When I applied to the Michigan State’s Master of Arts in Education Program (MAED), I was excited for an opportunity to learn more about teaching literacy. Math has always been my favorite subject. Numbers and equations have always made sense to me and I felt comfortable teaching my students about math. But as an elementary teacher, I cannot spend my whole day on math and have to venture into the less comfortable territories of reading and writing. So I saw the MAED program as an opportunity to learn more about a subject area that I had little experience with.
When I started this journey two years ago, I had a specific set of goals in mind. I wanted to learn new strategies in order to improve student learning in the areas of reading and writing. I also hoped to learn about interventions to help struggling students in reading and math. Like most teachers, my students span a wide range of ability levels and I was not sure how to help them all be successful. My masters’ courses have not only taught me about literacy strategies and interventions but I have also been able to put new ideas and strategies into practice in my own classroom. It was eye-opening for me to see how many small details are included in literacy education and gave me a better understanding of what my students needed from me as a teacher. I have watched my students grow as readers and writers because I now know how to better meet their individual needs.
Technology was also an important area that I wanted to learn more about. I feel like I know quite a bit about technology but I did not know how to use my knowledge effectively in the classroom. Technology is limited at my school and I felt like my students were missing out on something important. What I ultimately learned about technology is that instead of trying to fit more of it into the school day, I need to find better quality technology to introduce to my students. I have learned to use a more critical eye when selecting technology tools to make it meaningful for students instead of just incorporating technology for the sake of using technology.
Most importantly I wanted to become a more confident literacy teacher. While I am still learning and growing as a teacher, I can say that I feel much more confident in teaching my students reading and writing. During my time in the MAED program I grew to enjoy teaching reading and writing. This year I am not teaching literacy and I am surprised to find that I miss working on reading and writing with my students. Fortunately, literacy skills span across a variety of subjects and I am finding ways to incorporate what I have learned about literacy in my math lessons, which makes me like math even more than before.
Finding My Confidence
