Showcase of Graduate Work
Throughout the Master of Arts in Education (MAED) program at Michigan State University, I completed many projects, essays, and assignments. The courses challenged my thinking and helped me grow into a more effective educator. The courses allowed me to improve my teaching practice through differentiating instruction, and bring more creativity into my classroom, primarily in my concentration area of literacy.
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Differentiating instruction within the classroom allows me as a teacher to make sure that my students are receiving the necessary instruction in order to master the state standards. With the help of my MAED courses, differentiating instruction has become more of a second nature to me.
The second category that I organized my work into is creativity. Throughout this program, I have learned that bringing creativity into the classroom allows for students at all levels to shine.
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Note: Below this section, clicking on the image or title will take you directly to the original assignment.
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DIFFERENTIATING INSTRUCTION
Analyzing Student Data- Ashley's Case
Collecting and analyzing student data is an incredibly effective way for educators to tailor their instruction to meet the varied needs of their students. In this paper, I looked closely at the data from a second grade student, Ashley. By studying her Fry Sight-Word, Phonological Awareness and Informal Reading Inventories, I determined she would benefit from instruction focused on sight words and decoding.
Analyzing Student Data- Jamal's Case
Similar to the student data project for Ashley, analyzing Jamal's data helped me set instructional goals for him. His Elementary Spelling Inventory, Fry Sight Word Inventory, and Qualitative Reading Inventory informed me that Jamal would benefit from goals targeted at strengthening his reading comprehension, specifically in the areas of background knowledge and text structure.
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Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners
For this case study, I worked with a third grade student in my class. I gave him several assessments to paint a more detailed picture of him as a literacy learner. After analyzing his data, I was able to provide him with strategies to help improve his fluency as well as his reading comprehension.
Expository Writing in Lower Elementary
Using various research based books and articles, I was able to construct a unit on expository writing. This was a challenging project because students are so tuned into writing personal stories in the lower grades that shifting towards expository writing was a bit of a struggle. As the project evolved, my students became more comfortable with the process and were producing well written pieces.
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CREATIVITY
Creativity in the Writing Process- Personal Narrative Style
Bringing creativity into the classroom can reach a variety of learners, specifically students who become reluctant with certain subjects or tasks. I was able to create a unit using the seven tools of creativity that focused on personal narrative writing. This unit used paper and pencil in a minimal way; however, I was able to incorporate the use of Legos, comic strips, puppets, and movement into the writing process!
I was able to take a unit that was normally taught using mainly paper and pencil and restructure it so my students were exploring multiple online avenues while covering the original standards. My students were engaged in new ways to collaborate with their classmates and share their understanding of the material with me.
I have a passion for children's book as well as a passion for my dachshunds; therefore, I made the first of what I would like to think, could be a series of silly children's books. I am able to share this book with my students when we are looking at writing stories from different points of view. I also use it to discuss different ways that are available when publishing and presenting writing pieces. It shows students that publishing their writing pieces can be done in more than one way.
I never think that a movie is as good as the book it was made after; however, I was able to look at books and movies and their relationship in a new light after this assignment. I came up with ways that I could use books and their movies in the classroom beyond a simple compare and contrast, such as how the character's differ and why, as well as integrating the material through various subject areas. An activity like this will get my students thinking beyond just the visual images that they viewing and allow them to make multiple connections across various forms of literature.
