​

In March of 2017, I was given the opportunity by my principal to attend MACUL (Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning) with a few of my colleagues. I was in my second year of teaching, my first year at this new school. I had no idea what MACUL was or why I was asked to go, but I was there. I remember feeling overwhelmed by all of the choices of sessions, but trying to soak in whatever I could. During one of my morning sessions, I had flipped over the conference information brochure to find an advertisement for Michigan State University’s Master of Arts in Education program (MAET). As someone who went through Michigan State’s education program for my bachelor’s degree, I completed a fifth-year internship in order to become a certified teacher, which gave me a few credits toward my Master’s degree. At that time in my life, I knew that I needed to start thinking about finishing my degree, but I was also so wrapped up in getting settled at a new school and learning the curriculum that finding the program that I wanted to do became one of those “I’ll look into it later” topics that I never seemed to get around to doing. When I saw the advertisement for MAET on the brochure that day, I felt an excitement to learn more about the program to see if it was something I’d be interested in pursuing. Thankfully, they had a booth set up at the conference. I remember telling the colleagues that I was with, “I’ll meet up with you later, but I cannot leave here without going to this booth to learn more about this program.”

​

As I was talking to one of the welcoming ladies that was running the booth, which ended up being Candace Marcotte, I felt a rush of excitement because I knew that this is what I was going to do. The program seemed so interesting and relevant and something that I would really enjoy learning about. I went home after the conference and told my parents that I may have found the program that I wanted to pursue. They listened intently as I rambled on about the application process and the conversation that I had with Candace. With smiles on their faces they said, “We think you should do it.” I couldn’t believe that this program just fell into my lap and felt so right. I began applying that night and started classes that summer.

​

When choosing the type of program that I would do, I decided to take part in the hybrid program. That means that I took classes face-to-face in East Lansing for two weeks, then completed four weeks online. I did this hybrid program for two summers. I have never been a huge fan of online classes, so I figured that being able to interact with my classmates face-to-face would be a better option for me. I walked into Erickson Hall the first day of class that first summer not knowing what to expect. There were people like me, who were just starting the first day of the program, and there were others who had done the program a summer before and were in their second year. We were thrown into our first collaborative task: a quickfire. We were instructed to read the provided story about surviving on Mars, given a table full of materials, and told to build a structure that could sustain human life on another planet. I had been in the room with these people for about ten minutes and we were already planning, problem solving, and creating together. As one may guess, this was the first quickfire but definitely not the last. These quickfires were always short, challenging tasks that typically pushed you outside of your comfort zone. I learned more from these than I ever would have imagined.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Throughout my own time as a student, failure has always been a huge fear of mine. I always tried to do everything right the first time, was embarrassed whenever I made any mistakes, and shed plenty of tears stressing over things that in hindsight were not important. This has been a theme in my life throughout elementary school, middle school, high school and into college. As an adult, I try my best to accept feedback but often deep down felt frustrated that I was told that I was doing something wrong. The constant, challenging quickfires really opened my eyes at the importance of being pushed outside of your comfort zone and that as cliché as it sounds, failure is truly a learning opportunity. The amount of times that I felt frustrated, lost, and pressed for time during quickfires truly made me uncomfortable and that I was failing in the task that I was given. However, it also made me a little tougher and taught me a little more about myself each time. During my first summer, it was in CEP 812 where a few of my colleagues and myself researched the question: How can we make failure as powerful a learning tool as success? By collecting survey responses from other educators, reading research on the topic, and through conversations with one another, it was in this course that I really realized that failure is not as bad and scary as I have always thought it was. I felt a shift in my own mindset as a student and as an educator that I should not be so hard on myself when things don't go as planned. I also found that when I went back to school that fall, I was more willing to try new things in my classroom because I wasn’t so scared about failing. I knew that if it didn’t work out, I’d try again and learn from the mistakes that I made.

