Annotated Transcript
Here, you will find a compilation of the courses that I have taken while completing my Master of Arts in Education degree at Michigan State University. I have also provided a brief description of each course and how it has helped to make me the educator that I am today.
Fall 2012
TE 802 - Reflection and Inquiry in Teaching Practice I
Instructor: Dr. Stephanie Strachan
This course was taken during the fall semester of my yearlong teaching internship. This course focused on literacy instruction within the elementary classroom, with a primary focus on explicit comprehension strategies. The primary project in this course was to create and implement a ten-day literacy unit to teach to the third grade students within my internship classroom. The unit I created focused on making text connections through a variety of read-alouds and encouraged critical thinking amongst my students through class discussions. I was able to modify my unit to meet the needs of my students based on the formative assessments that I collected and analyzed through the implementation.
Spring 2013
TE 803 - Professional Roles in Teaching Practice I
Instructor: Soo Bin Jang
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This course was taken during the spring semester of my yearlong teaching internship, in which I was leading my third grade classroom full time. TE 803 focused on social studies instruction within the elementary classroom in relation to the grade-level Common Core State Standards. I created, implemented and analyzed a ten-day social studies unit focusing on Michigan's history. For this unit, my focus was on slavery in Michigan and Michigan's involvement within the Underground Railroad. I created a detailed narrative lesson plan for this unit, incorporating readings, technology and writing elements into my unit.
TE 804 - Reflection and Inquiry in Teaching Practice II
Instructor: Dr. Christina Schwarz
I took TE 804 simultaneously with TE 803 during my teaching internship. TE 804 focused on science instruction within the elementary classroom. This course included inquiry, analysis and reflection within science instruction and allowed me to think critically about my own teaching practices. In this course, I created a ten-day unit focusing on Earth Materials to teach to my third grade internship classroom. I used the Battle Creek Science curriculum program required by the district to create, modify and implement a unit in relation to the grade-level Common Core standards.
Summer 2015
TE 842 - Elementary Reading Assessment Instruction
Instructor: Amy Croel-Perrien
This was the first course I took upon returning to my Master of Arts in Education program at Michigan State. This course focused on various assessment forms to be used within reading instruction at the elementary level. I was able to critically analyze provided student assessment data to determine the areas of reading instruction that the students needed support with. With the assessment data, I was then able to determine evidence-based best practice instructional techniques that could be used to support the students within the areas of need. In addition to learning about assessments and reading instruction, I was part of a book study on the text titled, "All About Words," by Susan B. Neuman and Tanya S. Wright. In this book study, I was able to explore best practices for vocabulary instruction within the early childhood classroom. After completing this course, my confidence in teaching and assessing reading instruction in my classroom grew immensely. I also learned many evidence-based best practice instruction techniques to use with my young learners.
Spring 2016
ED 800 - Concepts in Educational Inquiry
Instructor: Dr. Steven Weiland
This course focused on theories and policies that are present within the educational system today. I examined the work of several theorists and analyzed how education has changed throughout history, noting the elements that have guided today's practices. I learned about the importance of teacher inquiry, cultural influences, and the importance of participant observation. In a unique assignment, I watched the film Whale Rider, and wrote a story as if I had been an observer physically present in the Maori society that is highlighted within the film. This course allowed me to reflect on the multiple influences that work to create our education system, but also to reflect on my own influences as an educator.
Summer 2016
CEP 840 - Policies, Practices, and Perspectives in Special Education
Instructor: Dr. Carol Sue Englert
I chose to take this course to enhance my knowledge of special education to use within my inclusive elementary classroom. This course focused on instructional techniques to be used within the classroom, such as assistive technologies, Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS), universal design for learning (UDL) and response to intervention (RTI). I was able to learn more ways to create and implement lesson plans for students in my classroom with special needs, such as learning disabilities, emotional impairments, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism and more. In this course, I analyzed student cases and created lesson plans and modifications for each. I also worked with a partner to create an in-depth individualized education plan (IEP) for a student. This course broadened my horizons to the techniques and practices that I can use within my own classroom, while building my confidence as an educator.
TE 838 - Children's Literature in Film
Instructor: Dr. Laura Apol
In this unique course, we compared and analyzed text and film representations of several popular stories such as Charlotte's Web, The Wizard of Oz, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Oftentimes, people critique a film based on how well it compares to the text version of the story. In this course, I learned to look at a film as an independent interpretation of the text version and to explore the themes in both versions beyond the obvious. Within this exploration, I also read several scholarly articles regarding the creation of the film, the themes presented in each and the ideas behind the creations. Through the comparisons that were examined, I was able to learn how to include text and film within my classroom and how best to use these pieces to enhance my students' learning in a meaningful way.
Fall 2016
TE 846 - Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners
Instructor: Dr. Dongbo Zhang
This course focused on literacy instruction and assessment within the classroom. I was able to explore several different areas of reading and writing instruction and how they can affect learners, such as cultural and linguistic differences, neuropsychological differences and individual motivation differences. Within each focus category, I was able to gain insight as to how best to instruct students with those challenges, how to adapt material, and how to assess using best-practice methods. For my term project, I conducted a literacy case study on a struggling literacy student in my own kindergarten classroom. In this project, I gave pre-assessments to my student to determine specific needs of instruction. I then created two separate reading lessons to address the needs of the student, evaluating my work and analyzing the outcomes based on assessment data that I collected.
Spring 2017
CEP 832 - Educating Students with Challenging Behaviors
Instructor: Dr. Vicky Mousouli and Dr. Evelyn R. Oka
This course was not required for my program, but I chose to take it to expand upon my knowledge in working with children that exhibit difficult or challenging behaviors. In this course, I explored evidence-based interventions and strategies to use within the classroom for students that need extra assistance regarding a variety of challenging behaviors. I spent time analyzing cases and finding best-practice strategies to assist the case students with challenges such as anger and aggression, anxiety, impulsiveness, and socially isolating behaviors. In my culminating project, I was able to apply my knowledge from the course to my classroom by conducting and analyzing my own case study. This course challenged me to really focus on each student as an individual in order to find the root of the behavior or challenge, and gave me ample amounts of resources to use within my own classroom.
Summer 2017
ED 870 - Capstone Seminar
Instructor: Dr. Matthew Koehler, Brittany Dillman, Aric Gaunt and Sarah Keenan
ED 870 was my capstone course and the last class I took during my Master of Arts in Education program at Michigan State. In this course, I was encouraged to spend time looking back on my journey as a learner and to reflect on my time in the MAED program. My main assignment was to create an online professional portfolio to highlight myself as a teacher as well as a learner. While learning website design in this process, I created pages in my portfolio to show my resume, course descriptions, showcase of assignments that I have completed during my program, and much more. This course helped me to focus on the growth that I have made as an educator and to set goals for my future so that I may continue to grow and learn.