A Plan
​
In both teaching and coaching, I have found it so important to teach my students and athletes to create goals for themselves. I have found it to be so beneficial for their learning, as well as for their development of character and work ethic. Sometimes however, I forget that I should also be making goals for myself. As I move forward out of my master’s program, there are three learning goals that I would like to keep in mind: leadership, child psychology, and technology.
​
- - - - -
Leadership
At the beginning of my teaching internship year, I was introduced to a program I had previously not heard of. As we were preparing for the school year in August, my cooperating teachers began to tell me about Leader in Me and the seven habits. I was immediately intrigued and shortly after fell in love with this initiative. I loved the idea that each student, whether in fifth grade or kindergarten, could refer to themselves as a leader of their classroom and the school. I loved that whether ten years old or five, students were learning, practicing, and demonstrating attributes such as responsibility, compromise, and taking initiative. I loved that each child worked hard to uphold the status of leader in the classroom, and took pride in that role! For these reasons and more, leadership very quickly became a continued learning goal for me.
I found that even as I transitioned from classroom to gymnastics, leadership was a practice I could continue with my athletes. Although the setting was different, I began to find that even young gymnasts were able to be leaders of their team and of their sport. Moving forward, I would love to gain more ideas and techniques to incorporate leadership practices with my students, whether in the gym or back in the classroom. Since I never read the book Steven Covey wrote about Leader in Me, I think that this would be a good place to start learning more. I am also interested in attending professional development conferences or workshops to learn as much as I can about incorporating leadership into my teaching, workplace, and students’ lives. I believe that leadership practices build character, ethics, and self-esteem, and for these reasons, I believe that leadership qualities are powerful tools to have for adults and students alike.
​
Child Psychology
Another aspiration that I uncovered recently is my interest in learning more in the field of child psychology. I was fortunate enough to be able to take a class in motivation, and one in student behavior, and was left wanting to learn more. What these past courses have emphasized for me is just how different each child truly is. From the way they think and talk, to the way they respond and interact with others, each child is completely unique. As teachers, it is our job to figure out the pieces that make each child who they are, and to be able to adapt and find ways to best reach and teach each individual. Although I feel that I have gained valuable knowledge so far, I know that there is still a lot to learn, and that with each new piece of knowledge I will be able to help my students better reach success. It is for this reason that child psychology became one of my continued learning goals.
Like leadership, I found that child psychology was also transferable from the classroom into the gym. Although they do share a common passion, my gymnasts too learn to master skills in a variety of ways; they too struggle with different behavior concerns. Gymnastics is a unique sport in that while it does require much physical strength and talent, it is also very much a mental sport. These athletes must learn how to control their fears and their bodies to overcome mental obstacles. They must find a way to motivate themselves to be the best that they can be, even when they are tired. I believe that as a teacher, it is my responsibility to help my students achieve these things. It is my job to find a way to get each child motivated. I think that a good place to start learning more is through simple research. I have found one particular site to be valuable so far, and expect that this will lead to other resources as well. Whether in the gym or in the classroom, I think that this learning goal will be a positive impact on any teaching situation I am in.
​
Technology
A third goal I have regards bringing more technology into the classroom. Ever since my internship year, I have been a big fan of the SMARTBoard, and found ways to incorporate it into nearly every lesson in some way. Although I found that interacting in numerous ways with this technology never became tiresome, I would really like to challenge myself to look for new and other ways to incorporate technologies into the classroom. I feel that there are so many possibilities, and that I have only scratched the surface!
Kids of all ages these days have no trouble navigating their way around various technologies. I’m sure each of my students could show me a new app to use on their device, so honestly, a good starting place for achieving this particular goal may actually be my students! In the meantime though, I can explore a bit on my own, and branch out from the technology and applications I am already comfortable with. I have found a few webpages that discuss various ideas for including technologies into daily curriculum, and I think that starting here and playing around with some of these ideas myself could really help me to become more “fluent” in the technology opportunities available to us.
- - - - -
​
As I move forward in both learning and teaching, I am excited to begin working toward these goals, and see how they change and develop over time. One thing I like most about teaching is that I feel like I get to be a lifelong learner – I am constantly learning new things, and then using my new knowledge to teach my kids. One thing they have taught me though, is to keep fighting for your goals, and fighting hard. I have seen six-year-old athletes with such determination, and it is kids like that who have really inspired me to keep working to achieve my goals as well.