The Climb to the Summit
My educational journey was a long mountain trek that took dips and curves on its journey to the summit. Completing my masters degree, I’ve come to reflect upon this journey and understand that for me, it is the climb that matters to most, not the destination. Because for me the destination is ever changing and adapting to my desire to learn and better myself.
When I think back to the start of my educational journey and the experiences with school that I had, I would have never believed I would be an educator myself with a masters degree. If you were to ask anyone in my family, little Sierra becoming a teacher was likely impossible. Why? I hated school. School was hard and didn’t come easy to me, it was a constant struggle up until my sophomore year in high school. Nothing spectacular happened that year, just something finally clicked for me and I found success in school. The result of finding success however made a lasting impact, I became confident in myself for the first time in my life. I don’t think one realizes how much confidence can impact the direction of your life. With this confidence I came to love school and wanted to help others find this love too. This is why I became a teacher.
When I think back to the start of my educational journey and the experiences with school that I had, I would have never believed I would be an educator myself with a masters degree. If you were to ask anyone in my family, little Sierra becoming a teacher was likely impossible. Why? I hated school. School was hard and didn’t come easy to me, it was a constant struggle up until my sophomore year in high school. Nothing spectacular happened that year, just something finally clicked for me and I found success in school. The result of finding success however made a lasting impact, I became confident in myself for the first time in my life. I don’t think one realizes how much confidence can impact the direction of your life. With this confidence I came to love school and wanted to help others find this love too. This is why I became a teacher.
On the Horizon
At my first summit, graduating with a Bachelors of Arts in Education, I knew on the horizon was my next mountain to climb; Masters of Arts in Education. This latest trek changed my practice and thinking mostly in the realms of collaboration, reflection, and stepping out of my comfort zone.
Throughout my entire masters program, collaboration has been critical to the learning process of teachers and students. As an undergraduate, I knew collaboration was important for students to partake in. However, I didn’t realize how much of an impact collaboration among teachers can have. Working with classmates and colleagues has expanded my scope of understanding and creativity. Planning and reflecting upon teaching practices with other educators allows yourself to continuously grow and improve as a teacher. During my time as a graduate student, I learned to collaborate with other educators and to reflect upon feedback in order to become the best teacher I can be.
Reflection is a major aspect in the field of instruction. One must consistently consider their effectiveness, strategies, and approach to education. The Masters of Arts in Education (MAED) program has instilled in me the importance of reflecting upon my actions and words as an educator. Through thoughtful reflection I am able to grow as a more effective teacher.
When selecting a concentration for the masters program, the pathway up to the summit diverged. One way would keep me in my bounds of comfort and expand upon knowledge of literacy instruction. The other, more treacherous path would take me to a place of unease and unfamiliarity. When choosing a direction to follow, I thought back again to myself as a student. Math and science were where I struggled the most. For this reason I choose to push myself out of my comfort zone and concentrate in mathematics and science education. This decision allowed me to develop confidence and a love of these subject areas.Through the master's program, math has become my favorite subject to teach. The Masters of Arts in Education (MAED) program has pushed me to take on challenges and grew my confidence as a student and educator.
Teaching Mathematics for Understanding was a course that deepened my math reasoning and instructional practices. For me, this course was the most impactful of the masters program. My professor, Dr. Amy Parks, opened my mind up to a whole new way of thinking about math. No longer was math just another subject to me, it became an essence, like an abstract being that surrounds everything we do. Creating this idea about math with my students was exciting to see, their understanding transformed just as mine did. Math is a language. Math can be perceived differently by people because we all come with different experiences. This course opened my eyes to viewing math all around me and has allowed me to share this with my students. Together this year we found arrays in the bricks of our building, estimated the amount of leaves on a tree, and calculated the amount of pop bottles in the vending machine. I learned how to help develop math reasoning of students. With this course I introduced #unitchat discussions into the classroom, re-framed student questioning, and created a classroom culture where students defend their math reasoning with evidence and will confidently explain to you that math is a language. We can talk about math all day and with any subject or topic. Math is everywhere.
