new and exciting world of educational technology, I plan to get involved with learning opportunities and conferences such as MACUL, follow leaders in educational technology on Twitter (@DrTonyWagner, @LarryFerlazzo,@Edutopia, etc) , join online Professional Learning Networks, and collaborate with other teachers at my school to learn from their knowledge in educational technology.    Through these practices, I will be able to continue to integrate effective use of technology in the classroom to further student engagement and understanding of content.