Below are descriptions of the classes I completed as part of the Master of Arts in Education Program with a concentration in Literacy
Date | Course # | Course Name | Professor Name | Course Overview |
Summer 2016 | ED 870 | Capstone Seminar | Dr. Matthew Koehler | This is the final course of my MAED at Michigan State University. In this course, I participated in online discussions, created an exhibit of my work with students and lessons, and reflected on all of the coursework I experienced and put together a showcase in an online portfolio. This was a wonderful last class to wrap up my coursework with because it tied in each class I've taken over the years to reflect and make a thoughtful transition. |
Summer 2016 | TE 849 | Methods and Materials for Teaching Children’s and Adolescent Literature | Dr. Matthew McCarthy | Within this particular course (one of my favorites) we viewed literature of various genres and studied the portrayal of characters in regards to their sexual orientation, gender, poetry and other awards and classics and the message the author sends to the readers. I loved it because it introduced me to many texts I would not have discovered. There were many stories that related to many of my students, and it was wonderful to help them make personal connections as I brought in these books into the classroom. |
Spring 2016 | CEP 832 | Educating Students with Challenging Behavior | Vasiliki Mousouli & Evelyn Oka | This course guided me with multiple strategies and evidence-based classroom interventions for students with behavior problems in general education. I chose a student from my class and used these approaches to channel his behavior and get him back on track. This particular student had a successful experience academically and socially thanks to the new approaches. This course was offered at a convenient time of the year as behavior became challenging as the end of the academic school year became closer. |
Fall 2015 | CEP 815 | Technology & Leadership | Dr. Aman Yadav & Missy Cosby | This particular course gave me leadership skills by giving me experience to practice scenarios, leadership assessments, project management, planning and evaluating and relationship building experience. This class also exposed me to various technical devices I can implement into the classroom and school building. It was a wonderful course to take because it helped me stay fresh, implement new ideas into the classroom, and kept me creative! |
Summer 2015 | TE 846 | Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners | Dr. Dongbo Zhang | This course focused on developmental processes, instructional practices, and assessment principles that contribute to effective learning of reading and writing. It also included various teaching methods for accommodating the different needs of individual literacy learners. I took this over a summer break, and came back in the fall with many new effective strategies to implement into the classroom, that I give credit for with the success rate of my students' growth this particular school year. I was able to use these strategies with my lowest tier in my response to intervention group to move them into the tier 2. |
Summer 2015 | TE 836 | Awards and Classics of Children’s Literature | Dr. Laura Apol | This was another one of my favorite classes! Within this particular course we started the first few weeks browsing the numerous literary awards. From there we studied novels from each award. Because the awards ranged in themes I found a story using these programs as guides that touched the hearts of many of my students. With knowledge of different genres and award winners I had access to different novels which were meaningful to a certain demographic, and helped other audiences discover and appreciate various cultures other than their own. These novels tied into our social studies lessons very well. |
Spring 2015 | ED 800 | Concepts of Educational Inquiry | Dr. Steven Weiland | This was a well rounded course as it discussed the many different aspects of teaching and the history it took to become what it is today. Within the text, blog, discussion based forum, films, novels, and articles we viewed different psychological, biological, historical, biographical, ethnographic concepts of educational inquiry considered methodologically. Roles of information and communications technologies in inquiry. We ended the course discussing and applying inquiry into our own educational practices. |
Spring 2012 | TE 804 | Reflection and Inquiry in Teaching Practice 2 | Dr. Angela Calabrese Barton | This course was offered during my fifth year internship through Michigan State University. It guided me in learning how to become an educator. Readings, discussions and assignments helped me to understand the teacher's’ role professionally and the ethical responsibilities that come along with that. This course also gave me knowledge on schools’ connections to multiple social agencies. Lastly, this course stressed the importance of relationships teachers must develop amongst colleagues, families, other social service providers, and community leaders. |
Spring 2012 | TE 502 | Internship- Teaching the Diverse Learner 2 | Dr. Anne-lise Hollifield | This course was offered during my fifth year internship through Michigan State University. I gained knowledge on how to lead instruction independently. I maintained the classroom culture and climate as I took over all content and subject areas, gaining experience as a second grade teacher. My responsibilities included creating lesson plans and following them consistently within each subject, creating projects and performance based assessments, collaborating with grade level teachers, attending staff meetings, assessing and differentiating groups, maintaining classroom communities that ensure equitable access to important knowledge and skills. |
Spring 2012 | TE 803 | Reflection and Inquiry in Teaching Practice 2 | Dr. Susan Florio- Ruane | This course was offered during my fifth year internship through Michigan State University. Within this class I had the opportunity to experience how to collecting and analyze data to drive instruction in the classroom. My mentor teacher, field instructor, and I used DIEBLS to progress monitor students, level them into groups, and create running records to ensure student progress. |
Fall 2011 | TE 802 | Reflections and Inquiry | Dr. Susan Florio- Ruane | This was another course offered during my internship year, as I balanced taking courses and teaching in a second grade classroom in Detroit, Michigan. This particular course gave me research methods on teaching and learning to implement into my classroom of 27 second graders. This course placed emphasis on using criteria for judging the validity and applicability of research-based knowledge, framing educational problems worthy of inquiry and designing and assessing studies of teaching practice. This course guided me to teach the whole child using effective strategies proven to work. |
Fall 2011 | TE 501 | Internship in Teaching Diverse Learners 1 | Dr. Anne-lise Hollifield | This was the final course I took during my fifth year internship. This course gave me practice and experience creating lesson plans and teaching them, with a professional to observe and give me critical feedback that I used to adjust my lessons. TE 501 also taught me how to evaluate the classroom and set up workshop with homogeneous and heterogeneous levels. I used the running records, fluency, and student reading scores to set up a reading workshop daily, teaching students with varied learning needs in smaller groups. |