Accommodating differences in literacy learners was another course that was impactful to my teaching instruction. While my master’s concentration was math and science education, I took additional courses to enhance my overall teaching. This course brought into question the relationship I have with each student. Which students am I most connected to? Which students do I talk to the most? Which students draw my attention the most? To further this questioning, I took an inventory of my students and answered questions about them. I then reflected on why I knew so much about some students and had to think about the answers for others. Relationships in my opinion are the most important aspect in a classroom culture. Without positive and healthy relationships between students and the teacher, students won’t learn. Before a student can learn from you, they have to trust and eventually love you. This is why building relationships with students is so important. While I had thought I had an understanding of this coming into the course, the inventory and relationship discussions made me realize the quality of each relationship with my students was not the same. My professor challenged us to consider why this was. Time and time again it was the quiet and middle ground students that had the weakest relationship with teachers. For this reason, I selected one of my students that I knew the least about to focus on. Throughout my course I worked on building a relationship with her while at the same time differentiating literacy instruction to fit her needs. While accommodating literacy learners was primarily focused on differentiating reading instruction, I believe the most pressing matter to take away was that teachers cannot forget that relationships and knowing your students is vital to student success. This course has made me more cognizant in the quality of relationships I have with my students and to ensure less vocal students are not falling through the cracks.
When I first decided that I would pursue a career in education, I had a vision for how my classroom would be. I took pieces of my educational journey that were joyous and memorable and joined them with characteristics of my favorite teachers to create my ideal vision for myself as a teacher. My fifth grade teacher, Mr.Keibler, was the prime example of how I wanted to be in the classroom; engaging, open-hearted, and fun. What also made Mr. Keibler, an amazing teacher, was how he made each of his students feel valued and loved each and every day. This would be at the forefront of my vision, I wanted my students to feel the same way Mr. Keilber made me feel that fifth grade year. I carried my vision with me throughout my undergraduate years but it wasn’t until I took Teaching Science for Understanding as a graduate student, that I was able to explore and adapt my vision. While the course was focused on science instruction, my biggest take-a-way was the final project on our science vision. To me, vision is a drive, direction, and hope for the future. This course changed my teaching practices by opening up my eyes to how having vision can lead to impactful experiences for students and gives drive an educator. My task was to narrow my vision to three main components for science instruction. While I continued to carry my overall teaching vision, I considered subject-based, what I wanted science to be like for my students and how if I was a student, how I would like to be taught. I came up with: trans-disciplinary, engagement, and student led. In the real world, phenomena and experiences are not strategically divided by what subject they lie in. Authentic experiences happen naturally and across subject lines This is why my vision for science is to be taught simultaneously with other subject areas. Science can be found everywhere and it does not need to be separated out in order to be learned. This leads into my second component, engagement. As a student, the most memorable experiences were the hands-on engaging lessons. I believe students learn the most by doing; experiencing and discovering phenomena themselves. I included this into my vision because of its importance in students' comprehension of phenomena. The last component of my science vision is student guided. Giving students the ability to make decisions about their education instills a responsibility and ownership in their learning. My vision includes allowing students to follow and explore areas that are of interest to them through enrichment projects. This project-based learning is what I enjoyed the most as a student as it gave me an opportunity to be creative, to follow my interests, and to be an independent learner. Teaching Science for Understanding was a course in the Masters of Arts in Education program that allowed me to reevaluate my vision for myself as an educator. I reflected on the beginning of my vision as an undergraduate, idealizing my fifth grade teacher, Mr. Keibler. My hope and drive for the future remains clear as it was when I thought up my vision now seven years ago. Teach with your heart, as Mr. Keibler did, be engaging and create an environment that fosters a community of love and support for each student.
Planting my Flag
I’ve now reached the summit of my latest climb, graduating with a Masters in math and science education. Where do I go from here? In the distance there may be another mountain to climb to achieve an additional degree but for now I am going to enjoy the view and journey that brought me to this point. I have changed a lot since beginning this journey, I have become a confident educator with vision. With my new found skills I will strive everyday to be the best teacher I can be for my students. When times get rough as they are now with the pandemic, I will reflect back on my Master's journey and remember the importance of relationships and staying focused on my vision. I hope one day I will have students remember me with the fondness I have for Mr. Keibler. Coincidentally enough, at the beginning of my Master’s degree, I ran into Mr. Keilber for the first time since 2005. I shared with him the impact he had on me as a student and how his influence guided me to become a teacher myself. This impactful re-meeting strengthened my vision heading into my next phase of my educational journey. Now that I have reached the summit and planted my flag, I will keep hold of my vision and see where my educational journey will take me next.
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