MEGAN SUTHERLAND
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When I think back to the year 2012 it seems like ages ago. So much has changed and yet things remain the same. I enrolled in the Master of Arts in Education (MAED) program at Michigan State University (MSU) in 2012 because I was teaching part time in a bilingual school. Not only did I have “extra” time to utilize for my studies, I also had a desire to continue my learning journey in education so I could remain informed about current issues and practices in the field. The MAED program, being completely online through MSU, allowed me to pursue my goals even though I reside in a foreign country. I want to offer the best to my students; my personal best and what current research shows to be best. My goals at the start of this program were to improve my literacy instruction and classroom management skills.
Two months after beginning the program I found out that I was pregnant. I was extremely excited and yet overwhelmed. I considered putting my academic goals on hold in order to adapt to life with a baby, but my heart kept pushing me to continue along the path I started. I gave birth to my beautiful son in the Spring of 2013 and then began the second year of my studies. My son became my inspiration to move forward. I looked at him and saw a future class of students, our future generations and I thought to myself, I must push myself to be the best teacher I can be so I can do him and his generation justice in the classroom. The MAED program fostered this desire as I made my journey through my courses to improve my methods of instruction, assessment, classroom management, motivation and differentiation. My goals have remained the same but grew as well. Along the way I realized that I wanted my learning in each course to touch all areas of my instruction. Technology integration has become a goal of mine in order to focus on my students' 21st century literacy skills. Technology was not a topic I had in mind when I enrolled in the program in 2012 but I am thankful it has become a part of my learning and instruction. My original goals of learning new/best practices for literacy instruction have been met and fostered through the program and my literacy concentration.
Although my master's journey is completed, my desire to relentlessly learn new and innovative ways of teaching and connecting with my students still remains. I have been inspired by my colleagues and my instructors to challenge myself in the classroom. In the near future I would like to tackle the personal challenge of technology integration in my classroom and even perhaps develop a teacher workshop on the subject for my colleagues. My heart also tells me to continue to study best practices for teaching English learners. Most of my students are English learners and my love for other cultures drives me to better understand these students and their varying backgrounds. I think with further understanding in these two fields I can adapt my current instructional methods to provide innovative and multimodal English language learning opportunities which prepare my students to become 21st century learners.