Personal Growth Plan

Personal Growth Plan

My name is Melissa Thompson and I am a 7th grade math and science teacher in Pinckney, Michigan. My whole life growing up I have known that I wanted to be a teacher. I was a student who always had to work a little harder when it came to understanding concepts covered in class. I never shied away from asking for extra help and learned through perseverance and hard work I could master concepts. Through my school years I had math tutors that helped me when I struggled. When I got to middle school I had a great teacher who made math seem so much easier. From that point forward math started clicking for me and I loved working with numbers and decided that being a middle school math teacher would be right for me. I received my undergraduate degree from Oakland University and got my degree in Elementary Education with a major in math and minor in integrated science. I learned a lot of tips and techniques to become a great teacher in the classroom.

A class that I really enjoyed in the education program at Oakland University was my technology course (IST). The class was an introduction to technology and taught me how to design websites, create web quests and iMovies along with more ways to integrate technology in the classroom. Going through the class at Oakland I learned so much about technology that I never knew before and in my mind I thought it would be really great and beneficial for me to get my masters degree in this area. Technology is the new innovation being taught in classes today and I want to be using all the new tricks of the trade in my very own classroom. I am going into my third year teaching. Since I have graduated, I’ve been fortunate both here in Michigan and in North Carolina, to have taught in highly equipped classrooms with state of the art technology. Having enjoyed the technology classes in my undergrad program, I was extremely excited about using all the technology in my own classroom. I was nervous about using it though as each technology device works a little differently whether it be a SMARTBOARD, Projection screen that is hooked up to a computer and can be projected onto the board, the Elmo , document cameras, slates that are hooked up to the SMARTBOARD or projection screen. I felt like I knew these technology devices at the introductory level, but did not feel confident and by no means did I feel like an expert when it came to using them. I have been learning a lot by working with this technology in my classroom but I still feel like I don’t have it mastered quite yet.

Getting my Master’s at Michigan State University in technology will help me become more of a well rounded teacher. I love technology and it can be challenging at times but when you problem solve and find things that works its really exciting. Its even more exciting to show the kids and teach lessons with the great ideas you come up with in technology. I use technology daily in my classroom but I want to become a master at it. There are endless possibilities in the classroom when it comes to using technology if you are assisted with the right equipment.

After the first week of attending the Educational Technology program at Michigan State University I have learned so much already. Learning everything this week has been a little overwhelming, challenging yet extremely informative. I have gained so much these past 4 days and am so excited to learn more in the weeks and months to come. This first week I have learned how to create and set up a blog which I have never done before. I now have a Twitter account and have been tweeting which I have never done before. I have learned how to create movies with voice and sound on a program called “Animoto,” become more familiar with programs in Google docs and have been introduced to programs I have never heard of before. Coming into the program I didn’t really know what to expect and after being in class these past four days I am really excited to see what more I am going to learn. I feel like I am at the point right now where I am still trying to understand some of the basic concepts with uploading images and links to my blog. I am thrilled about gaining all this knowledge and wealth of information and bringing these technological resources back into my own classroom.

My personal growth plan for the remaining portion of the 2011 summer classes is to continue understanding the concepts presented and putting them to use for the upcoming school year. I know it is going to require time, patience and perseverance. I’m very willing and motivated to conquer the skills for the practical implementation it will provide for both my students and I. The contacts I’m making in class will be good resources for problem solving this term and future professional growth.

For the next 2 to 3 years in the program my goal is to become very knowledgeable of teaching technology in the 21st century classroom. I would also like to become confident in using the different technology devices such as the flip camera, iPod, iPad and others. I have always thought I would be great to become the technology tech in the district. I also like the idea of being someone who trains teachers and districts on various technology resources coming out by companies.

With my personal technology plan “I believe” that it is important to have good communication with my students and parents. Since being in this class I have learned so many great tools and techniques to create a blog that I never knew about before and I am excited to create and start a blog for my own classroom. With the blog that I create I would like for it to have helpful links on concepts covered in class that students and parents can go to. I also think it would be great to create Podcasts with my lessons and post them on my blog for students to go back and listen to or for students to use when they are absent. On my blog I would also like to post news and information for students to know for example certain supplies students need to bring to class on certain days. When I myself start to feel more confident with blogs I would like for my students to create their own blog and use the blogs as helpful resources for themselves and others in the class.