Looking Into the Crystal Ball
Future as a Learner Essay
By Courtney Hansen
The little old lady at the far
corner of the fairground will tell you what you want to know. When will I find my true love? Will I get married? Will I have gold and wealth beyond my
imagination? All of these questions and
many more can be answered by the fortune teller should you be interested and
are willing to pay her fee and then suffer with the consequences of that
knowledge. The good news is that the
future is not set in stone, it is ours to shape and mold to our content
regardless of what the fortune teller may whisper in our ear. We have the power and ability to dictate what
will be next for us and change things we do not like.
At the end of an educational program there is a sense of accomplishment and celebration for having completed such a seemingly daunting, at times insurmountable, task of completing a master’s degree. But with that feeling of celebration comes a slight sense of dread and dash of wandering aimlessly as something that has taken such a large portion of our time and energy for so long is no longer a part of us. We pack up the notebooks, highlighters, and pens we will not use any more and proudly hang our diploma on the wall and wonder what will be our next step.
I am a relatively young teacher, this school year is my eighth year in the classroom. In some ways things feel brand new, all shiny and exciting, and in other ways I feel as I have done this forever and some things are not quite so fun or exciting anymore. At this point in my career I am wondering what is the next move for me, what does my future hold? I have completed this degree, acquired additional education and gained new experiences but how do those things translate into my next move for me as a teacher?
At the end of one degree, especially one that may not give a new endorsement to a teaching certificate, there is always a question of “How much more will it take?” How much more time will it take to complete another program? How much more will it take to a second endorsement? Is this the end of journey or is this the start of the second act? After those thoughts have had time to run through your head and sort themselves out, you will hopefully have a more clear understanding of where you are on your educational path.
One of the things I know I will take with me from here on out is an embrace of technology in the classroom. There are many different technologies, supports, and programs teachers as well as students can use in the classroom. At the end of my master’s program, I will have either independently or as a group created three websites, researched various learning disabilities, and have collected different supports students with special learning needs can use in the classroom. To be the organizer of such types of technology I could not have even thought about doing years ago when I graduated with my first degree. Now with years of experience I cannot imagine having such tools at my disposal. It is second nature now to create a site, search and analyze information online, and incorporate technologies into the classroom for all students to use.
While I may never get a third degree, especially in technology, I am extremely interested in helping other teachers at my school start to incorporate technology more into their lessons. The school I am working in currently has over thirty teachers and paraprofessionals and only three of them have classroom websites. I would love to help teachers create and build websites, not only showing them how easily and quickly it can be done, but also showing how much more information we would be able to share with our students and their families that way.
Another goal of mine for the future is to find ways for students to incorporate technology into their experiences at school. Building a classroom website completely run and maintained by students, using Pinterest, or blogs to share what has interested and intrigued them would all be wonderful ways for students to take a different type of ownership in their learning and have a very different and unique way of presenting what they have done. I believe students learn best when they are engaged and elbow-deep in whatever activity they are working on. Giving students the skills to be able to show a different part of themselves as learners and collectively demonstrate what they are now capable of would be a tremendous way of passing forward what I have learned and experienced as a learner.
While I cannot read tea leaves and I am far from being able to tell other’s fortunes, I believe my future is becoming clearer as I keep gazing into my own crystal ball. Through this program I have found new areas of interest and passion which I am excited to be able to share with students as well as with fellow teachers. I am excited to share all that I have learned with any and all who are willing to listen. Perhaps an interest of mine will become an interest of theirs and we will be able to keep learning and growing together, which I believe is a goal that never truly goes away but stays with us, keeping our educational fire burning bright.
At the end of an educational program there is a sense of accomplishment and celebration for having completed such a seemingly daunting, at times insurmountable, task of completing a master’s degree. But with that feeling of celebration comes a slight sense of dread and dash of wandering aimlessly as something that has taken such a large portion of our time and energy for so long is no longer a part of us. We pack up the notebooks, highlighters, and pens we will not use any more and proudly hang our diploma on the wall and wonder what will be our next step.
I am a relatively young teacher, this school year is my eighth year in the classroom. In some ways things feel brand new, all shiny and exciting, and in other ways I feel as I have done this forever and some things are not quite so fun or exciting anymore. At this point in my career I am wondering what is the next move for me, what does my future hold? I have completed this degree, acquired additional education and gained new experiences but how do those things translate into my next move for me as a teacher?
At the end of one degree, especially one that may not give a new endorsement to a teaching certificate, there is always a question of “How much more will it take?” How much more time will it take to complete another program? How much more will it take to a second endorsement? Is this the end of journey or is this the start of the second act? After those thoughts have had time to run through your head and sort themselves out, you will hopefully have a more clear understanding of where you are on your educational path.
One of the things I know I will take with me from here on out is an embrace of technology in the classroom. There are many different technologies, supports, and programs teachers as well as students can use in the classroom. At the end of my master’s program, I will have either independently or as a group created three websites, researched various learning disabilities, and have collected different supports students with special learning needs can use in the classroom. To be the organizer of such types of technology I could not have even thought about doing years ago when I graduated with my first degree. Now with years of experience I cannot imagine having such tools at my disposal. It is second nature now to create a site, search and analyze information online, and incorporate technologies into the classroom for all students to use.
While I may never get a third degree, especially in technology, I am extremely interested in helping other teachers at my school start to incorporate technology more into their lessons. The school I am working in currently has over thirty teachers and paraprofessionals and only three of them have classroom websites. I would love to help teachers create and build websites, not only showing them how easily and quickly it can be done, but also showing how much more information we would be able to share with our students and their families that way.
Another goal of mine for the future is to find ways for students to incorporate technology into their experiences at school. Building a classroom website completely run and maintained by students, using Pinterest, or blogs to share what has interested and intrigued them would all be wonderful ways for students to take a different type of ownership in their learning and have a very different and unique way of presenting what they have done. I believe students learn best when they are engaged and elbow-deep in whatever activity they are working on. Giving students the skills to be able to show a different part of themselves as learners and collectively demonstrate what they are now capable of would be a tremendous way of passing forward what I have learned and experienced as a learner.
While I cannot read tea leaves and I am far from being able to tell other’s fortunes, I believe my future is becoming clearer as I keep gazing into my own crystal ball. Through this program I have found new areas of interest and passion which I am excited to be able to share with students as well as with fellow teachers. I am excited to share all that I have learned with any and all who are willing to listen. Perhaps an interest of mine will become an interest of theirs and we will be able to keep learning and growing together, which I believe is a goal that never truly goes away but stays with us, keeping our educational fire burning bright.