I don't teach subjects, I teach students.
As I look back at the goals and ambitions I had as I embarked on my studies in the Master of Arts in Education (MAED), I realize that my overarching goal was for my students to grow personally as much as they do academically in my classroom. I wanted to further my growth as an educator to create a classroom environment and learning experiences for my students that would enable them to directly apply their education in math class in their lives, present and future. Additionally, I specifically wanted to learn more about how math education can encourage students to be thinkers, problem solvers, and inquirers. Finally, I wanted to make sure that my learning as a teacher did not stop at my undergraduate studies; I knew I wanted to be a long-term learner as a teacher.
As my master’s degree studies come to a close, I realize that my goals have not changed from when I started my MAED. I think that this is because my initial goals revolve around who I am as a teacher and some of my teaching philosophy. After my master’s work – particularly the readings and discussions in my Classroom Management course – my belief in making sure my students grow personally as much as academically is only strengthened because of my studies of positive behavior support. The projects and class discussions I had in my math specific courses enabled me to further see how I can make my students’ learning experiences in math class allow them to grow as thinkers, problem solvers, and inquirers, which solidifies that goal as well. I also definitely still have the goal of making my students’ education as applicable in their lives as possible, thanks to inspiration and deep reflection thinking in my Teaching School Mathematics course. Furthermore, I still know that my learning as a teacher has not ended, thus my goal is to continue to learn.
Even though my goals then and now are pretty much exactly the same, I would say that after my MAED work and studies, I have developed some new goals. Through some of my courses and experiences that I’ve had throughout my MAED, I’ve come to realize that differentiated instruction has a whole new meaning to me. I know that students not only don’t learn the same way, but even the environment they strive in is different. Through designing a flipped learning online course module in the Teaching Students Online class, I have a renewed goal of how I can use the best qualities of brick and mortar school, distance learning, and homeschool to create a classroom that truly listens and pays attention to each kid’s personal and academic needs.
After all, I realize that my goals before and after my MAED revolve around a quote that third grade teacher Kyle Schwartz – author of I Wish My Teacher Knew - said: “We’re not teaching subjects, we’re teaching students.” This truly encompasses the goals that I have moving forward after my master’s degree studies.