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Showcase of Work

I have always loved to read and after taking two separate Children's Literature classes at Michigan State University during my Undergraduate program, I realized that I continue to be passionate about children's literature and teaching reading to young children. I was able to see the power and influence stories can have on a child's life and I wanted to explore this futher. I decided to pursue a concentration in Literacy during my Master's program at MSU. Many of my classes focused on literacy instruction including decoding, comprehension, and writing and I was able to see how much of the information I was learning could be used within my classroom. 

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While many of my courses focused on literacy, many also centered around Special Education. Teaching students with special needs is what my background is in, what I am currently teaching, and where a large part of my heart lies and I was looking for additional education in this area as well.

 

Here you will find a sampling of the work I have completed- both with a literacy focus and a special education focus- and how it has impacted me and allowed me to become a more well-rounded teacher in the classroom. 

Literacy Work

Children's Literature as a Tool

Within the past year, I have been able to critically examine examples of children's literature and have reflected on the impact these texts could have on the children reading them. One text I have closely examined during that time was Maus: A Survivor's Tale. In a report I wrote reflecting on this text, I looked at how it represented the extreme nature of dehumanization that was taking place during World War II. I was so moved by reading and interacting with this text that I created a Donor's Choose project and received copies of the text for my 8th grade students to read. They were able to come to many wonderful and mature conclusions about human nature due to this text. 

Writing Teaching Project

Writing can be a difficult task to teach a student, which is why I have spent a significant amount of time within the past three years learning more about proven methods and strategies to use in order to be effective. Through research and teachings, I have learned new strategies to teach my students, planned lessons that reflected this new understanding, and have also grown as a writer myself. I used the strategies and information I learned to plan and craft a unit that focused on teaching informative writing to my 2nd grade students. My students researched an animal and then wrote an informational brochure that demonstrated their research. After reflecting on my teaching, I wrote an essay that explained the process I went through in planning and implementing this unit as well as expressing how writing gives a powerful voice to students with learning disabilities. 

Reading Assessments

As a special educator, assessing is a task that is crucial to teaching and the development of IEP goals. I have developed an understanding of reading assessments in particular that is both wide and deep. Through a variety of workshops, courses, and trainings, I have been able to practice and interact with assessments that focused on phonological awareness, sight words, spelling, fluency, and comprehension. I have practiced using students' reading assessment data to make instructional suggestions about teaching and behavioral strategies to use to meet their individual needs. I have also been able to use the information I learned regarding reading assessments to assess my own students' reading and then use it to guide my instruction and develop their IEP goals.  

Educational Inquiry

Being a well-rounded teacher is crucial in being effective in the classroom. Within the last year, I have been able to step away from learning practical teaching strategies and instead focus more on the level of inquiry that surrounds the educational field.  During this experience, I was exposed to many new voices within the educational field that have had an impact. One such person was Vivan Paley- a kindergarten teacher who valued in-depth reflection in order to better her teaching. After diving deep into her research and reflecting on the impact it has had on the educational field, I crafted an essay that examined Paley's tendency to reflect and while doing so, learned how to do just that in my own teaching. 

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Special Education Work

Difficult Behavior in the Classroom

Managing student behavior is a vital element within every successful classroom. Through research, trainings, and practice I have been able to learn practical strategies to work with students of varying behaviors. I have used this information to create specific behavior plans for many of my students. One specific plan I created was for a hyperactive student and involved motivating positive behavior, making him aware of the negative effects of his own behavior, and also better involved the students' parent in his education. In the end, my student showed progress in curving his negative behaviors in the classroom and I was able to reflect on what I learned through the process in my final essay. I have used the information I have learned regarding managing student behavior on a daily basis in order to be an effective teacher. 

Impact of Inclusion

Inclusion for all students is a strong focus within every special education department. Within the past two years, I have been able to concentrate on seeing a new point of view within the special education field and have since gained a better understanding of inclusion within schools. In order to do this, I have had to gain new information about collaborating and working with general education teachers. This began with me observing a student who was being served in an inclusion setting, interviewing both their special education and general education teachers, and then providing suggestions for the student's education based on what I had observed. I have since learned much more about inclusion with the public school setting and the importance of involving multiple partners in order for it to work properly. 

Education Evaluations

Educational evaluations are a major component of Special Education and it is crucial for special educators to have a general understanding of how to read and administer these assessments. In order to gain this better understanding, I sought out the opportunity to administer an educational assessment to a student and then write my own report sharing my findings. By completing this task, I was able to gain invaluable information about the various assessments that are used to evaluate a students' educational performance and come to a better understanding of the different elements discussed in educational reports. 

Differentiation for All Learners

Learning to differentiate for all learners is an important aspect when teaching students with learning difficulties. Since beginning my teaching career, I have learned new strategies to do this and have had the opportunities to write specific lessons and units specifically for the needs of my students. An example of this was a writing unit that I created specifically for a group of special education students I was working with at the high school level. Through the use of differentiation, I created a nonfiction research/ writing unit that allowed the students to choose a career to research and then create a resume for that specific job. The students learned many new tasks including how to research, how to ask thought-provoking questions, how to organize their research, and how to write a professional resume. Due to the differentiation and other teaching strategies I used during this unit, the students were all successful in their task. 

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All images retrieved June 28, 2016 from Wix.com.

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