/Katie Thill's Future as a Learner Essay
Learning is all I have ever Known
Katie Thill
Ever since I was a second grader I have loved school. I remember “playing school” with my younger brother and was determined I was going to be able to have him skip a grade. Over the course of my primary and secondary schooling years I loved discovering new things and continued to enjoy school, especially learning languages, science, and math. By my junior year of undergraduate school I knew I wanted to make teaching my lifetime career, and I could see myself striving to grow as a learner throughout my life. I always knew I wanted to pursue a master’s degree, and am very grateful I had the opportunity and received the education I did from Michigan State University. Therefore, this drive to learn is all I have ever known, and I will continue to strive as an educator and be a life- long learner.
Throughout the course of my Master’s in Literacy and Special Education at MSU I feel I have been in the company of excellent professors and knowledgeable people who have offered a wealth of information to me. With each of my classes I have grown in my own discipline as a Spanish teacher, as a teacher of reading and writing, as a teacher of an inclusive classroom atmosphere, and a teacher who accommodates all learning styles and provides a safe, creative environment in her classroom. After my program is complete, one of my goals as a teacher is to develop my background in Project-Based Learning (PBL) and incorporate this style of teaching into my daily classroom. Another goal I intend to pursue is learning how to fully include and accommodate my students from Cognitive, Emotional, and ASD classrooms into the learning and cultural environment of my classroom.
My district is currently in a push towards project-based learning across disciplines and curricula, which is similar to many other districts in the state of Michigan. While I do not always agree with every new incentive or change my district chooses to implement on its teachers, I do believe Project-Based Learning is one new idea with the potential to truly relate content to student’s lives as well as modify and lump curriculum and standards to fit the learning needs of all. In my Spanish classroom, I currently have many project-related units that students perform over the course of a monthly period and it incorporates a formal assessment of their knowledge. For example, in my fourth grade classes we have a Spanish Country project where students research their own country, identify artifacts associated with the country, and create a PowerPoint presentation to present to the class. Personally, I believe this is a fantastic project that includes technology, online research, creativity, and choice; however it is also very selective and at times unrelated to my student’s lives.
Therefore, I would like to pursue professional development opportunities and have common planning time with fellow colleagues to establish a more project-based learning approach. Using this Spanish Country project example, I think it has the possibility to grow into so much more. I could tie in environmental issues or setbacks in these countries, a weather unit and how it relates to their chosen country, and students could present these projects in a showcase night for parents. Thinking about this goal excites me because I know I am just starting to learn about this topic, but realize it could have a huge impact on how I teach in the future.
Not only is Project-Based Learning a future goal, but learning to be a teacher who can accommodate and develop students from inclusive classrooms in their own general education classroom, is a very important goal of mine. Being a Specials teacher I have the unique opportunity to teach everyone in the school, including those students in our Cognitive and Emotionally Impaired classrooms as well as our ASD classroom. Some of these students receive paraprofessional support in the general education setting while others do not and I am their sole resource outside of their inclusive classroom. To say the least, it can be extremely difficult to provide for students with an extreme difference in abilities and emotional needs. While I have taken various courses on how to modify writing and reading content for students with disabilities, and have developed multiple technology accommodations for my students with ASD, I still feel my knowledge is limited to those select courses. Therefore, this is area where I foresee a large growth curve and continuous learning over time.
Overall, I am more than pleased with the education goals I have achieved when I first started as a teacher and when I started pursuing my Master’s degree, and I am ever more excited to always continue learning as a life-long educator. I do believe learning is all I have ever known, and will continue to be a part of my professional and personal life for years to come.
