The Constant of Change
Through out my educational journey I enrolled in 2 Maters programs, A Masters Social Emotional Learning from National University and A Masters in Educational Technology with a Graduate Certificate in Online Teaching and Learning. While I learned different skills from both programs they both helped me to embrace the changing educational landscape and provide the best well rounded education for my students. This outlines the goals and progress from my educational journey.
Social Emotional Start
My graduate journey originally began shortly after the covid pandemic. After the mandated shutdown, the purpose of education fundamentally changed. The focus became less on the content students needed to master and more on the social and emotional needs of students. As I was just starting to navigate virtual learning my focus became not on what I was teaching but rather what the students needed.
All of the social emotional needs of students were put in the spotlight. While I was helping students navigate through suddenly learning online I fell in love with picture books as a tool. I found that stories and movies were a great tool to help students build resilience and empathy along with tools to navigate the changing educational landscape. At that time I jumped into my first attempt at my masters, a Masters In Social and Emotional Learning through National University. At that time my goal was to help develop skills to support the whole student in light of the uncertain time in the world.
Through my first few classes I dove into the CASEL framework. “The CASEL 5 addresses five broad and interrelated areas of competence and highlights examples for each: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.” The first classes helped me to focus to help support students and integrate those skills into my teaching process and better meet the needs of students.
Time to Refocus
While I was learning to help the social emotional needs of students, I could not dismiss the personal struggles I was having while navigating the transitioning format of what virtual learning looked like. After the initial classes I found that the goal of the program was more on how to research. While research is an important part of learning I found that the focus on the research was conflicting with the resources I had to look out for myself and my students and taking away from the support I was providing them. In the interest of my well being I took a step back from masters work to provide a reset in the goals.
As I stepped away from taking classes I had the opportunity to explore my gifts through the creation of a virtual program. Throughout the next couple years I was able to step up as a leader and integrate technology to create a student centered learning program. I fell in love with online learning and wanted to take the next step to be a leader in both my school and greater community.
Teaching Rewired
In order to develop these leadership skills I found Michigan State University’s Graduate Certificate in Online Teaching and Learning and Masters of Arts In Educational Technology. This switch helped integrate both the social and emotional needs of students while providing them a technologically rich learning experience to prepare them for the everchanging world.
Throughout my masters journey I learned the importance of navigating change and providing students with the skills they need to be resilient. Change is inevitable which requires us to be adaptive to the changing world. Throughout this journey I have found that embracing the change and becoming a leader I was able to learn and apply strategies to help students develop as they prepare for the everchanging world which they will one day lead.