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Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish

 

I believe that for any professional (or person for that matter) to become him or her very best self, he or she must embody the phrase “stay hungry, stay foolish” by Steve Jobs. This is what I aim to represent through my teaching career: never being satisfied that I am teaching my very best and to constantly push myself. When thinking about my teaching in the first few years of my career, I already felt like I needed more information to serve my students in a better way. Even coming right out of college, there were things I did not know and more information that I desired to learn. So I decided to return to school for my Master’s degree in the MAED (Master of Arts in Education) program with a focus on literacy.

 

            My original goal when I set out on this journey was to pursue literacy because of my current teaching job in lower elementary. While teaching students to read, I saw many students struggle in different ways and I wanted the most information possible to be able to help them. I desired to attain the specific strategies and assessments needed to bring each student to his or her best. I also wanted to learn about the various facets of what it means to be a struggling reader, how to identify each disability, and how to formulate instruction to meet that student’s needs.

 

            As I dove into the MAED program and began taking course that focus on literacy, I felt the drive to learn more. I was not satisfied to only learn about literacy when I figured out there was so much more I could delve in to! Therefore, I sought out more classes that would expand my horizon past just the literacy component. I then took courses in technology in order to implement new, fresh ideas into my own teaching. I also sought out a course on special education in order to seek out more information on modifications and adaptations that I can use in my own classroom.

 

            Currently, my goal is still the same as it always was: to learn more information about things that I had not known about previously. As I near the end of my Master’s program, this is still the central idea; however, I am seeing it in a new light. The more information I discover about reading programs and assessments, the more I have wanted to learn about administration and making these decision for an entire school. So as my goals have previously been about servicing my own students and gaining the most information possible to be the very best teacher I can be, I am now turning toward curriculum and how to choose what is best for a bigger population of students.

 

            I know that no matter what is to come in my teaching career, one thing will remain the same: stay hungry, stay foolish. If I remain open to continuous learning and never become satisfied, I will continue to grow into the best teacher I can be.

Goal Reflection Essay

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