Goals+Self-Assessment


 * Goal 1 Self-Reflection: Envision and guide organizational change**

At this point in my career, I feel I am relatively successful at envisioning and guiding educational change. One way I’ve done this in my own school is to push the envelope on students’ technological freedoms. In my mind, if students and businesses are using certain technologies in day to day interactions, then school’s should have a responsibility to teach that technology. In my school, I was able to allow my students access to email addresses, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter in order to enhance their educational experiences and make the learning they were doing more relevant to their everyday lives.

Another way I am working to guide organizational change is through my new position as the English department chairperson. In this position, I am working to restructure the curriculum to update books, foster collaboration between students and colleagues, and continually make sure that our school’s initiatives are being carried out in the best way for students. As department chair, I will continue to work with our school’s literacy initiative and work to promote reading and writing strategies to my colleagues and the students we teach.

I am also currently working to guide change on a larger scale as I make progress on my book for teachers on how to use Facebook in the classroom. Many schools currently block these fabulous resources for connecting to people and information. My book and presentations about using Facebook will hopefully open up the door for other districts to allow their students to learn about the uses that social networking can offer. As I continue to spread the word, do demonstrations, and facilitate training sessions, I hope to keep contributing to the updating and renovation of our public school system.


 * Goal 2 Self-Reflection: Communicate effectively, engage constituents, develop people, and build community**

Currently, I believe I have tools and characteristics to develop community with my co-workers, students, parents, and classmates. As a teacher, I do a pretty good job at building community by using technology to open up communication lines between me and my students’ parents. I regularly email, call, text, and upload video updates to keep my parents informed on their child’s progress in my classes. I believe that this creates a form of community. Although this community is not an intimate one, it still sets the tone that I am approachable and teaching for the right reasons. Even a parent who has never had direct contact with me would know my name, face, and what’s happening in his/her child’s classroom.

Between co-workers, I develop community by attending staff events, being friendly, and getting involved in the professional and personal lives of my colleagues. Admittedly, I need to do a better job of making regular contact with teachers outside of my own department. I tend to stick to one area of the school, and in order to improve my ability to establish positive working relationships, I need to make more of an effort to initiate contact.

I am hoping through this program to also develop community with my classmates. Many of these individuals are in the same situation as I am, and when I get into my library classes, many will have the same passions and beliefs as I do. It will be important for me to network with these people, not only professionally, but personally as well. Some of my classmates could help me to land a job somewhere in the future, or maybe I will be able to collaborate with them on various projects and initiatives. Building these types of communities is very important, and I hope to be successful with this during my Masters program.


 * Goal 3 Self-Reflection: Advocate and promote equity for diverse populations and respect for individuals**

Because of the nature of teaching literature, I tend to do a lot of advocacy for diverse populations. For example, while teaching the novel __To Kill a Mockingbird__, I push students to see how the ideas of racism and prejudice are still prevalent today, but in a different guise. As an agent of change in my school, I’m trying to advocate teaching more Native American literature in order to raise awareness for the issues facing many of our young Native American students. As of next year, all freshmen will read a fairly controversial novel by Sherman Alexie that focuses on the struggles of a Native American adolescent trying to fit in in a white community without losing his cultural identity. By reading this novel, all students in the high school will gain an early understanding of some of the issues their classmates are facing.

I also show respect for a wide array of individuals by the groups that I choose to advise. From academic team, to anime appreciation, to literary magazines, to the Gay-Straight Alliance, to coaching basketball, I help and work with a wide array of students. By developing relationships with each kind of student, I am able to “walk the walk” and show students that they can be multifaceted, or at least respect individuals who are different than them. I hope through both my actions and my words, I am able to teach my students how to promote equity and show respect for individuality.


 * Goal 4 Self-Reflection: Integrate theory, data, research and ethical standards into the context of one’s practice through continuous learning**

As a graduate student, I look forward to examining various theories on education, change, and the future, and then hypothesizing how this will impact my teaching in the future. As an English education major, I enjoyed reading educational theory, so I am looking forward to getting back to the types of discussions and the depth of analysis that I enjoyed so much as an undergraduate. I will use the theories we read and discuss to help extend my effectiveness as a teacher and colleague. Although, I haven’t done much scholarly writing since graduating from UW-Eau Claire, I have kept up with the latest in research for English education. I am truly looking forward to brining my passion for teaching English and my thirst for knowledge back into the graduate classroom.