Elissa J. McClain
​​​Professional Portfolio
Never Stop Learning, Because Life Never Stops Teaching
My Hopes for a Lifelong Education
By: Elissa McClain
It's hard to believe that my formal education is coming to an end. I have been in school basically my whole life. I went to preschool, the K-12, then right to college. I took only one year off after my internship to establish myself as a teacher and then I headed right back to school to pursue my master's degree. Despite this fact, I can't help but view teaching as being synonymous to learning. As teachers, we never, ever stop learning. Our ultimate goal is to be lifelong learners. How can we educate the youth of America if we do not continue our education ourselves? After reflecting upon my goals when applying to the MAED program and thinking of my goals for the future, I wrote of the necessity of being a lifelong learner. As Brian Tracy states, "Commit yourself to lifelong learning. The most valuable asset you'll ever have is your mind and what you put into it." As I think forward to my future and the path I will take, I know I will continue learning in many different ways.
While I am not sure if I will pursue another college degree, I have no doubt that I will be taking classes of some sort in my future. Professional development is something that we all engage in as educators. While you may not view these opportunities as "classes," the countless hours we spend developing our teaching knowledge fits the same basic definition. We sit, listen and learn from an expert who wants to help us better ourselves so that we can impress our newfound knowledge upon our students. I have already engaged in many of these opportunities and am a better teacher because of it. I have attended the Michigan Reading Association Conference for four years in a row and have learned so many amazing strategies to use in my classroom. I have participated in district wide professional development as well. There are also opportunities in which I have engaged that I have sought out myself. I know that I must be proactive in finding these opportunities if I want to constantly improve my teaching skills. I plan to continue finding these professional learning opportunities and sharing my knowledge with my colleagues. As they say, the best way to learn is to teach.
An important fact to note when thinking about lifelong education is that it doesn't have to be formal. I plan to learn every single day while teaching in my classroom. Education and learning happens everywhere. It happens daily as I learn from my mistakes and from my peers. It happens as I reflect upon my lessons and my interactions with students. It happens from my daily observations and conversations with others. The most important thing I must do is to listen and be reflective. I must have an open mind and an open heart. I cannot learn from life, if I do not pay attention to my daily challenges and the steps I took to overcome them. Life can dish out some hard lessons, but I cannot let myself become discouraged. Instead, I must take these challenges with stride and realize that they will help me to be a better teacher and a lifelong learner. In order for me to teach my students to the best of my ability, I believe in the importance of constantly improving upon what I know, and finding new, better and more exciting ways to teach concepts and information. I cannot teach my students to be their best if I am not pushing myself to be my best. I want my students to enjoy learning and to have hands-on opportunities to learn whenever possible. I believe that the best students are the ones who enjoy learning and are excited about learning about our world. I constantly tell my students how I am a learner, too. They need to see that as teachers, we practice what we preach. Life is a learning experience and we must commit ourselves to absorbing all of the knowledge we can.
One last way I want to push myself as a lifelong learner is to be a lifelong leader. In 2012, my school began the journey to become a Stephen Covey Leader in Me School. A Leader in Me School focuses on the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. These habits are a way of life, which help to create self-dependent, confident leaders. Our goal is to transform students by providing them with self-confidence and 21st century skills. By doing so, we hope to see higher academic achievement of students, fewer discipline problems and increased engagement among parents, teachers and students. As we embarked upon this journey, we learned the 7 Habits and how to live our lives by those habits. As I think about my journey to be a lifelong learner, I think of one habit in particular: Begin with the End in Mind. When you begin with the end in mind, you envision a goal and the path you need to take to accomplish that goal. The 7 Habits teach you how to be a leader in your daily life. As an educator, you wear many hats. If I want to be a leader, I must begin with the end in mind and envision how I will be a leader for my students, their families and the staff of my school. I must pursue educational opportunities to do this. I will continue to learn and grow as a leader by educating myself through reading and leadership opportunities.
Our journey through life is, of course, uncertain. While I may not know exactly where my path will take me, I do know one thing. I will embrace the journey with open arms and will embark on the path of being a lifelong learner. As I think about this goal, I picture Alice in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. When speaking with the Chesire Cat, Alice asks him which road she needs to take. When asked where she wants to go, she replied that she didn't know. It doesn't matter which path we take if we don't know where we want to end up. By beginning with the end in mind, I have decided where I want to go. This ultimately will help me decide what route I need to take to get there. I want to be a lifelong learner and I can accomplish this in a number of ways. The MAED program has allowed me to see that learning happens every day and everywhere. It has shown me how to be reflective and use the daily lessons I am learning to improve myself. We are constantly learning from life and our daily adventures. We can never stop learning, because life never stops teaching.