Ever since the first year that I started teaching, I knew that I wanted more. At that time, seven years ago, I wasn’t entirely sure what that was. Although teaching – especially teaching art – made me very happy (and still does to this day), I have always known that I wanted to advance in my career. As years passed, I was able to narrow down what was missing. I have a passion for sharing knowledge and learning from others, using creativity to develop lesson plans, and incorporating technology in a purposeful manner that assists in reaching a specific goal. It was then that I realized my goal of obtaining a leadership role, more specifically a technology integration specialist, within my school district. Only a year and a half ago, I decided to take the next big step towards achieving this goal; obtaining my Master of Arts in Educational Technology (MAET). However, as I mentioned in this essay, I’m not done learning yet. In order for me to make this dream job a reality, I must continue to learn, set new objectives, and acquire or improve upon skills, even after I complete my degree. This essay will discuss three specific topics for my future study: obtaining technology certifications, creating and presenting professional development to colleagues, and to continue to develop my personal and professional learning networks. After doing some research on the requirements for the role of a technology integration specialist, I realize that although my master’s program provided an abundance of ways to incorporate technology into the classroom, I am still missing something important. One thing that could be incredibly helpful to me that MAET couldn’t provide is Google Certification Training. The reason for my interest in this is that my school district is a Google and Chrome based district. As an art educator, I use technology in a very specific way to teach in my classroom and it is vastly different than how general education teachers use it. However, in a leadership role, I need to know various ways to utilize many different technologies in order to help others. Because of this, I am setting a goal to obtain a Google Educator Level 2 certification. This would not only look good on my resume, but also augment my capabilities in assisting other teachers in incorporating technology effectively in their classrooms.
The second topic for my future study is in regard to improving my skills and aptitude as a leader. If I want a leadership position, then I need more practice leading others; more than as a teacher in a classroom full of young students. I must learn how to be a leader among adults. One way I can do this is by asking my administration if I can design or co-design a professional learning experience to present to colleagues. While I do have experience creating a professional development workshop, I have never been able to actually present to and work with a room full of adults. This would be tremendously beneficial to discuss with future employers in an interview. Additionally, considering what educators are currently going through due to COVID-19, the workshop could be focused on a specific technology – perhaps even a skill that I learn from obtaining a Google Educator Level 2 certification.
My final topic concerns my professional and personal learning network. I’ve made a lot of good friends and acquaintances through the MAET program. It’s interesting to me how easy it is nowadays to form new relations in a professional manner yet how easy it is to get comfortable or stuck with who we know and what we know. I strive to make new connections as much as possible – whether that’s as simple as a tweet on Twitter or as complex as stepping out of my comfort zone and having a conversation with someone I don’t know about something I should know more about. For me, connections are key to learn from others, spread and gain knowledge, and communicate and solve problems more efficiently. I want to achieve this goal by attending new professional development conferences, joining a new team to meet new people, and building upon the professional relationships I currently have. I often think about the day that I get my official master’s degree in the mail. I think about the thrill of being done and feelings of pride and accomplishment. Despite all of these great feelings, there remains a sensation of uncertainty and the thought of “What next?” or “Am I even good enough to be a leader in my district?”. The answer to my own questions and doubts lie within the essence of this essay; continue to set goals, try, try again, make mistakes, trust the process… To put it simply, love, learn, lead.