As I worked through my Master’s degree at Michigan State University, I found something that I truly loved to do.  I love being a leader among my peers.  I also love helping to find solutions to problems, listening to problems and being part of a bigger picture.  My long-term professional goal is to move up to the collegiate level and teach pre-service teachers.  To reach this goal, I have three topics of future study: to be more involved in the leadership of new teachers in my district, to complete my National Boards in Mathematics, and to start looking into doctoral programs.

 

              Due to my proximity to a major city, my school district has multiple opportunities to host pre-service teachers and my high school always has new teachers coming in.  If my goal is to teach pre-service teachers, then I should start where I currently am.  By starting small, I can gain confidence in this type of mentorship before moving on to teaching pre-service teachers.  To help me in this endeavor, I am going to keep in mind the Ten Tips on How to Effectively Mentor New Teachers provided by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).  These tips are based on observations and experiences.

 

               The reason I want to work with new teachers is to better prepare them for teaching.  For my undergraduate degree in education I double majored in Mathematics and School Health Education.  While my job is in Math most of my beliefs came from the courses that I took for School Health Education.  This should not be the case.  If I had not taken those courses my view of education would be very traditional in my approach to teaching Math which, due to research, is drastically shifting.  I also want to help new teachers with their classroom management.  In many cases, a big issue with new teachers is being able to control their classrooms.  I want to help them come up with their procedures and strategies to help them accomplish a positive learning environment.

 

               My second goal is to complete my National Boards for Professional Teaching Standards.  The National Boards are committed to students, their learning, and having teachers be the best that they can be.  By having high standards for my own teaching methods, I can push pre-service and new teachers to have high standards for themselves.  To help me reach this goal, I will be part of the National Boards cohort within my own district, as well as utilize the guidance provided by the National Board website.

 

               To become National Board certified, I need to prove competency in 4 components.  Component 1 encompasses content knowledge.  It requires an assessment that asks you to demonstrate knowledge of and pedagogical practices for my content area.  This requires me to take a computer-based test for Mathematics.  The second component is to demonstrate differentiation in instruction.  Being able to evaluate learning strengths and needs of individual students, come up with a plan, and implement it are what this component focuses on.  Component 3 focuses on teaching practice and learning environment.  This component captures details about my instructional planning.  The last component is effective and reflective practitioner.  Taking information from students and families, to help guide teaching.  Each of these components are evaluated individually but they make-up a whole teacher and high-quality teacher.

 

               My third and final future goal, is to start looking into doctoral programs.  Since I am not yet prepared to enter a doctoral program, this goal is more to prepare me for the biggest step.  I know where I want to end, but not necessarily how to get there.  By exploring higher level programs, I will begin the process of learning how to make the steps necessary to teach at the college level.  Part of the process requires me to reflect on myself as a student.  The University of Pennsylvania offers a guide to making this major decision.  By using the questions provided, it will help me narrow my focus onto a program and a university. 

 

               My Master of Arts in Education, with a concentration on P-12 School and Postsecondary Leadership has helped me realize where I want to go and what I want to do.  Now that this has been accomplished (almost), the goals that I have set for myself are going to help me reach my ultimate goal.  While these goals will take time to accomplish, they are steps that need to be taken.  After accomplishing my master’s it is time to start looking forward.