Synthesis Essay
Reflecting as a Person, Teacher, and Student
Growing up there was never a doubt I would become a teacher. From a young age I had a passion for learning new things and helping others learn. My love for learning and the teachers who continued to inspire this passion are the reasons why I became a teacher. I hope to spread the love of learning and encourage curiosity and imagination like those who did it for me. School was my favorite place to be so it only made sense that I would return back as a teacher and now a student.
After completing the year-long internship which began the journey towards a graduate degree, I decided to focus on getting a job before I continued to pursue this goal. There was already so much I had learned about pedagogy and teaching techniques during my undergraduate and internship courses that I did not want to overwhelm myself before I even began my career! After doing a year-long substitution position, I finally got a job teaching fifth grade. Finally after my second year, I decided it was time to resume the journey I started three years prior.
Michigan State was the obvious choice for graduate school as I had already taken courses for a master's degree during my internship year and enjoyed my experience as a Spartan during my undergraduate career. The online aspect of the Master of Arts in Education (MAED) program was very appealing to me. Although I was nervous about taking online classes and enjoyed the face to face interactions in my other courses, I knew this program would best fit my busy teaching and coaching schedule. Choosing an area to concentrate in was a much tougher decision. As a self-contained classroom teacher and coach, I knew I would benefit from the knowledge of new strategies, techniques and best practices in whichever area I chose. Therefore, my decision to follow the science and mathematics concentration stemmed from what I saw happening to the science and social studies education at the elementary level. With the emphasis on literacy and math instruction, these other subjects were getting pushed aside because there is not enough time to do it all. Once they reached fifth grade the holes in their science and social studies knowledge was very noticeable. As a result, I chose to focus my degree in the field of math and science. I was hoping I would find and develop ways to integrate math and science even more so my students would not miss out on their science experience.
I started the Master of Arts in Education program in the summer of 2015 and began with one of the many courses I found constructive and beneficial to my teaching career. Although I was following the math and science concentration program, Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners (TE 846) was a course devoted to reading and writing comprehension. This course helped build my confidence as a literacy teacher. As a new literacy teacher, I sometimes found it difficult to determine what skill or strategy a student was lacking which was affecting their comprehension. In this course, we examined a variety of assessments which would help identify the area(s) the student needed support. Also, I learned a variety of techniques and strategies to differentiate instruction to meet the needs for all of my learners. I noticed the students who were struggling readers were feeling frustration in other areas as well, especially in math. By collaborating and sharing experiences with other colleagues who taught in different school settings, I was able to gain new approaches to supporting these students in other subject areas. When I took a new job as a science and math teacher, I was able to incorporate many of these new literacy strategies to support all my students in our text-rich math curriculum. A major project in this course that gave me valuable experience was when I created a case study on a struggling reader. With this case study I was able to practice using the assessments to help create an individualized lesson plan for the student. Also, I needed to be reflective both with the assessments and the activities I planned in order to make informed decisions. This is a skill that I have continued to use in my practice and one I am hoping to teach my students to value. Through the practice of thoughtful reflection, I saw the value of taking time to debrief the activity. I realized if I did this immediately after I taught the literacy lesson, I was better able to evaluate how I felt the lesson went as well as make connections between what I observed and the assessment. Now with the lessons I teach to a full class of students I try to make the time to reflect on how the lesson went and what I could do differently, although I do not always do it as soon as I should. Also, I am trying to teach the power of reflecting to my students by having them do a daily/weekly reflection. I would continue to see the importance of reflection in other graduate courses as my journey continued throughout the program.
