I was told that Lifelong Learning is a key word that is often searched for in resumes that enhances your chance for a job interview. So after completing my undergrad degree in elementary education and year long student teaching internship, I made sure to add that to my resume. True or not, I scored myself some interviews where I eagerly explained my excitement and desire to become an educator, to have my own classroom, to soak up information and learning from my coworkers and to jump at every professional development opportunity. I was young, naïve, inexperienced, and ALL IN. I had a passion to instill a love for learning in young children and watch them grow and develop into 21st century learners. Little did I know after accepting my first teaching job, just how true those key words, lifelong learning, really were. They weren’t just words you typed onto paper or spit out at an interview. They were words all educators lived by. Today, after being an educator for three years, I best describe lifelong learning as an ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated pursuit of knowledge. In a few weeks I will have reached an educational milestone in my lifelong learning journey, earning my master's degree in educational technology. Three more topics of study I wish to add to my enduring educational journey are integrating technology into Early Childhood programs, leadership in technology, and going 1:1 with technology in the classroom.

 

Early Childhood Education has been a passion of mine since entering Michigan State University's College of Education. There is so much opportunity in being a child’s first educator. I earned my early childhood special education endorsement (ZS) in addition to my elementary education degree by completing a semester long student teaching internship at the Michigan State University Child Development Lab in a 4-5 year old classroom. When I was in that classroom, I noticed technology was sparse. There was one classroom iPad used mainly by the teacher to take pictures and record anecdotal notes. When I was far enough in my program to gain the lead teacher role, I decided to integrate technology into my weekly thematic lesson plans by creating a tech station. The students loved being able to use the piece of technology and many were already familiar with the swiping motion and some apps I had downloaded. I wish to learn more about integrating technology into early childhood classrooms because students can benefit from creating, making, publishing, and inventing on pieces of technology. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has created a position statement on technology and interactive media as tools in Early Childhood Education classrooms. I plan to read this position to help strengthen my knowledge in this topic and hope to attend a NAEYC annual conference.

 

Being the only non-tenure teacher in my building has often led me to become an introvert, sticking to my own classroom with my own ideas. It wasn’t until I was approached by a colleague and asked to become a lower elementary technology leader for our district that I really saw myself as a future leader. I would like to focus my future learning on seeking strategies to leverage my leadership skills. I am currently reading The Energy Bus by Jon Gordon and I would like to read Steven Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. I also hope to present at the Michigan Association of Computer Users in Learning (MACUL) conference in the years to come.

 

Many affluent school districts have already gone the route of 1:1 with a technology, meaning each student has their own technology device, used inside the classroom and sometimes taken home. I always believed kindergarten students were an expectation to this unique way of learning because they had so many foundational skills to learn first. However my thoughts changed drastically on this idea after attending a presentation at the MACUL conference. A kindergarten teacher in Zeeland, MI, who was apart of a 1:1 piloting program, proved many doubters, myself initially, wrong. Starting in January, he used iPads in the classroom daily for readers and writers workshop where students had the choice to read, write and publish with a digital tool. His research proved that using digital tools for reading and writing did not hinder end of year assessment results in any way. With this information, I plan to further study 1:1 technology in a classroom and how to get the funding to support this program.

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The key to a successful future consists of educating myself everyday. Looking back and reflecitng upon my lifelong learning journey thus far really does have me believing that the best is yet to come. To my future, may you be every changing and ever educating! 

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