Upon entering the Master’s of Arts in Educational Technology (MAET) program at Michigan State University I had very clear goals for myself. Those goals were tied very closely to how I intended to improve my instruction in the classroom. As I conclude the program, I have found ways to make my instruction more engaging and allow my students to be more responsible for their learning and take ownership. When finding that I am reaching my goals, I know that it is time to set new goals and continue to challenge myself professionally. My classes have shown me the depth of educational technology and aided me in creating goals that expand my abilities. As I take what I have learned in the MAET program I strive to aid my students in becoming more creative, taking on a stronger leadership role through technology, and expand my professional network.

In one of my classes I was asked if creativity should be assessed. This simple question really got the wheels turning for me. At that same time, in my school, we were discussing high quality work and what that rubric would include. We were asking ourselves if we should include creativity. The reason we were asking this question is because we had to teach each component of the proposed rubric. If we included creativity, we were agreeing to teach creativity. I was stumped by figuring out how to teach creativity. As one of my elective classes, I chose to explore this topic a bit further. What I learned was that creativity is not a topic that can be neatly categorized. It was then, that I realized that technology could be an excellent tool to utilize in teaching creativity. Technology allows many different options for students to demonstrate their knowledge and express their understanding. I am specifically interested in bringing the Maker Movement to my classroom. The Maker Movement challenges students to learn through making. I intend on bringing this movement into my classroom a little at a time as I explore the resources on the Maker Ed website. In addition to this website, I intend on reaching out to organizations in my community to bring into my classroom that focus on instruction through the Maker Movement. I am truly intrigued by what my students will be able to express through making.

Creativity in my classroom directly connects to another goal I have for myself as an educator.  I want to be more creative with instruction in my classroom and I want to share my new creative approaches with my colleagues. I have learned so much in completing the coursework for the MAET program and it is only right that I share this with my peers. One of the classes I took focused on technology leadership. In this class I created a personal manifesto that focused on the technology resources I would like to share with my peers. When I created this manifesto I was teaching at a charter school that was part of a very small stand alone district in Detroit. I have recently started a new job in a significantly larger district. My new school has many more technology resources that provide me with a greater number of instructional options. My new district also invites the staff members to lead professional development (PD). It is my goal to start presenting at these PD sessions. First at my school level and then I hope to present to the district during our larger PD days. My manifesto can help me to create a vision for these PD sessions. I will also use the technology standards for teachers laid out by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) to drive what I will share with my peers. I would also like to continue to develop my leadership skills. An excellent aspect of being part of a larger district is the training available to me. I plan on accessing the leadership training that is offered through our intermediate school district.

As a student in the MAET program at Michigan State I was able to connect with many new educational professionals. I found an immense amount of value in connecting with these new people and experiencing their different points of view. For my program I created a Twitter account and began sourcing individuals who could bring new information and ideas into my classroom. Many of these individuals were the individuals I was taking my classes with and my instructors.  I was able to see what they shared and who they followed to increase my resources.  They have now became part of my personal learning network (PLN). Prior to starting this program, I didn’t reach out for resources outside of my coworkers. I was limiting myself. As I conclude my program, I want to continue to grow my PLN. I plan to do this by joining new organizations and continuing to create a professional presence on social media.