Caitlin Johnson 

The End is Really Just a New Beginning

 How a Masters Degree Changed My Teaching and My Life 

As my masters in education comes to a close I am faced with reflecting on my journey, thinking of how the experience has shaped me as not just an educator, but also as a person. When I completed my undergraduate degree and my internship year I knew that I would need to go back to school eventually in order to re-new my teaching license, many of my friends chose to go back for their masters right after graduating, I had been told that I should wait until I had a full time job before I went back, but I also heard that it was beneficial to take the courses right away while you were still fresh and developing your teaching personality. I chose to hold off for a few years. During my first year of teaching I was so much more busy than I even thought I would be! I was glad that I had decided to put off grad school for a bit. Each year of teaching I seemed to get more and more busy I continued to put off going back to school, finally as if I wasn’t busy enough after moving in with my fiancé and his two children I decided I had to go back! I knew that I didn’t want to get my masters in administration so I chose to get my masters in education. 

As I began my coursework in my online masters program through MSU I was hesitant and skeptical at first. Throughout my undergrad I had taken a variety of courses online and I always found the experience somewhat lacking. Some of the classes I learned a lot in and some I felt like I hadn’t gained anything from them largely due to the online format. I was concerned about how much I would actually gain. I learned quickly how wrong my concerns were! I truly grew as an educator, mother, and person through the past two years. I believe that I have learned how to be a much better time-manager, learned how to integrate technology in my instruction, and expand the literacy of both my students and my own children above all the other many lessons I have gained during my MAED program. 

Time Management

Time management is something that I feel needs to be a class that everyone takes in high school. One of the largest struggle of adjusting to teaching when I first started was managing my time effectively. When I first began teaching I was living at home which helped me greatly as I had less to manage, when I moved into my own place with my kids and fiancé time management became a large struggle. When it came time to sit down and discuss with my fiancé the idea of me going back to school to finish my masters degree that was his key concern, I already worked from home so often and that often meant my not being able to spend quality time with the kids and him. I told him that I would figure it out and strive to manage my time better. 

The first year of my masters degree I did not uphold my end of that agreement to manage my time better, to strive to accomplish being a better friend, mother, teacher, wife-to-be, AND student! About halfway through my masters I began to worry that I had made the wrong choice. Work had become very overwhelming, and my master workload was not helping matters. I felt as though i could lose my family if I stayed in the profession of teaching. My fiancé and I had many fights and discussions about whether I should leave teaching, and if I was making the right choice by pursuing a masters degree in such an area. I took a course (ED 800) that was self paced and I struggled keeping to the schedule I had given myself. As the climate in the district I was in worsened I found myself questioning this more and more. I knew that something had to give. This was certainly my low point of my masters journey. I began to speak with one of my academic advisors within the MAED program, as well as my field instructor from my internship year. After talking with them about my struggles they gave me a lot of invaluable advice of how to manage my job, education, and personal life better.  I got back on track with ED 800 and I credit that low point with the lessons I learned in time management during my degree program. I learned that in order to be the best student, mother, and teacher that I could be that I needed to not bite off more than I could chew in any of the areas. That at the end of the day teaching was my job and as much as I loved it it was only one aspect of my job, and that I wanted to continue my education but that I couldn’t stress myself to the max and compare myself to people who don’t necessarily have the same things in their lives and jobs as I did, and that I wanted to be the best mother and wife as possible but that I had a passion for teaching and that was one of the things that helped me be a better woman for my kids and husband-to-be. I began to use my time much more effectively at work, focusing on working smarter not harder, I began to schedule time at home where I would work on school work or work work, I would prioritize what I would do at home so the more difficult to focus on things would be done when I was kid/distraction free. I have completed the second year of my masters a lot more smoothly, it has helped me balance not just school work but also realize how to prioritize all of my responsibilities in my life. I truly do not believe that I would have learned this skill as effectively as I have without the added responsibility of the masters courses. I feel as though on a daily basis I am able to look myself in the mirror and say that I have given my all in all of the many roles that I play daily. 

Technology 

Technology has always been something older teachers have told me I use so well! As I suppose that in many ways I have always used technology in my teaching, and have used it effectively. Prior to my masters program however I was always hesitated to take on a new piece of technology. I remember being in professional development, and visiting other classrooms and being interested in many pieces of technology I would see in use and I would tell myself that I was going to use those pieces of technology in my classroom but the truth is I never sat down to learn the piece of technology, I always worried that it will end up taking too much time for what it was worth. Then I took what I think is the most meaningful course of my masters program, TE 831, teaching school subject matter with technology. My professor Doug Hartman did an outstanding job of walking us through the process of learning several pieces of technology in such a way that we could apply the technology to our classroom right away. Under his instruction I not only regained a little faith in the concept of online instruction, but I also felt as though the learning curve on most pieces of technology was not as steep as I feared, and even those pieces where the curve was a bit more steep I learned that with a little practice I could make use of these tech tools and use them to expand my ability to teach! 

Speaking of tech tools this is one of the most useful assignments I had in all my schooling let alone in my masters program, my instructor in TE 831 had us complete multiple ‘tech tools’ which were assignments created on a google document where all members of the class had to learn a new technology tool, try it in our classroom and then write something summarizing our experiences. I loved being made to try new tools, as well as being able to keep the tech tool word docs in order to reference whenever I needed to try something new in my teaching. Since I took this course back in fall of 2014 I have started to be more excited about technology opportunities instead of shying away form them. I have also made technology a standing part of my classroom, either having students work with components in class or at home, depending on the requirements or the technology tool and what I have available in my school! 

Literacy 

The area of literacy is one in which I did not anticipate growing in during my masters program. I was required to take a literacy course in order to get my teaching certificate renewed. It was a class that was entitled accommodating differences in literacy learners. I didn’t feel as though teaching science, and teaching at a premier test in high school that this course would not apply directly to me. I knew that I incorporated many literacy strategies in my classroom already, and I didn’t feel as though I had many children who honestly struggled with literacy. I was given a project to complete over the course of the semester where I used a particular student as a case study, I was to pre-test her, work with her, and then evaluate again. Seeing as I was working in a school in which I had no students who were English Language Learners. When I first began I was beyond skeptical. What I quickly learned however was that one of the largest literacy issues, and perhaps largest issues all together facing my school was that our students, despite being test in students held to a higher standard than other students in our public schools, struggle with reading and comprehension. After going through the pre-test procedures with my focus student I realized that so many of my students throughout my teaching have not been able to read an article or textbook and pull anything out of it. Since working with my focus student I have seen that the reading and comprehension is a large issue that is facing high school students not just in my school, but all over the place. I found that the most challenging part of working with my focus student was how to express to her the issues she was having, as a student who has always been a high achieving student it was difficult to express to her what she needed to work on. It was certainly a learning experience, and one in which I relied heavily on the support from my classmates. I now utilize many of the strategies I learned in that class to work with all my students. I give my students many scientific articles throughout the semester, I always start small then build up with difficulty, not only with the articles but also with the analysis questions. 

Growth and Continued Goals 

I am so thankful for the last two years of grad school. I have opened my eyes to so many different teaching strategies and truly changed my teaching persona. I not only have grown as an educator but I have also been able to grow as a person. I am now focused on the future. I plan on working in the field of education until I retire, at the start of my masters journey I wasn’t certain that I would be able to make it in education for the remainder of my career, but with the many skills that I have gained throughout these past few years I now am confident that I can. I know that I will be able to succeed at any challenge my future career goals will bring me, whether I remain in the classroom or move to another setting I know that I will always be educating, and learning myself along the way.