Kelli Strange (Siebers)
Looking Back: My Goal Reflection
Pursuing a Master's Degree
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After earning my bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from Michigan State University (MSU) I accepted my first job as a kindergarten teacher of English Language Learners (ELLs) in Phoenix, Arizona. During my first two years of teaching, I found my undergraduate focus in mathematics was evident through my student’s success as well as through my ability to help my fellow teachers implement effective mathematics lessons with their students. When reflecting on my first years of teaching, I found myself looking for ways to continue my own educational journey. In particular, my experience with ELL students reinforced the importance of language skills and increased my desire to support my students' literacy skills. As a result, I decided to continue my education by pursuing a master's degree focused on literacy education.
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Original Goal
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My original goal when applying for MSU's Master of Arts in Education (MAED) program was to
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"gain knowledge and skills that can be used to positively affect my
students, with an emphasis on expanding my knowledge of literacy
and how to effectively teach foundational literacy skills."
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Goal Reflection
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As I think back to my perspective when setting this original goal, my main focus was on expanding my own ability to teach literacy skills to my students, as I felt I already possessed the ability to effectively teach math skills. Although I still feel literacy and math are two essential components of education, as I continued to study, teach and reflect on experiences over the past two years I realized that expanding my knowledge of and ability to teach all content areas is a goal that will never truly be “met”. Although I began my teaching experience with a solid understanding of mathematics, I have continued reflect and improve upon my ability to teach mathematics. Therefore, although my original goal focused on literacy, as an educator I understand that expanding my knowledge and skills of all content areas is a career-long goal. Although my formal educational journey may be coming to an end for now, education is a life-long journey that requires me to reflect on experiences to continue to grow and improve in all content areas.
However, as I reflect on another aspect of my original goal, namely to positively affect each of my students, I feel the importance and my perspective regarding how to meet this goal has changed. In my original goal I wrote that expanding my knowledge and skills of content areas would help me to positively affect my students. After several years of working with diverse students I now realize having a positive effect on my students requires content knowledge, but more importantly it is about my ability to understand each of my students and how best to support each student’s needs. That is not to say that having knowledge on the core skills is unimportant, but knowing how to apply different strategies based on students’ individual needs is what allows this knowledge to positively impact students. In addition, neither having the skills nor adjusting techniques to individual students can be fully effective if the students don’t feel safe, secure and supported in the classroom. Therefore, in order to continue positively affect my students so that they can experience success and growth I must first strive to understand each student’s needs, develop positive relationships with them, and provide a safe and supportive environment for each student. That lays the foundation that allows me to effectively teach the key content to my students, using different approaches and techniques based on what works best for each student.