The Sweat, The Struggle, The Payoff
By Helen Smith
"A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work."
- Collin Powell
After three years of teaching I started thinking about the requirements I had to accomplish in order to keep my State of Michigan teaching license. This prompted me to look into masters programs, particularly online programs as I am teaching in Bangkok Thailand, a geographical nightmare for physically attending courses or meeting up with others in person. I was also motivated to go back and receive additional schooling because I now had my own classroom where I could put the concepts and practices I would be learning into immediate use. I know that in my undergrad courses there were a plethora of ideas and concepts that got lost by the wayside and never made it into my classroom because I could not implement them immediately and I did not have the prior knowledge and understanding to tie these concepts down into my professional practice.
When I came across Michigan State University’s online masters program, I knew this was the right choice for me. Not only was this a completely online program that met the State of Michigan requirements, but the variety of choices and concentration areas allowed me to choose the courses that I was interested in and would benefit me the most in my current teaching situation. I chose to focus on Technology in the Classroom, as well as Science and Mathematics as these two areas are a real passion of mine. These would also help me better meet the expectations of parents, as teaching in an international school in Asia, most parents put the most emphasis on science and mathematics. Implementing technology within the classroom is another major push, in a generation where new technology is coming out almost daily, I knew the technology that would benefit my students was out there laying undiscovered and I needed a push in that direction.
The implementation of technology into my teaching practices had always been something that I had aspired to do; however I was not always sure how to accomplish this goal or what to use to do this. Previous to taking any courses, I had already implemented the use of PowerPoints via a projector on almost a daily basis. I had also created my own teacher website as a way to post information to parents and links that could be beneficial for my students. However, there was a great many programs and activities I would find that did not fit my age group of students or would require a major change in teaching methods to implement. TE 831, Teaching Subject Matter with Technology, addressed a lot of these questions and concerns for me.
In TE 831 I was introduced to many new programs that I have continued to use in my classroom on a regular basis, such as Glogster and PhotoStory. On top of introducing new technology, TE 831 many valuable lessons on how to incorporate these technologies into a classroom. The biggest lessons I learned was that the use of technology should not be the end result. Technology is a wonderful tool and can be used to explore concepts in new and meaningful ways; however technology is a tool, not the goal in a lesson. In order to use technology as a tool, rarely can a program be used exactly as it is. Instead of changing the lesson to fit the technology, repurpose the technology to fit the lesson. This often does require some creativity on the teacher’s part; however the end results can be fantastic.
I was able to do this in my own classroom repurposing Kidpics, a drawing program similar to paint, to teach both a mathematics lesson as well as a science lesson. In mathematics we explored patterns, using the drawing capabilities to continue patterns, find hidden patterns, and generally dive deeper in their understanding of patterns. The end result was that my students learned more and were excited about the lesson. I also used Kidpics as a formative assessment while teaching the water cycle. I asked my students to use Kidpics and draw the water cycle. Later I printed these diagrams off and had the students label each part of the water cycle and write a definition in their own words as to what was happening at each stage. This allowed me to examine my students understanding of a concept in a way that excited them.
Another course I found particularly significant was TE 861B, Inquiry, Nature of Science, and Science Teaching. This course not only provided me with a new model of scientific teaching, but also dove into the reason we should teach this way, creating a more lasting and meaningful case for this method of teaching. I have always believed that science should be taught hands-on as much as possible, however I often struggled on how to teach hands-on lessons that always fit the scientific method. TE 861B gave a very compelling argument to throw out the set steps of the scientific method and instead teach through inquiry. The need for inquiry lessons in science became even clearer to me as we looked at the new scientific reform moving within the school system, calling for deeper understanding and transferability of scientific knowledge. In order to do this we must stop teaching science as a set of steps to follow, but start teaching science in a similar way to how actual scientists practice science research and experimentation.
