Coninuing Education... After Graduation and Beyond

I have contemplated continuing my education after graduation, as I am sure some of my colleagues have as well. There are many options for first year teachers; we can continue education by gaining our master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction, Special Education, English as a Second Language, or our content area. I myself have considered all of the options previously listed. How do we make decisions for future education? Do I go for my Master’s Degree during my first year of teaching? If I decided to pursue one area, would I be excluding a possible chance for a different job opportunity? All of these questions sprang to mind all in a giant whirlwind, and I discovered I have planned parts of my future and parts of it have giant gaps.

My whole thought process began by sitting in Professional Development at my placement school last week. As a grade level team, we were all discussing colleague to colleague observations. Most importantly what information would be the most valuable to have from our colleagues observing our teaching. I sat and listened to the helpful conversation to hear so many valuable ideas all in one room. There were so great ideas flowing in the room, but unfortunately I felt like the outsider looking in on part of the discussion. Teachers were discussing what information would be vital to them, when everything that had been swirling in my head came together. I looked at the team of a handful of teachers that were sitting at my table when I realized that they might need a “new” eyes on the conversation. Politely entering the conversation, I gave the perspective of a student teacher looking at their first year of teaching. I commented that as a first year teacher, colleague to colleague observations would be beneficial to me because the incoming colleague might see something in the classroom that I might not have. They might be able to give me advice on the lesson that I am teaching, or something that they see that could use improvement in my classroom. I know that I am willing to listen to any criticism that could potentially help me help my students. My colleagues were helpful for my “outside looking in” perspective. One of my colleagues even noted that sometimes they worry about what others would want to criticize and not critique them that they forget that different perspectives can notice differences that they might not have.

As I walking back to my classroom after PD, I realized that everything that I had swirling in my head (that PD had originally “stirred up”) was tied to what we had been talking about all along. I started my education to help further the education of my students. It does not necessarily matter what I decide to get my Master’s degree in, it only matters that I am willing to continue my education as part of my original plan. I must be willing to further my education, including my PD sessions as well as my Master’s degree, to improve as a teacher. I must be willing to try new techniques and listen to critiques  that could potentially help my students.