The information below takes you through my educational journey of MSU's Master of Arts in Education (MAED) program. The courses reflect what I learned with my Special Education concentration and what I will apply to my own Inclusive classroom.
Summer 2013
ED 800: Concepts of Educational Inquiry
Steven Weiland and Nathan Clason
Starting the Master of Arts in Education program with this course allowed me practice in approaching my own education with an inquiry-based mindset. Learning is most effective with hands-on experience and knowledge of learning topics. In order to apply this in my own classroom, which I saw in a study of Vivian Paley's classroom, I need to have my own first-hand experience and knowledge in inquiry-based learning in my own educational experience. I can then apply this to my students' learning.
Summer 2013
CEP 840: Policies, Practices, and Perspectives in Special Education
Carol Sue Englert
This course gave me an overview of the history of Special Education and Special Education in schools today. Overall, I learned about how to best meet the needs of Special Education students in my Inclusive, General Education classroom. My interest for learning more about students with Socio-Emotional Behavioral Disorders was broadened during this course as I researched and created a website with information about these disorders. This website alsong includes resources to help students with these disorders in school.
Fall 2013
CEP 832: Educating Students with Challenging Behavior
Vicky Mousouli and Evelyn Oka
In this course, I gained background knowledge of students who are "tough to teach". With a better understanding of these students, the course looked at research to allow these students to succeed in the classroom through classroom management and working with families. I was given the opportunity to study a student with shyness that was affecting him both academically and socially in the classroom, create and implement a plan to help him overcome his shyness and then finally evaluate the plan. I now apply these applications in my own classroom each year.
Spring 2014
EAD 822: Diverse Students and Families
Muhammad Khalifa
This course allowed me to study the backgrounds of diverse groups of people and their histories both in and outside of schools. Studying this background information provided me with a better understanding of how classrooms and schools can reach out to meet the needs of diverse students and families instead of throwing these indviduals into a classroom or school environment that is unwelcoming to certain differences. During this course, I was able to create a case study which examined "Marginalization in Rural White Schools" which could happen in the community that I am part of. This has helped me to understand the background and needs to the community I serve.
Summer 2014
TE 846: Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners
Chad H. Waldron
TE 846 offered the opportunity to learn strategies to teach a wide-range of students reading and writing in the elementary classroom. This course also gave understanding to practical ways to use assessment to directly enhance instruction. I applied these strategies when I designed a literacy project for a Kindergarten student. I was able to assess to find the student's strengths and weaknesses, create lessons from the data using information from the course, and then administer post assessments to check for the student's growth.
Summer 2014
CEP 841: Classroom and Behavior Management in the Inclusive Classroom
Troy Mariage, Kara Constantine, Courtney Chamberlain, Alisha Brown and Lindsay Morin
This course provided direction on working with students with mild to moderate behavioral challenges. Instrution was given on interventions and classroom management to support the needs of all students. Behavioral assessments were used to determine proper interventions and develop better understanding of the behavior(s)' background. I used part of this course to study Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) in the Inclusive Classroom and how to best incorporate students with ODD into classrooms.
Fall 2014
CEP 802: Developing Positive Attitudes Toward Learning
Evelyn Oka and Taylor Hicks-Hoste
In this course, motivation issues were studied in a multidimensional approach using behavioral, intrinsic motivation, and cognitive-developmental models. This course showed that motivational issues often rise out of students' struggles with various skills. This course allowed me to reflect on motivational issues of my own students and see that I need to understand what lies behind the issue instead of always jumping to immediately stop it. I created a Design Project based off of a motivational case of a student in my own class describing the problem the student faces and creating a motivational assessment and interventions to increase the student's motivation.
Spring 2015
CEP 842: Content-Area Instruction for Students with Mild Disabilities
Caroline M. Peterson
This course allowed for studying students with disabilities in the Inclusive classroom. By learning about these disabilities in content-areas, I learned how and when to make accommodations and modifications for these students. I also gained a deeper understanding of how General Educators and Special Educators can work together to setup a well-run Inclusive classroom. I followed the BASE Model and The Planning Pyramid to show how collaboration can lead to success for students with Math disabilities in the Inclusive classroom.
Summer 2015
TE 831: Teaching School Subject Matter with Technology
Jon M. Wargo
This course afforded the experience of enhancing curriculum and classroom practicies with technology to meet the needs of today's students. I was able to examine what I was already doing in my classroom and see how technology could improve students' learning through creating a remix and remediate project around a problem of practice. I was also able to use tools that I can apply in my own classroom such as iMovie, Popplet, and VoiceThread. These are tools that I can use to enhance student learning and also have students use.
Summer 2015
ED 870: Capstone Portfolio Course
Matthew Koehler, Sarah Keenan, Spencer Greenhalgh, and Chris Seals
This final course in the Master of Arts in Education (MAED) program allowed the opportunity to put together the pieces and strategies gained throughout the program. I worked to create an online portfolio reflecting on my goals for the MAED program, created future goals and compiled my work in a showcase. This portfolio represents me as a learner and how being a student has transformed me as an educator. I learned many techniques about giving and receiving feedback as well as website creation that I will use in my own classroom.