Annotated Transcript
Below is a record of the specific courses that I completed for my Master of Arts in Education at Michigan State University. The following acronyms for each course are as follows: ED (Education), CEP (Counseling, Educational Psychology, & Special Education), TE (Teacher Education), EAD (Educational Administration), and KIN (Kinesiology).
Educational Inquiry
ED 800 - Fall 2015
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Instructors: Dr. Steven Weiland and Nathan Clason
Educational Inquiry is an introductory course in the Master of Arts in Education program. In this course, I examined different methods of educational research and inquiry in order to think about the purposes and practical applications of education. This course allowed me to think about my classroom practice and different ways that I could engage my students in critical thinking. One of the rewards of this course is that it challenged me to think about my teaching philosophy and how education can take place in both formal and informal settings within and beyond the classroom.
Technology, Teaching, & Learning Across the Curriculum
CEP 816 - Fall 2015
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​Instructors: Dr. Paul Morsink, Ha Nguyen, and Ian Clemente
Technology, Teaching, & Learning Across the Curriculum was one of my favorite courses in my graduate program, and it has had a tremendous impact on my teaching practice. This course focused on literacy, specifically looking at new media and how technological advancements are changing how literacy skills are taught and used in the classroom. In particular, this course challenged me to rethink my approach to teaching literacy skills. Prior to this course, I assumed that literacy skills that were sufficient for older and more traditional forms of print could be easily applied to new media texts. However, during this course I learned that newer, multimedia forms of text require different skills that must be taught explicitly to students in order to help them develop as 21st century thinkers. For my final project in this course, I created a multimedia website utilizing both traditional and new media texts in order to teach a unit on the Holocaust. I use the website every year with my students, and it has changed the way that I use and teach literacy in my classroom.
Secondary Reading
Assessment & Instruction
TE 843 - Summer 2016
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​Instructor: Ashley Johnson
Secondary Reading Assessment & Instruction highlighted the importance of developing students' literacy skills in the classroom and focused on best practices in literacy instruction for learners in grades 6-12. In particular, this course utilized inquiry-based learning as a way to engage students in higher level thinking and deep reading. This course has had a profound impact on my teaching and encouraged me to think about how I engage students in thoughtful reading and writing practices through my content instruction. As a result of this course, I redesigned my unit on the Industrial Revolution in my sophomore Church History class using a variety of traditional and digital texts, videos, and images. I also began to incorporate better literacy practices such as close reading, peer discussion, annotation, and graphic organizers.
Language Diversity & Literacy Instruction Assessment
TE 845 - Summer 2016
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​Instructor: Dr. Patricia Edwards
This course focused on how to teach reading and writing to students from a wide variety of language backgrounds, particularly focusing on English Language Learners and the unique challenges they face in the classroom. In this class, I was able to apply my knowledge as a second-language learner and my background as a Spanish teacher to literacy instruction. I learned more about the misconceptions that exist in education about students who do not speak English as a first language as well as what best practices and supports I can utilize to create an inclusive classroom where all of my students can develop strong reading and writing skills. I considered best instructional practices and larger institutional policies that can enhance learning for all students, regardless of their language background.
Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners
TE 846 - Spring 2017
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​Instructor: Katie Cook
Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners is a graduate course that meets the State of Michigan reading course requirements for Professional Certification. In this course, I explored a variety of barriers to literacy education particularly for students who are English Language Learners or who struggle with reading comprehension due to a learning disability. This course helped me to rethink methods I can use to increase student motivation in order to improve literacy outcomes. Finally, this course provided me with the tools and strategies I need in order to make the necessary instructional accommodations and interventions to detect reading and writing challenges and to support all students’ literacy development.
Issues & Strategies in
Multicultural Education
EAD 850 - Spring 2017
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​Instructor: Dr. Riyad Shahjahan
While I previously took courses at the undergraduate level in multicultural education, this graduate course really challenged me to take my thinking to the next level. In this course, I explored issues of identity, power, and privilege in educational settings, particularly focusing on how education has the ability to uphold or breakdown systems of oppression. I thought critically about the role of media representations of identity and how those representations inform the teaching and learning that takes place in my classroom. Finally, I reflected on existing practices within my own classroom and how I could develop better strategies for creating an inclusive classroom environment for all students.
Stages of Athlete Development
KIN 865 - Spring 2018
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Instructor: Dr. Andy Driska
While teaching in the classroom has always been my primary professional vocation, I have also spent many years coaching middle school and high school girls volleyball. I selected this course as one of my electives in order to grow as a coach and to learn more about the physical, social, and emotional stages of young athlete development. In this course, I considered my view of the purpose of sport participation and how organized sport from early childhood through emerging adulthood can serve an important social and physiological purpose in society. As a culminating project, I researched the benefits of sport sampling compared to early sport specialization in girls volleyball and wrote a research paper advocating for sport sampling as a way to combat the high rates of physical injury, burnout, and psychological stress that frequently plague youth sport.
Children's Literature in Film
TE 838 - Summer 2018
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​Instructor: Dr. Laura Apol
In this course, I had the opportunity to look at various examples of popular children's literature as well as different ways of representing children's literature in film. What I appreciated most about this course was that it gave me a different avenue through which to look at literacy and its interaction with technology and new media. I was also able to think about literacy for younger students, an opportunity I do not usually get because I am a high school teacher. The biggest lesson I learned in this course was to always examine representations of children's literature in film with critical eyes. Contrary to what I previously expected from films based on children's literature, I learned that films rarely, if ever, remain completely faithful to the original text. Rather, frequently films reinterpret children's literature in ways that have profound meaning and impact on cultural representations of identity, specifically race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status.
Education in the Digital Age
EAD 878 - Fall 2018
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Instructor: Dr. Steven Weiland
This course allowed me to explore a wide variety of research on the role of technology in education, specifically the ways in which "new media literacies" such as the Internet, social media, and ubiquitous screen reading are changing the ways that students read, write, and learn in the classroom. As a teacher in a school with a 1-to-1 iPad program, the content of this course had many important implications for the work that I do with my students. In particular, this course allowed me to think about my own views about the role of technology in education and challenged me to consider how current research informs my professional practice. I come away from this course with much more knowledge and tools to bring back to my school as we continue to grapple with the many challenges and benefits of technology as it relates to student learning and best teaching practices.
Capstone Portfolio
ED 870 - Fall 2018
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​Instructors: Dr. Matthew Koehler, Aric Gaunt, Sarah Keenan-Lechel, and Sukanya Moudgalya
In this course, I had the opportunity to reflect on my graduate program and to think about how the courses I have taken have impacted my teaching practice. This course allowed me to approach my graduate work from a holistic perspective. Rather than thinking about each course individually, I thought about the specific skills and knowledge that I have gained over the three years of my graduate studies and how those skills have transformed my view of education in specific and thematic ways. As a result of this course, I created a professional portfolio documenting my graduate work and my experiences in the classroom with my students, a resource that I hope to be able to share with my colleagues and my students and their families in the future.