When I started this program, I only had one year of teaching experience.  Therefore, when I discussed my goals, I acknowledged that in addition to being a teacher, I was still a student.  When defining my goals, my two main focus points were learning new strategies to improve student literacy levels and using technology in order to engage students.  I mentioned a few courses that I hoped to take while obtaining my MAED that would provide strategies to help me do this.  I also acknowledged the various technological resources that I used in my classroom to help students.

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Now, two years later, my goals, while they are similar, have deviated a bit as well. As far as learning strategies to improve the literacy levels, I feel like the focus has shifted a bit from learning these new strategies to evaluating whether or not these strategies are actually effective.  Below is an exit ticket that I use to make sure that students are comfortable with the material that we are covering.  The exit ticket requires students to evaluate themselves on a scale to determine how they are progressing; it also asks them to tell me what they “got,” or understand completely, and what they “need” from me in order to fully understand the material that we are covering. 

 

As far as my technology goal, the focus has shifted from using technology for “housekeeping” purposes to having students use technology to improve their comprehension of the material that we cover in class.  In my Reading and Writing for the College Bound course, I created a new unit that has to deal with using English skills in order to obtain a career.  In this unit, I required the students to create a digital portfolio that displayed their identity as a professional and discussed various skill sets that they believed they could showcase.  In this case, technology was not used as only a supplement, but a crucial part of their learning on this topic, as being technologically proficient is extremely important in the working world. 

           

A large reason for why my goals have shifted is because of the experience I have obtained in the past few years.  With respect to my first goal, I have learned that while knowing various strategies is important, it makes no difference which strategy you use if students are not learning from it.  Furthermore, I learned that every class is different.  What works for one of my classes might not be as effective for another; that’s why evaluating where the students are is crucial.  My goal relating to technology changed also; I realized that technology is crucial to being successful outside high school.  Nevertheless, while my goals have deviated a bit from where they originally were, on thing in my original goal statement remains the same:  I am a student AND a teacher.  I have no doubt that, in the years to come, I will continue to shift and change these goals.