As I embark on the final stages of my masters program, I realize that my future goals play out on three different levels. The first and most critical level is the focus on my classroom and my students. Throughout my program I have learnt and delved into the many facets of teaching. From technology and curriculum through to student behavior and more, there are many areas that can be strengthened and enhanced by applying some of the great research that I have come across.  On the second level, I want to develop my ability to become a leader at my school through training teachers and organizing workshops that enhance parental involvement. Finally on the third level, I want to become a more active member of the educational community and share resources and learn about best practices from educators throughout the world. The connecting strand across these three levels is my continued strive to become a lifelong learner and to always challenge myself to learn and explore new ideas and resources.

 

 

Level 1: Classroom Focus

From designing websites, experimenting with digital games, and creating digital assessments, I have realized that technology must be an essential part of my classroom. That being said, I have become mindful in what kinds of technology will have the most value and effect. One area in particular that I want to become an expert in, that stemmed from the use of many Google tools, is taking the Fundamentals Training offered by Google (https://edutrainingcenter.withgoogle.com ). This training helps educators integrate a variety of Google tools in the classroom, and leads to becoming a Google certified educator level 1.  There are also many other tools that I want to challenge myself to become more of an expert in as I realize that tools can be used most effectively with students when teachers demonstrate deep knowledge of that tool and use it in ways that promote learning. My challenge is to learn how to use one new tool every three months!

 

 

Level 2: School Leadership

 

On the second level, I strive to become a teacher leader who imparts and shares experience with colleagues. As I worked through my program, I enjoyed sharing various resources and tools with teachers across my department. Additionally, I would like to strengthen our parent teacher communications at our school. As Susan Becker, M. Ed states, ‘“Communication on both sides is extremely important.” Just as parents would like to know how their child is performing, the teacher also needs feedback from parents about their child’s academic and social background. Conducting parent workshops that help support parents to become more actively involved in their children’s learning is also an area that I would like to become more involved in. Another initiative I would like to introduce is using an app that leads to better communication with parents. This article https://globaldigitalcitizen.org/12-apps-for-smarter-teacher-parent-communication looks at some apps that can lead to smarter teacher parent communications.

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Level 3: Education Community

 

Another important goal for me is to share my learning with the education community and become a lifelong learner. I would like to attend more conferences to network with various teachers and meet other professional in the area. One conference I would like to attend is the conference for the Digital Education Show http://www.terrapinn.com/exhibition/digital-education-show-middle-east/agenda.stm where the focus will be Empowering learning through technology. I have also been inspired by so many great teachers’ blogs and hope to start one that focuses on sharing my classroom resources and activities.

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The key to achieving my future goals is my continuous drive to be a life long learner, to explore, try out new ideas and embrace new challenges.

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