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September 6, 2009

In search of "professional me"

I set goals for myself in many facets of my life--sometimes they're related to my career (get my M.A. so I can get teaching experience before going for my Ph.D.), sometimes they're related to my well-being (eat healthier and learn to cook), and sometimes they're related to my personal life (call mom at least once a week).

Goal setting is an important part of personal development, but professional development is something I haven't given much thought. Until now, I've been only a student of the field I hope to teach in one day. My teaching experience is limited to tutoring French and philosophy at SHU and tutoring at the writing centers at both SHU and IUP. I did mini lessons in high school for my senior project, which involved writing lesson plans and keeping a log of how my classes went, but it was only for about two months. All of that is helpful experience because I've learned that I do like to teach, but it hasn't really led me down the road of professional development.

It's difficult for me to put my finger on the "professional me" right now because I'm not teaching yet. My practicum will begin shortly, but the details need to be ironed out. Right now I'm planning to take the ESL training course scheduled this month. Once I take that I'll have a clearer picture of what I can do and how I can begin, but until then I'm still a little unsure. I would like to tutor an ESL student one-on-one so I can begin to work with the knowledge I've accumulated during my studies at IUP, but I would probably work with students however they need me to so I can begin getting more experience. I'll just have to see what they need.

In the meantime, our book recommends setting some goals for ourselves, regardless of our level of experience. Crookes (our book's author) cites Posner's example of an exercise in goal setting for what he calls "preservice teachers... to articulate their concerns as well as identify goals" (13). Posner lists six generic goals:

1. To find out what teaching is really like (i.e., career exploration)
2. To see if I like teaching (i.e., exploring personal preferences)
3. To see if I can really do it (i.e., self-testing)
4. To learn some skills and modify certain habits and characteristics (i.e., training)
5. To develop my own approach or style (i.e., personal style)
6. To apply what I've learned in college to real students in real classrooms (i.e., theory into practice)

I think most of my goals fall into generic goal number 6 because I don't think I have enough experience to do number 5, and I feel like numbers 1, 2, and 3 are something I might have given more thought as an undergraduate. While I still should figure out if I "can really do it," I already think that I can so it feels like asking that question is going against my inner strength.

Here are the goals I've written for myself so far. They're subject to change, and open to suggestions. (I write goals using the SMART method, which I learned during my internship for the Office of Career Development at SHU.)

Goals for this practicum course:

To attend an ESL tutoring workshop before the end of September

To work with the Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council to tutor at least one ESL student (possibly a class) this semester

To help at least one ESL student improve his/her abilities in English speaking, reading, writing, and listening by using my skills as an ESL educator

Goals for my teaching:

To learn to recognize students' needs early so I can teach them what they need and work with their strengths

To become confident in my skills as an ESL educator (since I haven't gotten to practice much yet) by tutoring at least one student

To develop some of my own classroom tools for use with ESL students

Goals for my professional self:

To become a member of Three Rivers TESOL and other organizations

To keep up with the organizations I join by reading their emails, newsletters, and mailings

To graduate December 2009 with my M.A. in TESOL from IUP

Posted by KarissaKilgore at September 6, 2009 3:55 PM

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Posted by: Rose at November 4, 2009 2:53 PM

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