Learning is power, purpose, and progress. 

Learning is a multifaceted process that is different for each individual. It is a highly personal, learned skill that, as educators, we get to be a part of for so many. As a first-generation bachelor’s student and now master’s student, I have seen firsthand how precious any opportunity to learn really is. Learning will never be obsolete. Technology and ways of doing things will always be changing. This requires us all to be committed to continuing to learn and grow as individuals. How special it is that, as educators, we get to help build this love for learning that the world requires of us in others? This task, while it feels depthless, is core to our own commitment to continuing to learn. This is why in the fall of 2024, I decided to begin my Master’s in Educational Technology (MAET). Through the MAET program at Michigan State University, I’ve had the privilege of exploring different facets of learning and unlearning, while committing myself to lifelong learning. This program has had a lifelong impact on me as an educator and learner. 

I stopped using our classroom iPads just for fun Fridays, and began considering how to use them in ways that supported learning differences, allowed choice, and supported creativity. I also learned to leverage technology to make tasks more efficient. We started using a geoboard app for math that helped limit the amount of time spent just getting out materials alone, and the kids were more engaged in those lessons than they had been previously. We still have physical geoboards out, but I learned which lessons it made sense to take the time to get them out and which ones it would be better to use the digital one. I was able to contrast and consider different modes of doing the same lesson and make informed choices on how to leverage what we have for the best learning experience possible. In a sense, I had met my goal in this course for my original whole-program level goal. I was using technology more effectively (and bravely!) than I had previously. What more was there to learn? My goal began to take a different shape as I realized there was so much more to technology and its core teaching principles than I originally could see. 

With each course I took, my overall program goal seemed to shift and become more refined. After taking CEP 810, I began to realize how much learning requires trial and error. To utilize technology in my classroom, I had to be okay with failing sometimes. Problem solving was a skill that I needed to learn to hone in on myself to better serve my students and my school community. The best teachers know their content well- I needed to become a problem solver. In CEP 822: Approaches to Educational Research, I began to learn lifelong skills on how to solve big problems. Through the creation of an annotated bibliography, I had the opportunity to dissect and learn about current research on a big problem: professional development and its measurable impact on student achievement. This course gave me practical research skills that are needed to solve big problems facing our school communities today. I began to see the importance of just one teacher (me!) learning about this issue and creating a plan to solve it. We had the chance to form an action research project that used current research to inform practical steps for a change in our district. We considered each step in the process- gather information about the topic, noting all the people who would need to be involved and informed, and step by step mapping out a path to a solution together. After all this research on professional development, teacher burnout, and student achievement, my district’s head of professional development resigned, and the new head is someone I know well and will have the opportunity to share this research with this fall. I also learned how to connect with others through problem-solving by becoming a quantitative and qualitative researcher. I was able to design data collection methods (surveys, mostly) that were effective in gathering information from impacted populations related to these problems. In the qualitative research methods I learned, I learned different styles of connection and separation that can be useful to researchers. I had the opportunity to do an informational interview with a colleague about professional development and teacher burnout- experiences that I shared, but individual experiences nonetheless. I learned how to balance this position of researcher, co-educator, and learner. This course prepared me to solve problems that, before I really intently began researching them, felt unmanageable and unsolvable. How often in our own classrooms do tasks feel unmanageable? Do big problems pop up? This course gave me more than just research skills; it also exemplified how to teach students a path forward to solving a problem step by step, while becoming informed and empowered to tackle the problem. Learning is power, purpose, and progress. When we experience learning, we get to experience these things as well. 

The position of researcher, co-educator, and learner began to weigh on me a bit during my time in the MAET program. I began to consider a deeper definition of what being an educator really means. What do educators really do? What really is our job? I felt like I was wearing so many hats as a graduate student, teacher of second graders, advocate to parents, newer teacher in the profession, co-educator, and researcher. Who, really, are we expected to educate? The kids in our classrooms- definitely! But I noticed there were so many other instances where the hat of educator was being worn, but not necessarily focused on or expected of me. Particularly, I began to notice this in my interactions with parents. I am not a parent-yet (but soon, adding that scary title this February). A lot of parents were asking me about how to support their children in different ways at home. Ways that at first I felt like weren’t within my expertise. Then, I decided to take a class that would help me get a graduate certificate in the science of learning. Originally, I thought it sounded interesting and would help me understand how students were learning. I’ll admit, at first, I didn’t realize the course I would need to take to complete this certification was in adult education. Not K-12. Not my specialty. I was wary that it would not align with my current goals and just be a means to an end, but this course became one of the most formative courses I took in my entire time in my master’s program. EAD 861: Adult Education was a crucial course in my ability to partner with parents (and coeducators!) as a professional in my field. I learned about the differences between teaching adults and teaching in a K-12 setting, the former known as andragogy, when I was already familiar with pedagogy (the theories and practices behind K-12 teaching methods today). Studying andragogy helped me realize that I was not just an educator of the 28 second graders in my room, but also simultaneously their parents and guardians. The best way to support my second graders was by also teaching into the needs of their parents when supporting their own second grader. I focused on making parent communication aligned with andragogical practices- easily digestible, transparent, and explicit, and supportive of a range of engagement. Adults are busy, have increased autonomy compared to K-12 learners, and benefit from acknowledging and respecting their time. Through this course, I created a parent learning and facilitation resource in an area I felt my parents often had questions about- our phonics instructional content. Parents often came to me with issues about writing our reading for their child that could be traced back to phonics skills that would help them in both areas. This resource became a facilitation guide that I shared with parents on small activities they could guide their child through to better support them in their literacy knowledge. I became aware that the best tool for my second graders was to empower their families at home to be learning with them in practical ways. Posing parents as facilitators of at-home learning has helped me build a deeper school-home connection while also building lasting relationships with families. This knowledge of how to engage with adults in a way that helps support their own learning has supported me through many difficult conversations, many discussions about medical challenges students might face (looking at you- ADHD meds!), and gives them a sense that I’m on their team. Did they sign up for it? No, but that is often how education works, isn’t it? We have to use the opportunities to share knowledge when we have them in effective ways. This course was invaluable to my ability to be an effective communicator with parents, but also with my coeducators. It gave me insight into some of my other works I’ve talked about- the research aspects of my work, especially, as to why some professional development courses feel so misaligned when I sit through them. Or why some of the delivery methods for our staff meetings feel borderline condescending. Andragogy has taught me how much delivery of information really matters- and it’s given me some big problems that I plan to be a part of solving. 

At the core of learning is also what you do with it. The “what now” matters as much as the commitment to starting to learn something of value. These courses and experiences have changed me as an educator and learner. Before experiencing this learning, you would’ve walked into my classroom and found that it lacked choice. You would’ve seen a novice teacher (which I still mostly identify as) struggling through keeping her second graders engaged. If you peeked in on my parent meetings, you would’ve found a literacy specialist (whom I adore and is the best resource ever) doing most of the talking to the parent about their child’s inattention. You would’ve found a teacher who was committed to learning, but a bit lost on where to start. If you walked into my classroom now, you would see an effective communicator. You would see a teacher who is committed to solving the big, complex problems and showing her students just how that is done. You would see her often including them in problem-solving and problem-posing. You would see technology leveraged to increase engagement, efficiency, and student voice. You would see more options for accessibility for students. You would see a teacher not afraid to answer hard questions posed by parents, and you would see more resources aimed at supporting families and students. It would be the same teacher, just with different values and understandings. Learning is power, purpose, and progress. My MAET experience taught me this, and so much more about applying it. 

Interested in learning more about the MAET program, or my path through it? Explore below!