Megan Terbrack
Looking Forward
As an educator I believe it is in our nature to constantly reflect
on our practice. I find myself reflecting on my work at the end of
every school year, every semester, every day, and every class period.
I ask myself questions like, “What went well?”, “What can I do
differently tomorrow?”, and “What do I need to research to be
better prepared for the future?”. As I complete my master’s program,
I find myself asking the same questions. Although I do not plan on leaving the classroom and I do not plan on earning an additional degree, I do plan to continue to learn as much as I can about teaching and learning.
There were a few specific courses in my master’s program that inspired me to want to learn more about three areas: technology tools, a flipped or hybrid classroom, and classroom management. I began courses thinking that I already knew a lot about the topic and left them with the realization that there was more information out there for me to explore. I also began courses that I knew very little about and left them feeling confident and inspired. Both of these scenarios led me to investigate these three areas.
Throughout my master’s I have been exposed to technology that I feel I may have never seen or heard of had I not earned this degree. I am inspired by what I have seen myself and my peers create which is why I will continue to pursue ways to integrate technology in my classroom. I have discovered a variety of tech tools that my students can use to explore new topics and practice their skills. Specifically for math, I want to learn more about how to use these tech tools and graphing calculators to support my students as they interact with math content. I have always wanted to attend the T3 – Teachers Teaching with Technology International Conference. Although sponsored by Texas Instruments, the conference covers a wide variety of topics and most presenters are educators themselves. There are other, more local, conferences such as the one done every year by the Detroit Area Council of Teachers of Mathematics that also include technology sessions. I hope to learn simple ways to add technology to effective teaching strategies that I am already using in the classroom. However, I will not use technology just to say that I did. I will use technology with purpose and I know that learning from my peers is a great way to accomplish this.
Similar to integrating more technology into my teaching, I would like to transition one of the courses that I teach to a blended learning environment or a flipped classroom. I have studied some research conducted about students learning online and I am interested in seeing how the positive aspects could better support some of my own students. I think that this could help prepare my students for potential online course that they will take in college. I also like the idea of students interacting with the content both inside and outside the classroom. My students really seem to learn the material when they struggle through it on their own and not necessarily through my direct instruction. There are several teachers in my district that have flipped their classroom or teach a hybrid/blended course and they present at our professional development sessions. I plan to attend these sessions in the next school year to learn more. I was also encouraged by a professor to explore the variety of resources available from the Flipped Learning Network.
The final area that I will continue to research and learn more about is classroom management. This is a broad topic that ranges from behavior plans to student participation. I have learned several tools and strategies both through my master’s and just through my experience in the classroom. However, each semester I have a new set of students in front of me who have different needs than the students before them. Although the structure of my classroom looks similar each semester, the environment does not so I am open to learning new strategies to try. I have heard peers talk about two books that I have not explored yet, Love and Logic and Total Participation Techniques. I plan to read these books and discuss them with my colleagues to learn strategies to incorporate into my classroom management plan.
Although the topics will change over the years, I know that I will continue to explore best practices in education. I also plan to share the tools and strategies that I learn about to my colleagues. I am a lifelong learner and teacher.
