1. The first aspect of my program that will make a lifelong impact on my professional life is the importance of continuing my education and professional development. I started this program during the two years when I left my job in order to stay home with my three young children. During that time I was feeling distant from my "teacher" identity, so I decided to continue my education and pursue another degree. As I transitioned back into my kindergarten classroom last fall, I could immediately see the impact of my Walden education on my abilities in the classroom as I implemented new things on a daily basis that I had been learning about. Although I can not at this point see myself going back for additional degrees, I would like to take the occasional online course that pertains to my career and continue learning on my own. This will make me the best teacher that I can be!
2. The second part of my program that will continue to make an impact on my professional life is the knowledge that I gained and the confirmation that I had for play in early education, including the kindergarten classroom. My own state of New York is currently pushing for Common Core Standards, and with these standards comes an increase in the academics in the classroom, which has the unintended consequence of eliminating time for play. Feeling very blessed to teach in my small Christian school, we are able to dictate our own curriculum and standards which do not have to align with the Common Core Standards. That means that I can continue to stand by my personal beliefs in the value of play, engage students in my classroom through a variety of play opportunities, and not have to justify to the state why I have so much "free play" time throughout my kindergarten day. This is one of the advantages that we currently have over the public schools in our area. We offer more traditional kindergarten that continues to focus on Developmentally Appropriate Practices, not necessarily the values and understandings of the government about how children "should" learn in the kindergarten classroom.
3. The final aspect of my program that will make a lifelong impact on my professional career is the opportunity to complete a quality capstone project. The capstone project gave me a chance to focus in on my passions, see the needs for social change in my community in regards to early education, and then plan a program that would allow for this social change to happen. Although social change and being an advocate of such change is talked about throughout the Walden program, it never really saw myself as an agent of change until I was able to develop a plan for that change. It has made me realize that one person can make a difference if they put their mind and energy into it. At this point in my career, I am truly focused on becoming the best kindergarten teacher that I can be, but also know that when my kids are older and I can focus on social change, I am certainly capable of taking that step!
One Long Term Goal:
As I mentioned above, my focus is currently on my kindergarten classroom and making this first year of learning as valuable and fun for my students as I can. I want to instill in them a love for learning that will be the basis for all future years. But as I look to the future, I can see a transition from classroom teacher to administrator of a program. This goal will be several years down the road, but I certainly would like to make that move during my career. I also want to continue learning about and engaging in best practices and teaching colleagues about the importance of best practices, particularly considering the push for Common Core.
Farewell:
To Dr. Teri~ thank you for helping me see the value of being an agent of change. This class, as the culmination of my Walden experience, has done the best job at making me look at the future and seeing my own impact on my community. I have also been the most challenged in this class, as far as working hard and putting forth effort! Thank you for your commitment to excellence and the push for me to do my best!
To my Walden colleagues~ thank you for all your feedback and suggestions throughout this experience. I value the time and effort that you have all put into making our classroom a success. Continue to believe that when you put your heart into it, you can make a difference in your own classroom, program, or community. WE are the next generation of early childhood educators! :)
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