Annotated Transcript
of my Masters of Arts in Education (MAED) Program
Fall 2009
TE 802 - Reflection and Inquiry in Teaching Practice I
Instructor: Mike Steele In my first semester of my teaching internship, this course provided me with fundamental tools that supported me as a mathematics teacher. I used different mathematical content, such as proportional relationships or algebraic thinking, to apply other teaching strategies like formative assessments and higher order questioning. I learned how to design lessons that emphasized a conceptual understanding while anticipating student questions. It also served as a place for me to reflect upon the experiences that I had, as well as collaborate with other mathematics interns. |
Spring 2010
TE 803 - Professional Roles and Teaching Practice II
Instructor: Trudy Sykes This course served as a perfect complement to TE 802/804 where the focus wasn’t on the content that I was teaching, but everything else that is required of teachers. I learned about classroom management techniques through the use of principles from Love and Logic, Individualized Educational Programs (IEPs) and other issues regarding teachers entering administration or coaching. My classmates consisted of other interns in the same district, so it served as a way to reflect upon issues more specific to our schools. I capped off the course by creating a resumé, a portfolio and practicing interviews in order to be prepared to search for my first teaching position. |
TE 804 - Reflection and Inquiry in Teaching Practice II
Instructor: Mike Steele In the second half of my internship year I continued the second half of this course. The focus now switched towards synthesizing the experiences from my internship year into a teaching philosophy. It is this course that really solidified my beliefs in what exactly it means to teach mathematics. In addition to developing my teaching philosophy, I conducted a research experiment with two other interns at my school to investigate the difficulties that many students have connecting algebra and geometry. |
Summer 2013
ED 800 - Concepts of Educational Inquiry
Instructor: Steven Weiland This course served as an introduction to how education has changed in the past century. It began with educational philosophy from John Dewey and continued to force me to think about different philosophies that have come along the way. I particularly enjoyed reading The Girl with the Brown Crayon, by Vivian Paley which served as a reminder of the importance of fostering inquiry among students as well as among myself. |
CEP 816 - Technology, Teaching and Learning Across the Curriculum
Instructor: Rand Spiro In this course, I was provided my first taste of a technological toolbox, so to speak. I learned about the potential ways that I would be able to use different resources for teaching, such as social media, class websites, blogging, wikis and much more. The biggest take away for me from this class was a Web 2.0 mindset. The internet has evolved from simply a place to find information into something more interactive that allows students to do more creating and collaborating. |
Fall 2013
KIN 855 - Psychosocial Bases of Coaching Athletes
Instructor: Daniel Gould I chose to take this course as an elective to help round out my career and satisfy my interest in coaching. In this course I learned about a wide range of issues that all coaches face, whether they are coaching at the youth level or a collegiate or professional level. Some of those issues included goal setting, motivation, confidence, imagery and many other aspects involved in coaching. Over the semester, I developed a coaching philosophy that encompassed many of the topics that we covered. I also collaborated with other coaches from around the country to examine example case studies and develop a plan of action that we might take. |
Spring 2014
CEP 805 - Learning Mathematics with Technology
Instructors: Ralph Putnam and Erin Stehr This course was likely the most relevant course for my day-to-day teaching. As the title suggests, we focused on ways to integrate technology into mathematics courses. I examined the issue from a mathematics standpoint by reviewing Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards and weighing pros and cons of various online resources. I also focused on different affordances of technology such as providing different representations, computing power, exploratory environments and a place for students to collaborate. I was able to synthesize this information through the creation of a website that served as a collection of resources for Algebra 1 teachers to use to support their teaching. |
TE 846- Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners
Instructor: Dongbo Zhang This course satisfied the state requirement for all teachers in the state of Michigan and strengthened my belief that all teachers are responsible for teaching literacy. As a secondary teacher, it served as an eye-opener about the forethought and planning required by early elementary teachers to begin to teach literacy and the similarities that exist in higher grades. Throughout the semester, I examined a case study about two students that I was able to work with. I was able to gather data through a pre-test and design lessons around their needs to improve upon some of the skills required for “math literacy.” |
Summer 2014
CEP 820 - Teaching Students Online
Instructors: Anne Heintz, Sandra Sawaya and Rohit Mehta With a growing emphasis on online-learning, this course might end up being one of the most important courses in my program. This allowed me to investigate the different aspects involved in teaching students online. I explored different course management systems to weigh potential benefits of each and ultimately created an online unit to be used in my Algebra 1 classes. |
ED 870 - Capstone Seminar
Instructor: Matt Koehler As the name suggests, this course served as a way for me to top off my program and synthesize all of the experiences that I’ve had together. I also learned the basics of creating websites and web design while creating my online portfolio. This serves as a way to tie together aspects of my personal and professional life with my educational experiences. |