In my mind, there are two ways that I think about my goals as an educator. There are personal, unwavering goals that root themselves into my philosophies and initial reasons behind choosing to become a teacher, and there are also goals that emerge as what is demanded of me as an educator changes. When I look at the professional goal statement I submitted as part of my application to graduate school, I see the goals included in my writing, both the constant and the transforming kind. This was only a little over two years ago, but much has changed. Of course I still have a philosophy that drives me to pursue an overarching goal for my students each school year, and that has not changed. However I spoke about goals revolving around literacy that I still believe are important, but perhaps take a backseat to goals that are now on the forefront of my mind as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that has altered how to approach education in the middle of a health crisis. Always at the heart of my teaching is my love and admiration of children as unique individuals. I strive to teach the whole child, not just the required curriculum, and my mission is to do so in the form of meaningful relationships and carefully planned learning experiences that are shaped around the needs of my students. These thoughts are the fuel to my fire, so to speak. But I also have professional goals that aim to better myself as an educator. When I applied to the Master of Arts in Education (MAED) program at Michigan State, I decided to seek a concentration in literacy because that is what best matched my professional goals. I discussed the following in my goal statement.
Understanding how to foster a strong foundation of literacy for young children.
Develop more strategies to implement with struggling readers and writers.
These are the goals that no longer apply to my current objectives as a teacher, because there are many things that concern me more at this moment in time. The thing that keeps me up at night is the challenge of engaging young children in a virtual setting, and incorporating an environment that is sensitive to the trauma that students are experiencing. Thankfully, I believe that some of my courses taken in this program have addressed teaching strategies for students who have endured trauma. I also have goals revolving around communication with families because, now more than ever while students are learning from home, I see myself as part of a team working with families to offer their children the best learning experience possible. The idea of what school is has been challenged this year, and I believe there will always be lasting effects of the adaptations we took during the COVID-19 pandemic. For that reason, I also have adapted a goal to be flexible in what is being asked of me in years to come. Education may look different as we grapple with the aftermath of a health crisis, but I will still remember my teaching philosophy and take it with me wherever I may go.