In completing my Master of Arts in Education (MAED) program at Michigan State University, I took the following ten courses on this page. I began my graduate courses in the fall of 2017 alongside my year-long student teaching internship. In the summer of 2021, I finished my MAED program with my capstone course. My courses here are presented in chronological order by school semester, and they are color coded by department (see key below). Read on to learn about each course’s content and how it furthered my professional development.
Reflection and Inquiry in Teaching Practice I centered on my English Language Arts instruction during my year-long student teaching internship. I studied the cognitive processes (strategic knowledge, language comprehension, and automatic word recognition) that lead to reading comprehension. Using this information, I prepared and enacted units of study on the opinion writing and mystery writing genres. I also planned and taught an interactive read aloud to engage my students in a text-based discussion that promoted higher order thinking skills. To synthesize my learning in this course, I crafted a vision statement for my literacy teaching and learning. This course supported my development in using my students’ funds of knowledge and their assessment data to inform my instruction.
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Professional Roles and Teaching Practice II concentrated on creating social studies instruction that was engaging, challenging, and culturally relevant during my year-long student teaching internship. Using the Understanding by Design framework, I created units of study on African American history and women’s history. I incorporated my knowledge of the Anti-bias Framework and the elements of powerful social studies (meaningful, integrative, value-based, challenging, and active) to develop justice-oriented units. One of my goals in this was to develop my students as critical thinkers and as active participants of society. In addition, I created a disabilities and exceptionalities resource guide that I then presented to my colleagues. From these experiences, I gained a deeper understanding of how to build units of study that supported both all learners and my growth in culturally responsive teaching.
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Reflection and Inquiry in Teaching Practice II focused on developing my science instruction during my year-long student teaching internship. I made and taught a fourth grade unit on energy using Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). From these standards, I used the Performance Expectations to guide my instruction and assessments. In addition, I lead an action research inquiry project on how I could promote critical thinking, inquiry, and equitable conversation among my students. I gathered evidence on why this was a valuable pursuit, enacted intervention strategies, collected qualitative and quantitative data, and presented my research to my colleagues. My unit planning and action research gave me meaningful experiences with science teaching and learning to carry into my own classroom.
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Learning Mathematics with Technology examined the affordances of math resources and tech tools within the context of how they support math standards and practices. The affordances I learned about were related to computing and automating, representing ideas and thinking, accessing information, communicating, and capturing and creating. Using my knowledge on the different affordances of technology, I evaluated resources and tech tools in order to create an online math resource library that focused on Number and Operations standards for grades 3-5. My curated collection of resources aid in my preparation for math instruction and my collection of tech tools are used directly with my students during instruction. The creation of my resource library gives me a valuable source for readily available resources and tech tools that can be used to introduce concepts, reinforce lessons, and provide additional support for all learners.
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Electronic Assessment for Teaching and Learning introduced foundational theories of assessment. I analyzed different methods of assessment (e.g. rubrics, self-reflections) and developed an assessment design checklist for my future use. The course also focused on digital technology and how it can be used in the assessment process, such as tools for audio feedback and tools for surveys. I created projects that were assessments of learning, for learning, and as learning. From this course, my main takeaways are the different kinds of feedback I can provide, the digital tools available for me within the assessment process, and the checklist of questions to consider for designing a quality assessment.
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Concepts of Educational Inquiry was the foundational course for my MAED program. Through reading multiple texts and composing essays, I learned about different domains of educational inquiry, such as teacher research, ethnographic participant observations, and philosophy and history of education. As a classroom teacher, I took particular interest in the teacher research form of educational inquiry. I analyzed how this form of inquiry starts with a question about an educational issue and often leads to far-reaching implications for teaching and learning. By familiarizing myself with the different forms of educational inquiry, I studied many important topics relating to education, like the impacts of globalization and the best ways to study teaching.
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Creativity in Teaching and Learning explored what it means to be creative, why to integrate creativity in teaching and learning, and how to develop creativity in students. From texts such as Sparks of Genius: The 13 Thinking Tools of the World’s Most Creative People, I learned about trans-disciplinary cognitive tools like perceiving, abstracting, and embodied thinking. I used these cognitive tools to define my own understanding of creativity. In addition, I applied these cognitive tools toward how to creatively teach upper elementary school fractions. I developed teaching tools and activities that reimagined fraction instruction through different creative lenses. By doing this, I am able to present fractions in multiple ways so as to deepen my students’ conceptual understanding of the concept.
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Writing Assessment and Instruction involved learning how to personally develop as a writer and how to use this to in turn develop my students as writers. I analyzed writing theories and pedagogies through reading texts such as Best Practices in Writing Instruction. Then, I discussed with colleagues on different elements of writing instruction and how they fit into our teaching contexts. I also put my knowledge into practice by exploring different writing genres and crafting a teacher website and a biographical essay about my parents. This course has deepened my understanding of how to best structure writing time and implement best practices for writing instruction.
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Teaching Science for Understanding covered multiple frameworks and methods for meaningful science teaching and learning. By regularly collaborating with my colleagues and reading texts such as Helping Students Make Sense of the World Using Next Generation Science and Engineering Practices, I furthered my knowledge of NGSS, the eight Science and Engineering Practices, and Ambitious Science Teaching. I also read about and discussed the implications of different teaching methods such as content-first approach and responsive teaching. To actively put what I learned from this course into my teaching, I enacted several modifications to my curriculum units and lessons. I have embedded interactive read alouds into science instruction, restructured units to include more student-driven questioning, and planned activities to support my students’ math and science identities. This course supported my growth in crafting and teaching science lessons and in developing my vision for a science classroom that values student connections, student-driven learning, and relevance to students’ lives.
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Capstone Seminar was a culmination of my studies throughout the MAED program. I composed essays and analyzed my graduate work to showcase how I have furthered my knowledge and professional development. By looking back on my goals from the beginning of the program and also developing my future concrete goals, I meaningfully reflected on my progress and then was proactive in establishing how I will continue to grow as an educator. From this course, I crafted this online portfolio to contain important information and artifacts relating to my work as a graduate student and an educator.
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