Running Head: GROWTH ASSESSMENT- FIGHT TO THE FINISH

Growth AssessmentFight to the Finish Christina Tehrani Azusa Pacific University

GROWTH ASSESSMENT- FIGHT TO THE FINISH

Personal Growth

Growing up in a Christian household, Christian school, and the church, I took for granted the morals and truths that were instilled deep inside of me. I never realized how fortunate I was that Biblical applications were just an everyday part of life. Not until I graduated from college, got a job in the real world and made non-Christian friends, did I realize how unsympathetic and negative people can be. Teaching in public schools also changed my viewpoint on the world. What a relief it was to be able to again attend a Christian university and attend Azusa Pacific again to gain my masters. The Masters of Arts in Educational Technology (EDTC) Program (Bacer, K, Bettger, B, Brown, J., Bruzzese, J., Silva, L., Silver, E., Simmerok, B., Suffern, V. & Potter, D., 2013-2014) became a huge blessing to my professional life, and also to my personal life as well. First, my spiritual life was finally aligned with my professional life in that professors encouraged me to take a look at the amazing gift I have been given as an educator and how it relates to my spiritual life. I was able to apply Biblical messages to my profession on a consistent level, which help me to grow spiritually. This concept helped me to cherish my role as an educator and not take for granted the time I spend in my classroom. Also, when I lost my job last spring after teaching for three years, it was devastating to me personally and professionally. I took my loss personally. Thanks to this program, I was able to regain my confidence in my profession and reaffirm that God has called me to teach high school students. I truly believe that I was meant to enter the EDTC (Bacer, et al., 2013-2014) program when I did. Thanks to working diligently over the summer, I did not have to question

GROWTH ASSESSMENT- FIGHT TO THE FINISH

whether or not I was meant to do this. That confidence in myself, my profession, and my skillset granted me the ability to articulate myself in such a manner that I was granted a new job. With all these blessings that God has granted me in my new job, my renewed spirituality in relation to my profession, and the collaboration with fellow teachers going through many of the same obstacles that I have, I have grown and matured to become a stronger and more confident educator. Professional Growth Thanks to the growth I accomplished in only a few short months, I have already been able to use technology in my classroom to a level I would have never even imagined a year ago. Thanks to my new position at a new school that focuses on technology in the classroom, I am able to utilize laptops with my students on a consistent basis. When I interviewed for my new position, I asked my future employer what the school will able to do for me, as I am a leader in technology and want to expose my students to the latest strategies via the internet. I have a feeling that question was one of the reasons I have a job currently in the school that I do. The confidence instilled within me in my teaching this past fall of 2013 was greatly in part by the skills I had obtained from spring and summer of my EDTC (Bacer, et al., 2013-2014) courses. With Common Core standards at the helm of every administrators and educators minds, becoming a facilitator in the classroom has taken the place of traditional methods. According to the article, Teaching for the 21st Century: 21st Century Skills: The Challenges Ahead by Andrew J. Rotherham and Daniel Willingham (2009), Advocates of 21st century skills favor student-centered methodsfor example, problem-based learning and project-based

GROWTH ASSESSMENT- FIGHT TO THE FINISH

learningthat allow students to collaborate, work on authentic problems, and engage with the community (para. 19). This program granted me not only the opportunity to try out sites such as EdModo (https://www.edmodo.com) and Google Docs with my students, but lead and direct my students confidently in my classroom so they may succeed on standardized tests, and more importantly, become career and college ready. Benjamin Franklin once said Tell me, Ill forget, Show me, Ill remember, Involve me, Ill understand (n.d., p.1) This concept still applies hundreds of years later and thanks to EDTC (Bacer, et al., 2013-2014) and professors who have guided me in the direction to enable my students to become involved in their learning, they will understand at levels unseen before technology became an integral part of the classroom. Technology Growth Technology has never been a huge strong suit for me. As an average user of smart phones, computer programs, etc., I have never been extremely interested in going much deeper. When I realized my students knew more about using computers and programs than I did, and the most rowdy and disengaged students were actually participating in projects that contained some sort of technology, I figured it was time to step up my teaching game. Now, I can actually say I am a leader in technology at my school site. I have conversations with other teachers about sites we use to engage student learning and I have even led Professional Development at my site on using technology in the classroom. EdModo changed the game when it comes to class discussions and short answer responses. Students cannot complain that they cannot do the assignment because they have no pencil or paper. With classroom laptops, they contribute significantly more than when using pencil and paper.

