I had the privilege and honor of completing my doctorate last month (May 2025) and with the end of that journey comes relief, joy and time back into my life. I say it was a privilege and honor because I was pushed hard to conduct solid research, and I have a wonderful small book as the result of those tears and hours of reading and writing. So now, what is my next step?
I earned my educational doctorate in curriculum and instruction because I really like teaching. I LOVE teaching and learning. Learning is an essential part of my life, and I look to grow in all that I do. I reached the point in my professional life that a terminal degree made sense. I carefully chose my path to match what I really enjoy, teaching and learning how to be a better teacher.
During my studies, learning about the multiple types of curriculum that currently exist and have existed was so interesting and helped me to pay better attention to what content I was teaching my students. Learning about multiple types of instructional families and all of the methods within those families was useful to helping to keep my teaching fresh and engaging. Teaching is in my bones and is a very important part of who I have become over the last 23 years. I dare to say that it is my calling; other than being a mom to my two most awesome sons.
I now have the academic credentials to coincide with my years of teaching experience, and I feel like I have a lot to share with the education world. I have designed curriculum, activities, and instructional tools for use in my classroom, as well as presentations about how to teach using differentiation. I have read countless books, written papers and posts about current topics in the world of education.
I know that I want to make a measurable difference with all of my knowledge and skills in the classroom as I believe that the role of a teacher is invaluable to those in school. I want to work with other teachers to keep their passion for teaching ignited and burning. Keeping teachers coming back for more years and more students is critical to keep our nation progressing and achieving. We have to pay better attention to our veteran teachers as they have knowledge and skills that are irreplaceable to our educational systems.
We are once again at a critical moment in public education where the powers that be in our legislatures have more control over our schools than we can possibly understand. We need to invest in them and our students. Schools are the place where kids can learn so many skills, types of information and how to forge their own path in the world. If we as a nation stand back and think about the teachers we had in our K-12 years of school, there are going to be wonderful souls that we remember for the positive impact on our lives.
So what do I do now that I am Dr. Heather M Bledsoe? Where do I go from here? I will be teaching students ‘favorite’ subject of mathematics this coming school year in the school I have been at for most of my teaching career. I am excited to be able to ‘just teach’ this year with fewer outside obligations. I hope to have the time to create some of the structures and activities that I have put on the back burner for so long; things I think will really help with my classroom’s culture and success.
I hope to write and design the work and structures I need to share my skills with other teachers. I spent the last three years on my dissertation to earn my doctorate, and that research showed me that there is so much that still needs to be improved so that every student can have a positive school experience, especially with mathematics.
I may not know exactly where my journey is headed, but with an open-mind and heart, I hope to help many other teachers and students to find their passion for learning and teaching. If I can help some students learn how great math is along the way than that is bonus. I guess I need to say………. Watch out world, because here I come.
Musing of a Motivated Math Teacher 