Annotated Transcript
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world". Nelson Mandela
Internship Courses
2008-2009
Michigan State University
During my teaching internship year at Michigan State University I completed three courses including: TE 802 (Reflection and Inquiry in Teaching Practice) with Jackie Sweeney, TE 803 (Professional Roles and Teaching Practice) with Erik Byker and TE 804 (Reflection and Inquiry in Teaching Practice 2) with Wendy Wahn. . During these courses, I learned how to make lesson plans based on curriculum standards, reflect on my teaching practices and was also given support during a very challenging experience: teaching. During these courses, I learned how to inquire and learn about teaching and in turn bring new knowledge into my own classroom to help best serve the needs of each student. In my internship courses, I learned how to work with other collegues in a professional and positive manner. Through discussions and collaborations, I was given a sense of community and understanding. These courses gave me a great place for reflecting and understanding the requirements of a teacher, as well as, how to find and use research based lessons and teaching in my own classroom. Not only did I learn about teaching practices, but also learned about my role as a teacher in the community.
CEP 800
Fall 2012
Psychology of Learning in School and Other Settings
Instructor: Danah Henriksen
This was the first course I took beginning my journey to a Masters' Degree from MSU. During CEP 800, I was challenged to combine what I was learning in the course with my teaching in my own classroom. I learned how to reflect on my own teaching and to change and adapt my lessons to best fit the needs of my students. I had to take my current lesson plans and assessment scores and use them to change my teaching strategies. In CEP 800, I made YouTube videos to document the progress and learning styles of my own students in my classroom. In this course, my students played a large role in my understanding of the psychology of learning. I was challenged to relfect and understand how my students were learning, how I was teaching, and the dynamics of my own classroom setting and other settings that factor into learning.
TE 831
Spring 2013
Teaching Subject Matter with Technology
Instructor: Erica Hamilton
In TE 831, I was required to incorporate technology into my teaching practices. In order to create meaningful technological lessons, I was challeneged to research learning and technology. During this course was when I first experienced teaching with a SmartBoard and first created lesson plans that included the SmartBoard and learning in my own classroom. I also created a video lessons, that I used while teaching my 2nd graders about Landforms in Social Studies. In researching and working with many online technologies such as Wordle, Quizlet, Remind101, Glogster and other websites that support teachers and technology in the classroom. During TE 831, many discussions were held within small groups that helped make learning about new technologies fun and exciting. Week after week, I explored new technologies and was challenged to incorporate and re-purpose lesson plans in order to give my 21st century learners a current and relevant learning experience.
TE 842
Summer 2013
Elementary Reading Assessment and Instruction
Instructor: Tanya Wright
During this course, I learned how to become a reading assesment diagnostician. In TE 842, I learned about current reading assesments and how the assessments could benefit the instruction in my own classroom. I analyzed case studies and researched ways to best utilize assessments in reading instruction. I learned about Words Their Way Spelling Assessments and Instruction as well as Frye's Sight Word Inventory and Informal Phonics Inventory Assesment. I did case studies on assessment performances of elementary aged students and diagnosed the learning and plan of action for the case study students. From this course, I learned how to better read assessment results and use scores to plan lessons that would best help my students learn.
TE 836
Summer 2013
Awards and Classics of Children's Literature
Instructor: Laura Apol
In this course, I learned about many different awards that are associated with children's literature. Each week I studied and learned about a different award and read several books that were award winners. Through the course, I learned about the Newbery award as well as the Caldecott Award among many others. I also researched and reflected on the meaning of a 'classic' and read "Little Women" as well as viewed the DVD and noted the differences of both, as well as the likenesses which made the story as classic. This was a vigorous course that required a lot of reading and researching books, authors, and literary awards. In the end of the course, I wrote a reflection paper that highlighted my beliefs and understanding of literary awards and history.
ED 800
Fall 2013
Educational Inquiry
Instructor: Steve Weiland
In this course, I learned how to think about the history of education and was challenged to inquire the foundation of our education system. ED 800 consisted of several modules, each researching and understanding the past of our education system and reflecting on the research as an educator. In this course, I was required to work at an independent pace that allowed time to understand each area of inquiry at my own personal pace of learning. During this course, we learned about historical, biographical, and ethnographic concepts of educational inquiry, as well how we can apply educational inquiry into my own educational practices. Through this class I learned about the history of education and how it has evolved into the system we now have today. I looked at the teaching styles of other educators and examined my beliefs about teaching and how students learn. There were great examples of teachers who did teacher research projects to get a better understanding of their students and themselves as well. In this course I was asked to read the works of well known educators and others in the field of education and apply their theories and methods for teacher inquiry into my own classrooms.
TE 846
Spring 2014
Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners
Instructor: Patricia Edwards
TE 846 is a required course for the MAED program, and it also meets the needs of the Michigan State Department of Education. During this course, we follow a student (K-12) through literacy and learning. Learning about an indiviual child and how he/she uses and learns literacy. An extensive case is written up about an specific student who I observed and taught throughout the semester. The case study includes child background (personal and academic), assessment scores (pre and post), lesson plans, teaching methods and reflections. There are discussions and online chats as well as video chats embedded into the course to help the students collaborate during the semester. This course really opened my eyes into the amount of planning, instruction, and reflection each student requires and how, as teachers, we devote so much time to each child's learning and success.
ED 870
Spring 2014
Capstone
Instructor: Matt Koehler
ED 870 was a cumulative course that highlighted my learning through the entire MAED program. During this course, I was challenged to create an online portfolio and showcase myself as a learner and an educator. This course asked for reflection and synthesis of learning experiences throughout the online masters program. The main component of this course was the creation and exhibition of an electronic portfolio that showcased the skills and knowledge gained through the MAED program at MSU. Included in this portfolio were pages about my background as a teacher and person, resume, past coursework, and professional essays. Through the journey, discussions and collabortion with other classmates was encouraged and helpful as we took on this reflective and challenging end to a Masters' Degree.