Where TE 846 gave me confidence to support my students as a literacy teacher and even more so as a math and science teacher, the course Inquiry, Nature of Science, and Science Teaching (TE 861B) dramatically changed my science teaching practices. This course introduced me to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) which is the driving force behind the new reform in science education. I studied how these new standards were the integration of science and engineering practices, core ides, and application. With the new knowledge I gained I had to rethink and adapt my instruction to better meet the NGSS. Also, TE 861B equipped me with teaching strategies to support this NGSS driven instruction. I learned the best type of instruction to teach students how to understand the why of science, not just the what, is inquiry-based instruction. In this type of instruction the teacher takes on the role as facilitator who helps the students learn from their misconceptions and develop new understandings. One of the greatest advantages of this course was being able to watch ambitious science teachers develop and implement a unit using inquiry-based instruction to guide the learning. By observing these lessons, I was able to understand how the teacher uses a puzzling phenomenon to drive the students’ investigations. I developed strategies for how to scaffold science discourse and student explanations in my classroom and how to incorporate a variety of models to support the learning. The powerful strategies I learned focus on students discovering science, not memorizing it. I was given the opportunity to try out what I had learned by creating and implementing a lesson to meet the NGSS guidelines for practice and content expectations. This course challenged my previous teaching approach for the better and made me aware of the changes I needed to make to my instruction. As a result, I am working on a committee with fellow science teachers to modify our current science curriculum to focus on the NGSS and model best teaching practices of using student inquiry-based instruction.
Learning Math with Technology (CEP 805) and Teaching School Subject Matter with Technology (TE 831) were courses where I both gained confidence with using technology and changed how I want to incorporate it into my instruction. These courses taught me how to evaluate different types of technology and tools I want to bring into my classroom. Specifically, in CEP 805 I explored the five strands of mathematical proficiency and the Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (PSSM) which were both used in creating the Common Core State Standards. With these core ideas of math instruction in play and with scaffolding, I learned how to evaluate math games, websites, and tech tools. Through the evaluation process, I learned how to thoroughly examine the technology before using it in my instruction. An important take away I learned was to always ask “How will this help my students reach the learning objective?” not “What learning objective does this go with?” Before
this class, I would eagerly try new cool technology websites or tools I found without properly evaluating their use. Through experience and this course I learned this approach was not successful in effectively using technology to support learning. CEP 805 provided me with strategies of how I can attempt to prevent incidents like those occurring again. Now as I come across new and exciting technology, I approach it with a new perspective and thought process.
TE 855 continued what I had learned in CEP 805 in regards to focusing on how the technology will support the learning. In this course we examined a wide variety of technology from devices (e.g. iPads) to Web 2.0 tools (e.g. Blogger). Through this course I became more comfortable exploring new technology and it has made me eager to try some of the new ideas I have found. Specifically, I am eager to have my students create Vodcasts or digital stories as an avenue for showcasing their learning. In this course, I also learned about a new set of standards in regards to technology education I was unaware of. From learning about the technology framework T-PACK, I have realized my additional role as an educator. Although my students are able to navigate technology more quickly than me, there is still much they need to learn. I have the responsibility of guiding them with the use of technology while helping them become digital citizens and learn digital citizenship. These technology courses have changed the way I approach technology in my classroom and have shown me my responsibility of teaching 21st century digital natives.
The Capstone Seminar (ED 870) course has been a great way to conclude my experience in the MAED program. Through the essays and online portfolio creation, this course has made me do lots of reflecting of the last year and a half. I have revisited my initial goals for beginning this long, hectic but worthwhile journey and the impact this program has had on me as an educator. The reflection I have been doing around my previous coursework has given me the opportunity to step back and see how I have grown from the start of the program until now. This course has also forced me to think about where I want to go from here on my journey as a life-long learner. I have modified original goals and created new professional goals for myself that I have already embarked on. The online portfolio has been a perfect way to express my excitement and how proud I am of everything I have accomplished as a student and in my first three years of teaching. Also, as I have become more confident with making a website, I have made one for my teaching team and asked to be in charge of maintaining my school’s website. This capstone course has been a great final course to end my graduate journey (for now).
The Master of Arts in Education program provided me with tremendous opportunities to better myself as a person, teacher, and student. Through this program, I was given the chance to explore areas I was interested in and wanted to better myself in. As a result I am leaving the program with a teaching tool box filled with an overflowing amount of techniques and strategies I cannot wait to use, or continue to use, in my instruction. I will no longer only try some cool tech idea when another teacher recommends it, but will be the teacher sharing the great resources and technology ideas with others. The MAED program has made me comfortable with being uncomfortable so I am constaintly looking for new, better, and more exciting ways to teach what I have been teaching. This drive will continue to fuel my passion for learning and teaching. I have learned lots of great
knowledge in this journey, but the one that stands out the most is the importance of reflection. This program and the courses I have taken have made me into a more reflective educator both in practice and in life. Reflection has been a key theme throughout this experience and I will continue to use it to better myself as a person, teacher, and student.