Erica DiClemente
Educator. Coach. Learner.
The Journey: Following Dreams
Me in Kindergarten
When I was in Kindergarten, people always asked me and my friends the typical question of what I wanted to be when I grew up. Most of my childhood friends responded with answers such as doctors, astronauts, cowboys, and magicians. My answer was always the same, I knew I wanted to be a teacher. I had the most amazing teacher who treated all of her students as if they were her own kids. She was so patient, loving, and caring to all and made learning so much fun. All my friends knew I loved school and loved my teachers even more. From that year on, whenever I had play dates at my house, all of my friends came prepared knowing what we would be doing- playing school! I was always the teacher and I would teach lessons, grade quizzes, and even assign homework using my parents’ old school typewriter. I absolutely loved it!
Moving forward into my high school years, I still held on to my dream of becoming a teacher. Many teachers I had along the way left a mark on me, but one teacher in particular solidified my thoughts. I was a sophomore at the time when I walked into what was known as one of the most difficult English classes offered at my school. I was absolutely terrified because I was always more of a math and science kind of girl, however, I only had room to sign up for this class and I needed the English requirement for the year. The teacher of this class created such a welcoming environment right on that first day. She somehow turned a subject that I was not fond of and made me want to learn more and that was incredible. At the time, I never knew a teacher could have that type of impact on their students. I never thought I would enjoy taking classes that did not involve science or math. That year solidified my dreams. I knew that I wanted to have the same impact on my students one day that this teacher had on me. The first step in achieving this goal would be to get my bachelors in elementary education.
My time as an undergraduate at Michigan State University was absolutely amazing. From the new friendships to the old ones that grew stronger to all the experiences in between. I was an eager freshman excited to be away from home, excited to live with my friends, excited to play lacrosse, but most importantly excited to continue on this path of following my dream. As soon as I had the opportunity to, I applied to the College of Education where I continued pursuing my dream of becoming a teacher. Approaching the end of my undergraduate years, I was ready for my internship year where I had the opportunity to teach in a second grade classroom in Hazel Park, Michigan. I was beyond excited! Over seventeen years later and I was finally seeing my dreams become my reality. After completing my internship year and receiving my teaching certificate I was ready to get into my own classroom. However, even being in the classroom I had this feeling that I needed something more. I am an educator and with that I am a lifelong learner who wants to continue my education in any way possible. First, I started with local conferences and professional development opportunities. Then, I decided to take a leap of faith and apply to the Master of Arts in Educational Technology (MAET) program back at my alma mater, Michigan State University. This brings me to today, as I wrap up my educational journey with Michigan State and reflect on the experiences I had along the way.
Throughout my journey through the MAET program at Michigan State University, I have seen a major change in the way I view my profession as a whole. From thinking about what learning is to analyzing critical data to simple knowing what is best for myself and my students. I give full credit to my new knowledge and understanding of my professional directly to the coursework I have completed. As I reflect on my experience through this program, three courses come to mind that truly left an impact on myself as a learner and educator.
Analyzing Data
My master’s degree has changed the way I view and approach my job as a professional educator. It all started during my internship year as I was taking a course that, at the time, I did not know would impact my master’s degree. TE804 Reflection and Inquiry in Teaching Practice II was a science focused course, however, I was able to take away so many wonderful skills and strategies for my classroom teaching. This course helped me learn how to reflect and build on ideas that I encountered in the classroom. The most useful skill I walked away with was how to go through the process of data collection and reflection. This is a skill that I use every day in my classroom and I owe it to this program for giving me the tools to feel confident in accurately assessing my students in order to improve my instruction to meet their individual needs.
Click on the image above to download my post assessment unit analysis which shows a great deal of what I took away during this course.
My learning from this course greatly impacted my professional practice. It showed me how to assess purposefully and what to do with that information. It is important as an educator to learn from data and improve lessons moving forward based on that data. This course gave me all the tools to accurately assess my students and then helped me move to the next stage of analyzing. In my classroom I use anecdotal notes along with assessments to help plan lessons weekly. I have such a range of students in my classroom every year and I need to know the best way to assess each individual student to best help them in the end. I use the data sheets that I learned from this course to help organize my thoughts and share with my team and constantly look at student work while I compare it to my observations and assessments. Being able to assess my students in a way that benefits all in the end is a crucial part of my profession that I took away from this course.
Lifelong Learning
Another course that left a great impact on myself as both a student and an educator was CEP 800 Learning in School and Other Settings. Throughout this course, I explored my understanding of what I see as learning. I started off the semester by writing an essay titled My Personal Theory of Learning and throughout the semester I edited it as my own knowledge changed and expanded. At the end of the semester I was left with a totally different, updated essay that describes how I view and understand learning today. Going through this process showed me two things. First, that one cannot simply define learning as it is constantly changing and varies from person to person. Second, I now see that I have the responsibility as a lifelong learner to continue editing this paper, to reflect on my experiences and be aware of how I view my students as unique learners.
In my classroom I view all my students as unique individuals who bring their own strengths to our team. Having the opportunity to reflect on my own theory of learning throughout this specific course allowed me to open my mind to new ideas and get new insights into education as a whole. I went from thinking there was a single basic definition of learning, to seeing how it is this concept that is ever changing with society. This was a topic that, at the time, I thought was so minuscule and strange to write a paper on. It was such a challenging experience because I constantly wanted to write about learning in regards to teaching. I had to step back, look at the bigger picture, and talk about learning as a learner, not a teacher- something very challenging for a teacher I must say! However, as I went through the process and watched the edits in my paper grow and grow, I became so appreciative of the process.
Technology
Now more than ever, as we go through unprecedented times during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is crucial for educators to be knowledgeable of technology in the classroom and the overall idea of twenty first century learning. My entire master’s program has given me a multitude of resources, skills, and tips in how to bring technology into my classroom. However, CEP 810 Teaching for Understanding with Technology was really the cherry on top.
© 2012 by tpack.org
This course introduced me to a framework that two Michigan State University scholars, Dr. Matthew Koehler and Dr. Punya Mishra, developed called Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). This framework shows how the three knowledge areas of technology, content, and pedagogy work together to make learning more accessible to students. When you have specific content you are teaching and bring in technology into your teaching practice, there is a crossover of knowledge that is beneficial for your students. Using TPACK, I learned how to repurpose technology as well. It is important as an educator to know that technology was not created for education and that it is up to us to repurpose technology in order to bring it into the educational setting.
This course also showed me the importance of knowing how your students prefer to learn and how that can impact their growth. I took on the challenge of learning how to play a song on the guitar only using resources available online such as YouTube, Reddit, and Twitter. This was such a difficult experience, but showed me how for some people technology might be a great way to enhance instruction while with others it might be more difficult. In the end, I really learned the importance of using technology to enhance your instruction in the classroom and help it guide your students to success.
Conclusion
As I come to an end in my master’s program and reflect on my journey, I am blown away by how much I am walking away with. I look forward to putting my new knowledge to the test every day in my classroom, be it in person or virtual. I look forward to challenging my own students as my professors and instructors challenged me. I look forward to seeing how my education can influence and benefit others in my school community. Most importantly, I look forward to having the opportunity to leave an impact on my students just as my teachers have left on me. Inspiring others to follow their dreams to be teachers, doctors, astronauts or even cowboys and magicians because, in the end, it just takes one person to leave that mark.
Elementary School
Middle School
High School
College
This is the journey. Keep following your dreams and never give up.