Marcie Hughes

Teacher for Life

A Reflective Essay by Marcie Hughes

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            At the beginning of my master’s education I was teaching middle school math at St. Gerard in Lansing, Michigan.  Upon entering the Michigan State University MAED program, my goals were to obtain a masters degree that would enhance my technology capabilities and allow me to incorporate new online applications into my mathematics classes. Continuing education has always been important to me.  In addition, acquiring a higher degree would allow for a higher rate of pay in my teaching position. As a teacher I wanted to learn new ways to incorporate technology into my classroom.  I wanted to gain my masters to set myself apart from other teachers in my field and make myself more marketable when looking for new job positions.  Not only did I want to acquire more technology skills for myself I also wanted to be able to incorporate these skills in order to enhance the learning of my students.  I wanted to stay relevant in the ever-changing world of technology.  I felt that obtaining my masters degree was the next step in my teaching career. 

            I began my masters program in 2013 while I was teaching full time and working on my photography business on the side.  I then had my first child at the end of 2013 and continued working on my masters program throughout 2014.  I then had to take a break from my masters program and teaching when I started doing photography full time in 2015.  In my masters program there is a 5-year timeframe for obtaining the degree from the time the program is started. At the end of 2016 I realized I only had until the end of 2017 to finish and I did not want to lose all of the credits I had already taken so I jumped back into the program to finish up my last few classes.  My goals from the beginning of the program to now have really stayed the same.  Although I am currently taking a break from teaching, I do see myself teaching again in the future.  I still believe that using technology to enhance the education of the students is important and that is still my main goal in finishing this masters program.  Most of the classes I have taken have allowed me to use learn new ways to incorporate technology into my math classrooms.  Also, by experiencing an online classroom myself I have learned about new online tools I can incorporate into my classroom. 

            I see myself as a lifetime learner and a lifetime teacher.  I know I will apply the skills I have learned throughout my masters program to educate my future students.  I am proud of the work I have done throughout my masters program and I am excited to integrate my learning experience into the educations of my future students.