​

Not only did I adopt this mindset personally, but I brought it into my classroom culture. On the first day of school that fall, I accidentally spelled something wrong on the board. I made a big deal about making a mistake and showed my students that even teachers do it too. We celebrated my mistake that first day, and all of the mistakes made by the students from then on. I made sure to make a point to pause, point out the “great mistakes” that we all make, and celebrate the learning that comes from them. I notice now even the kids doing the same for me. When I’m doing something in front of the class and make a mistake, I have students that will say, “Ms. Hattie made a mistake, let’s clap for her!” Because of the discomfort that I felt personally through those quickfires and through the research that I did in CEP 812 about learning from failures, I can confidently say that the mindset of myself as a person and as an educator has changed drastically. I hope to instill in my students at this young age to not be as afraid of making a mistake, and that all mistakes are ways to learn. I wish I had been taught that lesson a little younger, but as they say, better late than never.

​

While CEP 812 really opened my eyes to the importance of failure, CEP 811 opened my eyes to the maker mindset. Throughout all of that first summer of hybrid classes, we were given so many opportunities to tinker, play, explore and make. Prior to these courses, I had heard the term “makerspace” but I had no idea what it really meant or what it entailed. By being given so many opportunities to be makers that summer, I was truly blown away by how much I enjoyed being a maker. Having the chance to make something allowed me to collaborate with my peers, problem solve, explore, and to let my creativity out. If I enjoyed it so much, I knew that my second graders would be even more excited about making! I brought the maker mindset that I had learned from CEP 811 back into my classroom and allowed my students to do the thing that I enjoyed so much. Throughout the school year, we did various team-building challenges which required students to make something with a partner and my students were given many opportunities to be makers on their own as well. I was always pleasantly surprised at how calm, focused, and engaged the students were. Whenever we’d reflect on what they were making, the kids would always have great questions, offer valuable suggestions to one another, and they truly enjoyed the opportunities to be creative. Without learning about the maker mindset in CEP 811 and being given the chance myself to be a maker, I don’t think it would have been brought into my classroom as much as it currently is. For that, I am grateful.

​

The foundation of any educational technology teacher is the idea of TPACK. I was first introduced to TPACK in CEP 810, and it has been evident in my planning and teaching ever since. TPACK stands for Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge, and it talks about finding the “sweet spot” in your teaching. TPACK was truly the backbone of all of my learning in MAET. There are many different parts to TPACK, but the main ones are the Technological Knowledge, which is what you know about technology, your content knowledge, which is what you know about the subject you are teaching, and your pedagogical knowledge, or your “teacher tricks.” Putting all three of those things together is where you get the “sweet spot” of your teaching. Finding the sweet spot is not always easy, but it is definitely something that I am always aware of. There have been many times where I do hit the sweet spot and I have an amazing, engaging lesson. However, there have also been many times where I have tried to hit the sweet spot and have not been as successful. Whether that has been not choosing the right technology for the task, or not managing my students as well as I could have, they have all been learning experiences that have helped me get closer to that sweet spot for the next time. Being more aware of TPACK while planning my lessons has made a tremendous difference in my teaching. I feel more confident in the lessons that I am planning and teaching with such a laid-out framework. Since I am able to plan more lessons that hit the sweet spot, my students are really the ones that have benefitting from the gain in my knowledge.

​

When I stumbled upon the MAET program that March day, I would have no idea what an impact it would make on me personally and professionally. The relationships that I have made with other educators, the knowledge I have learned through my courses, and the experiences that I have had will stay with me throughout the rest of my life and my teaching career. As I look back and reflect on my experiences through this program, I am forever grateful for the opportunities it has given me and the opportunities that I know will arise as a result of going through this program. I can confidently say that I am a better teacher and a better person after my experiences through the Master of Arts in Educational Technology program, particularly the hybrid program. I can only hope that another second-year teacher just trying to soak up as much as he/she can at a huge conference just so happens to be at the right place at the right time, just like I was.