Personal Learning Goals

My Personal Learning Network

I have both short and long term goals for my learning and career in teaching. I have outlined them below.

Short term (within the next year)

- Complete the Teach-Now Program and get my certification in Middle Grades (5-9) English/Language Arts. This is currently my top priority. Getting my teaching certificate is the first step to becoming a teacher.

- Complete (and pass!) the Praxis Core, Praxis PLT, and Praxis English/Language Arts for Middle Grades. Obviously, this is an important part of getting my license. I will be taking the Core at the end of April, and the other exams later this year.

- Get a job at a charter school in Charlotte, North Carolina this coming fall. This goal, although second to my goal of getting my teaching certificate, is important to me because I want to get into the classroom. I love teaching, and I really want to start making a difference in a school. Teaching at a charter school will give me the opportunity to teach while getting my license and will give me some extra flexibility in my classroom as compared to a public school.

- Create a network of teachers in the Charlotte, North Carolina area. Working with my cohort thus far in this program has made me realize how important it is to have a network of teachers you can turn to and bounce ideas off of. I love the collaborative nature of this program, and I would like to continue collaborating with other teachers all throughout my career. Additionally, this will allow me to make connections that could eventually lead to jobs at other area schools.

Longer Term (within the next 3-5 years)

- Transfer my teaching license to North Carolina from Washington D.C. This is very important to me. My long term goal is to be able to stay in North Carolina, and I can only do that if I can do lateral entry with my teaching certificate.

- Establish lesson plans that I can continue to use for multiple years. I would like to have core lesson plans that I can use from year to year. Of course, these will need to be updated based on student needs, but if I have the base prepared, I can work on created a differentiated program that meets individual students’ needs.

- Become established at a school where I will stay for the long term. Teaching in a charter school is a more short-term goal for me. I would like to teach in a public school eventually, and my goal is to end up in the school where I will stay for most of my career sometime over the next three to five years.

The following are resources that I can use to complete my Personal Learning Network.

Social Networking Sites

http://www.pinterest.com – Helpful for lesson planning ideas, classroom décor schemes, and student-centered learning tips.

http://www.twitter.com – Site that allows individuals to share thoughts and information with groups. I am new to Twitter, and I do not see myself posting a lot, but I could see myself following people who post educational links.

LinkdIn – Although I have been on LinkdIn for some time, I think I will get far more use out of it as I work on building my network of teachers. This professional networking tool will help me stay connected with teachers all over the world.

Websites and Blogs

https://aminusteacher.wordpress.com/ - Blog by a middle school English teacher that provides ideas to other middle school teachers.

http://littlemissmiddleschool.blogspot.com/ - Blog by a middle school English teacher that provides printables and other resources to other English teachers.

http://www.makingitteacher.com/ - Blog by middle school teacher that approaches teaching in a more interdisciplinary way. This blog is not updated as often as the others, but it is still a valuable resource

http://www.learner.org - A site that provides teacher resources and professional development across the curriculum.

http://www.edmodo.com – A social networking-like site that allows teachers to connect with their students and the parents of their students. This is something I will likely use later in my career once I am in my own classroom, but I think it is good to have it as part of my PLN.

Facebook Pages

Edutopia – Technology and research-based group working to bring education into the 21^st century and keep kids engaged with what they are learning.

TED-Ed – Educational and inspirational TED talks for educators and those interested in education.

Scholastic Teachers – Focus on literacy. Covers a large range of topics that range from in-depth lesson planning ideas to money saving tips for the classroom.  

Reflection

            After sharing my goals with my cohort, I feel pretty solid with what I have as far as professional goals are concerned. I did not include many personal goals, largely because after my wedding in May, most of personal goals follow my professional ones. For example, I would like to settle down somewhere that my husband and I plan to stay for the foreseeable future. We cannot do that unless we are at least mildly successful in our professional goals of finding long-term jobs. I would like to eventually start a family, but I would like to first be more established in my career so that when I have to take maternity leave, I feel secure in the job that I am coming back to. Right now, my life is relatively career center (post-wedding, I mean), and I am okay with that. 

            Other than that, I feel that my goals are, for the most part, reachable while still being challenging. The one that I think will be the most difficult is getting a job this fall while I do not yet have my teaching license. I am going to work really hard on that goal, and I do have realistic expectations. If no schools in my area are allowed to hire teachers without a license that is something that I will have to accept. But for now, I am going to work hard and apply to as many jobs as I can that I think I might be qualified for. Additionally, transferring my license from Washington D.C. to North Carolina may seem like too easy a goal, but I know that these things are never as easy as they first appear. I think it is important to recognize that this may not be easy and to prioritize it as one of my goals.