Connecting with My Students
By Amanda Brown
It has been by way of many experiences working with middle school and high school students, not only during my undergraduate years but throughout my entire life that I have come to realize just where my niche in life exists. As a member of the fourth generation of educators in my family, it can almost be said that the makings of a successful teacher is in my blood. Throughout high school and college I have always found myself most fond of developing the intimate and special connections that students find necessary in order to identify an educator as a source of encouragement and hope. Via my many jobs as a counselor, tutor, mentor, and more, the common thread that I enjoyed most amongst them was the ability for me to develop personal relationships with students and feel as though I were helping them to gain more than just academic knowledge but knowledge on how to cope with life. As I progress in my experience as a teacher, I find myself more interested in arriving early to school and staying later after school in order to make myself available to students that do want to optimize on such experiences. But, before and after school have become dead avenues to connect with my current student population. Why? It is because that is not how this current generation feels comfortable to connect. This generation prefers to make their intimate connections via social networking sites or non-intrusive passive aggressive text messaging. Now, while these means of communication may seem dull in comparison to face-to-face dialogue, nevertheless it is their preferred method and so readily accessible for my targeted audience.
Michigan State University’s Master of Arts in Educational Technology served this initial purpose to help keep me informed of the variety of different ways to continue to adequately foster a technologically intimate relationship with my young technologically savvy clientele. And, while I anticipated that Michigan State University would provide me with the necessary academic and professional resources to help me take those steps in becoming a technologically savvy and innovative educator, it was not until I was in the midst of it all that I found myself completely and utterly...overwhelmed! Overwhelmed and inundated with a plethora of new resources and ways to deliver my required curriculum with innovative technology. This is what I both desired and feared when setting out to complete Michigan State University’s MAET program. Nevertheless, the anticipated impact of even one student’s life was enough to fuel my desire to accomplish what I was sure to be a difficult journey toward achieving my Master of Arts in Educational Technology.
Even upon the completion of the initial MSU Certificate Program, it became painfully evident how imperative integrating technology into the process of becoming a more effective educator. The first-hand experiences gleaned through incorporating all the new-found knowledge, via the material provided, helped solidify how important technology is to the overall learning experience of the current day student. Technology allows students to engage their entire being into the learning process and more. Technology allows students to hear, see, interact, manipulate, share, and more during the learning process. Technology also allows the teacher to step beyond the traditional role of teaching and allow students to be more explorative. Integrating technology into the classroom enhances effective teaching strategies.
I love the curriculum I am required to teach. I feel it is both useful and necessary to my students’ educational success. However, I also realize that the way in which I choose to deliver it can leave it to fall on deaf ears. Utilizing the plethora of innovative technology tools introduced throughout Michigan States University’s Master of Arts in Educational Technology program, if integrated correctly, is helping me to resurrect the interesting element of 8th grade Language Arts curriculum. And overall, the MAET program courses introduced a plethora of new information and resources to help me effectively integrate technology into my classroom and enhance the educational process. My goal, now, is to mentally process all that I have learned and revise how I choose to present curriculum to my students. I strive to be strategic in how I choose to manipulate the technological tools at my disposal so that I will engage, inspire, and enlighten my students.