When I decided to do a Masters degree in Education a few years ago, my main goal was to learn how to teach. I was already a teacher back then, but I thought I lacked the tools to professionally teach my students. Then, I decided to apply for the ASTL program, because it was designed for experienced teachers. Therefore, I knew that it was the perfect fit for me, since not only it was going to teach me how to better educate my students, but also it would give me extra tools to plan my lessons. Today, I believe I made the right choice by picking the ASTL program, because it did make me a better teacher.

One of the most important things that I learned throughout my Masters degree program is that we teachers need to differentiate when teaching our students. Just as much as humans are all physically different, we also have different ways of learning. Therefore, teachers need to find out the best way to teach each one of their students. Hence, I now prepare my lesson plans thinking about my students who have a hard time during my class, and I usually have two or three different activities prepared for each lesson going from easy to hard.

I also learned the importance of implementing and incorporating technology into as many lesson plans as possible, which I started doing this year. What I usually do is, once I introduce a new topic to my students, I let my students play games on the iPad that have to do with the theme. These activities are fun for my students, which in turn make them learn my lessons without even noticing it.

Another thing that I learned during the ASTL Core is to create professional lesson plans. Before the ASTL program, I would only write down the main activities on a notebook, without giving too much importance to its appearance or its content. Now, I know that I have to allot a certain amount of time to each activity, which makes my planning and teaching time so much easier, because I know exactly what is happening and for how long. Also, it helps me to take advantage of my teaching time; because I get to teach the whole time I’m in each of my classes, without either running out of time or having extra time to spare.

Moreover, I enjoyed very much writing the Case Study of a Learner for EDUC 613: How Students Learn, because I learned so much about one of my students and helped me understand the way he learns. Also, it helped me build a better relationship, not only with my student, but also with his family. I also enjoyed researching for the Cultural Inquiry Study for EDUC 606: Education and Culture. Not only I learned a lot about my students’ cultures, but also I learned a great deal of information about how children learn a second language.

I am looking forward to keep reading and learning about how children acquire a second language and help my students learn in a way that they will enjoy learning. I also look forward to apply all the tools that I learned throughout my Masters program into my teaching career. Last but not least, I am looking forward to be a Change Agent and make my school a better place, so that students and teachers have a better experience learning and teaching respectively.