Lindsey Kappen
Science Teacher
Student Advocate
A Never Ending Journey
I began my Master of Arts in Education (MAED) journey with the goal of becoming a better teacher. I will be leaving my MAED with the same goal because I know I have only just begun my voyage of becoming the best teacher I can be. To continue on this quest, I will have to continue learning for the rest of my life. My learning will be geared towards helping me to achieve my two biggest professional goals: become a National Board Certified Teacher and become a USA Ultimate (USAU) Certified Coach. There are three main areas I would like to enhance my understanding in to help me achieve my goals: reflective teaching, engaging girls in science education, and coaching strategies for Ultimate Frisbee.
Becoming a NBCT is an important professional goal of mine for many reasons. First off the process of attaining NBCT puts a heavy emphasis on reflection of practice, allowing me to focus on my own growth as an educator. For this reason, it was obvious to me that reflective teaching is a skill I need to expand upon to help me accomplish this large professional goal.
While the connection between obtaining NBCT and enhancing my reflective teaching skills is obvious, the connection is not so clear to the next area I want to enhance my learning in: engaging girls in science education. As a female in science education, I feel very strongly about engaging girls in science because I have experienced many of the obstacles they will face in their life. Achieving NBCT would help to distinguish me as an accomplished and effective teacher, something I personally feel can’t be accomplished without putting an emphasis on my female students.
The gender gap in science is a real problem in our society. As a female science teacher, I feel strongly connected to this inequality. I want to battle this problem by creating an engaging science curriculum that will be enticing for all students, regardless of their gender. I want to encourage girls that are interested in science, to pursue that interest. In a world that steers girls away from science, I want to push them towards it. A big resource I will be using to enable me to empower my girls in the classroom is the National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP). The NGCP provides access to various publications with the latest research, examples of effective programs, and webinars.
Expanding my knowledge of reflective teaching is crucial in bettering myself as a teacher. Through analysis of my strategies, I will be able to hold myself accountable. This is also an important area of my practice to develop as it will be crucial to my ability to become a National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT).The National Board has five core principles, the fourth one states: Teachers think systematically about their practice and learn from experience. Through my graduate curriculum I have begun to develop my skills as a reflective practitioner, but I want to continue to enhance them. I hope to attend multiple workshops such as the “Becoming a Reflective Teacher Workshop” hosted by Marzano Research.
In addition to developing my teaching practices, I want to enhance my ability to coach youth the sport of Ultimate Frisbee, because this will help me achieve the goal of becoming a USAU Certified Coach. The sport of Ultimate is something I developed a healthy passion for during my college career. I chose to pursue a concentration in Sports Leadership and Coaching because I wanted to be able to engage youth in my favorite sport. I have already taken multiple courses that have laid the foundation for my coaching expertise, now I want to hone those skills in on Ultimate. USAU offers various workshops that individuals can take to help them develop their coaching skills. Through their Level 1 Performance Certificate class I hope to learn a variety of best practices about how to teach the game and fundamental skills to new players. Upon completing the Level 1 Certificate, I will continue learning about coaching Ultimate through the Level 2 Strategy and Tactics Certification.
Although I am exiting my graduate degree, I am not done learning. As I prepare to leave my MAED program, I am left wanting more. More education, more skills, more strategies, more opportunities. This feeling will lead me to continue learning no matter where I am in life; which will empower me to continue bettering myself as an educator. My quest to become the best teacher I can be, is one that I will continue for the rest of my career.
Ask yourself if what you are doing today, is getting You closer to where you want to be tomorrow
-Unknown
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