I decided to go back to school to get my master’s degree after my second year of teaching. I was stuck in a spot where my students were struggling with learning the content and some of my teaching methods were not working as well as I hoped. I knew that going back to school would help with these problems. My initial goals upon entering Michigan State’s Master of Arts in Education program (MAED) were to gain a better understanding of how to effectively teach students to think deeply about science and to understand the current best practices surrounding science education. The MAED program has given me the opportunity to explore these two goals and so much more.

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When I think about the goals that I have now, they are not that much different than they were two years ago when I first started the program. First, I still want my students to think deeply about science. Students are naturally curious and if I can get students to take that curiosity, and learn not what happened, but why it is happening then I feel like I have done my job as a science teacher. One of the greatest moments I have as a teacher is when students have that “ah-ha!” experience and something finally clicks for them. I continue to strive for that every day that I teach. Second, I am still intrigued with all of the research out there for best practices when it comes to teaching science. Especially now that the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are starting to be adopted, it’s important for me to be aware of what the research says is the most effective way for educating students.  Those two goals are very similar before and after the MAED program, but I think that those two goals are at the core of good teaching; teaching students to be better learners and knowing what strategies work best for students of all ability levels.

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Even though my time in the MAED is almost finished, I still feel as though I can continue to develop strategies for teaching students to think deeply about science content and continue to learn about research-based practices. However, my current goal is to take what I have learned from my classes and my experiences and share them with other educators. The MAED and the people I have met along the way have provided me with a lot of different methods to thinking about science education, as well as various teaching pedagogies related to science.  But now I feel that it is my turn to give back to the science education community because they have helped me become the teacher I am today. Since I’ve gained all of this knowledge over the last two years, it would be shameful if I didn’t share it with the people that I work with. One of the ideas that we discussed throughout the program was creating a positive culture in which individuals feel safe to share their thoughts. The school that I am at has already created that culture, and I cannot wait for the opportunity to share my expertise with my fellow educators.