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Home Learn More Standards Inspiration About the Author
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About the Author
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I’m really just beginning my journey in education. My own secondary schooling ended back in the 2000s, pre-iPhone, pre-Facebook, and back when computers were still relegated to one room in the building. In this way, stepping into those first classrooms in 2022 was nothing short of a revelation. Of course, much remains the same, but the integration of technology and the temperament of the students I met felt a world apart. Moving through both a credentialing program and my first teaching assignments meant total immersion in a rapidly advancing landscape, one where technology aspired to become both portal and anchor for forward-thinking and equitable education.
This was a truly indelible period. The faculty I observed, the administrators who signed my time sheets, the students that sized me up—every conversation opened a window into my own future as a full-time educator. Those experiences have carried with me now into my own classroom, where lesson plans, learning strategies, and classroom management are all thrown alike into the crucible of my first years. From the beginning, however, has been an enduring commitment to reach the imagination and potential of any student that passes through my door. |
Considering the Journey
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The Innovative Learning program at Touro, CA has helped me explore my capacity to meet this commitment. Observation, reflection, and revision were already baked into my daily experience of being a teacher, but the program challenged me to move beyond flabby navel-gazing. Instead, it set regular benchmarks for in depth research and credible data collection—turning my wonders into actionable goals. For a burgeoning educator, it’s been a vital muscle to build up. Even when the path forward felt murky, or the data threatened to underwhelm my expectations, there was a recurring commitment to process, one that I knew I would return to again and again.
Similarly, this experience allowed me to exercise collaborative skills with seasoned educators, all of whom brought their know-how and sage observations to the table. Even as we all pursued independent research, we were united as a cohort in a common vision of deepening the potential for instruction. In many ways, these social dynamics mirrored my own goals for research, wherein classroom interaction and re-interaction fed back into the students' individual reading development. These cycles of reflection, frustrations, successes, and feedback accompanied every step of this journey and will undoubtedly echo professional collaborations to come at my own work site. |
Experiential Learning Cycle, New Zealand Curriculum on Tāhūrangi
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Lasting Learning from the Innovative Learning program (TPACK)
What’s left now is the work. As Nelson Mandela put it, “After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.” This program’s emphasis on innovation and 21st C. Learning anticipates an ever-moving target for the future of education; i.e., there is no landing spot. Our reactions are rooted first in the classroom—the barriers we observe and the wonders that arise in their wake—but our response is shaped by a commitment to high level inquiry and the sheer salt to see it through. The long arc of education, and the continued influence of technology, remains shrouded. Hell, the tomorrows of education are only now coming into focus. Our commitment to adaptability and lifelong learning is what reassures us that the future will indeed be bright, values that our students will inherit within their own lifetimes. The Innovative Learning program at Touro has been a reminder of how to strike the match and carry that torch forward.
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Blog: Still curious? Want to see the wheels turning behind the scenes?? Check out the DR's Log for more reflections on developing the research, every step of the way.