When I gave a survey to my students I was amazed to see how little students understood about what actual scientists did, how they were similar to them, and how to create their own inquiry experiments. This insight into my students understanding motivated my drive to implement inquiry lessons into my classroom even more. Dawnmarie Ezzo, our professor, then asked our class to complete two inquiry projects together, allowing us to use the inquiry process first hand. After this we designed and implemented an inquiry lesson within our classes. The initial inquiry projects prepared me for designing my own inquiry lesson sequence, as well as prepared me for some questions and problems I may encounter. My implementation of the inquiry lesson sequence was eye-opening. My students responded to this lesson more than they had in any other lesson. Having a question for them to puzzle over, something they have experience with, really allowed the students to connect to what was being taught. This process also got all of my students involved; allowed students to discuss ideas amongst each other, created an environment free to make mistakes in, and motivated my students. I had never seen my students so motivated before, and they came away from the inquiry lesson sequence with a deeper understanding of the concept than any of my previous classes before. The readings in this class, as well as the results I saw firsthand from the inquiry lesson has prompted me to continue using this process, as well as causing me to rethink my lessons for years to come.
The course that had the most influence on me as a learner was CEP 818, Creativity in Teaching and Learning. This course was centered around 8 key components of creativity and tied together with our reading of “Sparks of Genius the 13 Thinking Tools of the World’s Most Creative People” by Robert and Michele Root-Bernstein. This book presented 13 thinking tool that my instructor Punya Mishra combined to make 8 key components. Each of these components represented different ways we can creatively look at a topic, sometimes using these tools individually and sometimes combined. On top of just reading about each of these tools, we were then asked to use these tools to creatively teach our chosen topic.
In creatively teaching Earth science I realized I have the capability to be much more creative than I had originally thought however there are certain tools I favor above others. One area I use quite often in my own learning is play. This was not something I had originally thought you could use as a teaching tool; however play has been the origination of some of the things we use on a regular basis today. Take for example Alexander Fleming, if it were not for his play in bacteria painting we may not have penicillin today. As for myself, whenever I approach something new I like to play around and get a feel for it before really diving into it. Teaching students can even be centered around play, as seen in the lesson I created through teaching rock hardness by having students draw pictures with rocks.
This course showed me that creativity is a legitimate teaching tool, enticing student’s interest, motivating them to learn more, as well as deepening their understanding through working with different aspects of a concept. With creativity the students are challenged to see different aspects of a topic, using many different strategies to tease apart the topic, recognize unforeseen patterns, and link the new information together to existing information they already hold. Through creatively teaching Earth science I came away with a much deeper understanding of the topic myself, developed creative tools that continue to help me when teaching my students, and now have great tools to help me make any lesson a fun and engaging lesson that promotes learning as well as excitement and motivation.
Throughout all the courses I was enlightened and updated on the new reforms sweeping the school systems, in mathematics, and science. I realized that a lot has changed since I was in grade school myself and teaching methods have changed even since I have left college. Teaching overseas has left me a little behind in this area as there are Thai laws to follow, however most of the reform is school initiated and not mandated by the state and federal government. I am interested to see how these new reforms progress, particularly in science as I plan on implementing many of the changes within my own classroom.
Also, I was amazed to see how far behind I was in the technology progression as well. I felt like in my school I was on the higher end of technology use and integration within the classroom, however my courses showed me just how much I was missing, introducing me to new programs and ideas, but leaving me with a drive to research myself, to make sure I stay updated in this ever changing area. Looking over where I was when I started this program, evaluating my own technology use both personally and in the classroom, I am amazed to see just how many more programs I am now comfortable with and how much easier it is to try new things.
Finally, the Capstone course, ED 870, has forced me to look back over my experience in the Masters of Arts in Education (MAED) program, showing me just how much I have learned and helped me to identify ways these courses have affected how I teach my students on a regular basis. This course has also proved to me how important it is to not be complacent with your current understanding, but continually search and learn both inside and outside of the classroom. It was enlightening to see that even the MAED program was growing and changing throughout the two years I was enrolled, using new technologies and changing to fit the needs of the students. This was a great example to me, motivating me to evaluate my own teaching practices. The MAED program has not only equipped me to be a better teacher and learner through providing new strategies, introducing new technology and exploring current reforms; this program has also equipped me with the tools to be a life-long learner, motivated by a drive to be the best teacher I can be for my students. All the sweat and struggle of completing a Masters course has finally paid off.