As my journey in the Master of Arts in Education comes to a close, it’s amazing to think about all of the things I have learned. But I am also able to think about all of the exciting new adventures I want to complete in the future. As an educator, I want my students to take charge of their learning and be self-motivated. Which means that I need to practice what I preach and attempt to fulfill my professional goals. First, I would like to present at the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) national conference. I have attended these in the past and have always gained something new to take back to my class. Now I want to share my knowledge with educators from around the country. Second, I would like to continue to implement technology in my class. As we move even further into the digital age, it’s imperative that we continue to use the resources available to us to educate our students. Lastly, I would like to further my knowledge about integrating literacy strategies in science classrooms because my current school has a high number of English Language Learners (ELLs).

​

The NSTA holds a national conference every year where science educators unite to present their expertise on various topics in science education. The four-day conference is an opportunity to gain valuable professional development. My goal is to present at this conference so that I can share my experiences in science education with people across the country. I feel as though I have accumulated a wealth of knowledge during my time in the MAED and would like to share that information with the science community. Whenever I hear others talk about their classroom and the ideas they have regarding science education, I always take something that I can implement into my classroom. Presenting at the conference would allow other teachers to hear what I do in my classroom and how I help my students learn about science. In order to help reach this goal, I would have to write a proposal to the NSTA proposal committee describing what I want to present and how it would help other educators. Furthermore, I could present at some of the local conferences, such as the Michigan Science Teachers Association conference, in order to prepare myself to present at the national conference.

We live in a digital age in which technology is at the forefront of everything we do. I would like to learn more about how I can implement technology into my classroom so I can help my students have a better understanding of science. There are many resources that science educators can use to help their students visualize the unobservable, such as PhET and The Concord Consortium. If I am able to learn best practices to using technology in the classroom, I can help my students understand the difficult conceptual topics that they most often struggle with. In order to reach this goal, I could take classes or attend professional development geared towards using technology in science classrooms. Furthermore, I could read books such as Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology: The Digital Revolution and Schooling in America by Allan Collins and Richard Halverson. These could help me towards reaching my goal of integrating technology in my classroom. 

     

I currently work at a school that has a high population of ELLs and I would like to learn strategies that will help me reach these students. In order to be independent learners, students need to know how to read and comprehend what they are reading. Many of my students struggle with this and I want to teach them strategies so they can become independent learners. In order to accomplish this goal I could enact the strategies provided by Jill Caton Johnson and Lisa Martin-Hansen in their NSTA resource Improving Science Reading Comprehension. Furthermore, I could meet with the ELL instructors and work with them to develop a plan to reach my ELL students. There are several of these in my school because of the high population of ELLs and I feel as though working with them to develop a strategy would greatly improve the comprehension of all my students Lastly, I could attend professional developments by Wayne RESA regarding literacy to reach my goal. 

                

As somebody who is constantly trying to get better, I must make sure that I continue to learn even after I finish my Master of Arts in Education program. By presenting at the NSTA conference, and continuing to enact and learn various technology and literacy strategies in my class I will be able to further my professional presence and become a teacher that uses a variety of practices to help reach all students.