GROWTH ASSESSMENT- FIGHT TO THE FINISH

Also, I have created websites, with ease, relevant to my teaching. I never thought I could design sites, let alone use them to teach. When I shared with my English department about the ISTE standards, I could say that I had a foot in the door for the future in education that many of them did not know about. Many of them did not even know the standards existed. Now, I incorporate those standards in my observation lesson plans. I am so grateful for the growth I have made technology wise these past months. I have come such a long way. Life Long Learning Plan Now that I have seen how much material and how many opportunities are available to integrate technology in the classroom, and have seen how much it enhances student learning, a fire has been lit under me to keep progressing and exploring. I feel as I have only touched on the surface of what I can use to engage students. There are so many new trends that are surfacing continually, so my goal is to keep researching, testing, and applying. Teaching changes so much, so I feel so blessed to have a foothold in the door of technology. Additionally, I want to make sure that I keep up to date with technology in general. Students are so adept to using internet resources and many times they are the ones teaching me. Using them as a resource on new trends combined with my own professional development will help me utilize and keep up with the new advances in the educational technology field. For example, I will continue to explore the RSS feeds that I started using in this program such as the Huffington Post and other periodicals of teaching. I love being in the classroom, but I think that in a few years I will be ready for a change. I want to think about working as a district coordinator to help teachers use technology in the classrooms. I know that I enjoy teaching my coworkers about cool new trends I learned in this

GROWTH ASSESSMENT- FIGHT TO THE FINISH

program, and that way I can reach more students by reaching their teachers as well. I want to stay working in education, but maybe even move to the junior college level where there is also a need for fresh young teachers with interesting and engaging ideas to motivate students to learn. Conclusion This program has definitely meant more to me than I originally predicted. When I decided to go back to school I didnt realize how hard it was going to be. Writing papers is not the difficult part for me, since I am an English person; the projects were the hardest part. I have never been an art or graphic design person; however, I love using technology and want to engage my students in using it as well. Thanks to this program I feel as though I have dug deep into a side of me that existed beyond metaphors and deep literature. I am so grateful that I was able to take these courses at a Christian university. Having professors who put Christ first and having peers pray for each other makes a huge difference in persevering with so much going on in all our lives. The most ironic thing about being so close to my professors and fellow students is that I have never met any of them in person! I really enjoyed this whole program mostly in part to the professors, the effort they put in to get to know us individually, and the relevant information I learned that I can apply in my own classroom that no professional development could ever teach me in such great detail. I feel so blessed to be a member of this Cadre and thank God for this great opportunity.

GROWTH ASSESSMENT- FIGHT TO THE FINISH

References Bacer, K, Bettger, B, Brown, J., Bruzzese, J., Silva, L., Silver, E., Simmerok, B., Suffern, V. & Potter, D. (2013-2014). Online Masters of Arts in Educational Technology. School of Education and Behavioral Studies, Azusa Pacific University, Azusa, CA. Retrieved from http://sakai.apu.edu Benjamin Franklin Quotes. (n.d.). BrainyQuote. Retrieved March 8, 2014, from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/b/benjamin_franklin.html Rotherham, A. J., & Willingham, D. (2009, September). Membership. Educational Leadership:Teaching for the 21st Century:21st Century Skills: The Challenges Ahead. Retrieved March 8, 2014, from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educationalleadership/sept09/vol67/num01/21st-Century-Skills%40-The-Challenges-Ahead.aspx