Synthesis Essay

Following Dreams and Aspirations

When deciding to pursue a master’s program here at Michigan State University, it took a lot of time and consideration as to which program I was going to be a part of and focus on. My undergraduate program was Elementary Education, so I knew I wanted to stay in the realm of teaching and education. This education program as a whole has really opened my eyes to so much more in depth processes that happen in the classroom, that prior to being in the program I had never even considered. I think as someone who grew up in a great school district with really great teachers, I was blessed to be in a situation where things were always run so smoothly to the point where I never questioned anything about my learning experience or anything the teachers were doing. There was a method to their madness, and throughout this program I was able to learn so much more about being a successful teacher and getting the most possible out of each and every student throughout their time that you get to spend with them. 

One of the largest things I learned about in the education program was classroom management. Again, growing up I never even considered how much time, energy and effort went into classroom management and the flow of everyday life. It was something that came very naturally to my classrooms at a young age, which again is credited to the teachers in the Grosse Pointe Public School System, I experienced in my learning. When starting the program, and also being in my mentor teacher's classroom, in the East Lansing Public School District, I learned a lot more about how much time is spent practicing the management aspect of the students' learning. My mentor teacher explained to me that the first two months of each year, the majority of the time she spends with the students is spent practicing the things the students will need to do to keep the classroom running smoothly and properly. For example, each week each student would have a different job that they were assigned to. So, one student would be incharge of gathering materials needed for a certain assignment, while another student would be in charge of turning the lights off when the teacher was using the smart board, and so on. Little jobs like this, give students a reason to remain focused on what their task is, while also making the teachers life easier in the sense that they do not have to spend time or energy doing all of these little things, but rather they can spend their time teaching and sharing the knowledge with their students. 

Another really important thing from the program that really has stood out to me is the differences in every single learner. I think oftentimes there is a misconception that when in a classroom we can throw the same thing at all of the students and they are going to gain the same thing out of that task. When in reality, each student is so very different in their learning process and is not going to gain all of the knowledge out of one thing, that other students might. When learning more about this, it forces you to consider the different learning methods for students and how to perform each of them, while also really dialing in on the relationship aspect with every student in order to know what each student really needs. I think that is something that is also overlooked, that it is so important to really build connections with each student in order to provide them with methods of teaching that will not only help them but will allow them to be the most successful they can be. I think this starts very early in the year where teachers spend a lot of their time working individually with their students in order to develop understanding of where that student is currently at, and how the teacher can meet them there and create lesson plans that meet and help that student. This also shows the depth of teaching as I mentioned earlier in the sense of how much actually goes into teaching and every single lesson, assignment, and assessment that students are given. Teachers have a lot of intense and important work to do in order to create the most effective learning environment for each individual student. I also think that while learning about which method of teaching is most effective for each student, it is also really important that the teacher spends time learning about each student's interests, hobbies, and likes, then the teacher is able to create lessons or activities that they know the students are really interested in. I think this is so important because the more the student is interested in the lesson because it is something they like, the more their engagement will go up and the teacher will have much more success with keeping the children focused and excited about their learning. 

I have found within my mentor teaching section of the program here at Michigan State University and my time spent in the classroom and with the students hands on was the most beneficial part of the learning experience for me because it was the more real life, real world, experience that I got and I also think it really tested my ability to be challenged by the students and asked questions about things that I might not always know or have the answers to. I think this section of the learning was really interesting and challenging but also rewarding because I got to build relationships with students in the community. While also being a student athlete in the community, some of my students would then attend some of our basketball games with their parents and families which was really nice of them to be supportive of me after I was in their classroom observing their mentor teacher and working with them on lessons and skills. This also aligns with what I was previously talking about in regards to the connection and relationship piece of building with students and connecting with them. In my time in my mentor classroom, I spent so much time just getting to know the students and talking with them about things they liked or did not like, or things they did outside of the classroom. With the way that my schedule worked, there were a lot of times where I would be at my mentor classroom during their recess and lunch periods, so I was then able to connect with the students and spend a lot of time talking to them during those free times. By spending my time doing that, I was then able to create my lessons and assignments based on things I know that the students enjoy. I do not know if you can meet every single students likes within every lesson or activity, but as long as you are willing to switch and change things up that that throughout the week of school each student has at least one activity that meets their likes and interests, the more likely they will to be engaged with the tasks. 

There were many courses in this program that really impacted my overall learning experience but three that stand out to me are: TE846-Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners, CEP818-Creativity in Teaching and Learning, and TE849-Methods & Materials for Teaching Children and Adolescent Literature. 

For TE846-Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners, this course really impacted my thinking and practice because it forced me to dive a lot deeper into the differences in both literacy, and also learners. During the course we spent time with one individual learner in our classroom, and took a much deeper dive and looked into this student's skills in literacy. We then performed several assessments to then create lesson plans to help the student move forward in their literacy development and practices. In doing this, we were able to help the student individually move forward in their learning regardless of their differences with other students, or other students' learning practices. I think this course really helped me to adjust my thinking and practices because I now have a much better understanding of each student's individual needs by knowing the time, energy and effort it takes to really know where each student is in the learning development process and then also helping them move forward within that process. As I mentioned previously there is a large misconception on the fact that every student can be approached the same way, and they will all get things out of the work, when in reality there are so many differences it is so important to accommodate them and help them in order for them to be most successful. 

For CEP818-Creativity in Teaching and Learning, this course really changed my practices and thinking because I really never considered how important it can be for students to be able to be creative in their learning. Giving open ended assignments and activities so that the students can do whatever they want with their work. Giving them opportunities to use color and draw things and just use their imagination to complete a task can be so rewarding and they can learn a lot from it. I also think that within allowing students to have this level of creativity and freedom within assignments and tasks there has to be a level of trust within the classroom that each student is going to be free of judgement and comments from their classmates. The classroom environment must be a comfortable and safe space for every student in order for them to feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and work with others. 

Finally, for TE849-Methods & Materials for Teaching Children and Adolescent Literature, I think this course really helped me adjust my thinking and practices because I was really forced to read a lot of information from a lot of really educated people and also be apart of discussions and interactions with my peers who a lot of which are already running their own classrooms and are able to share and explain many different situations that they themselves are experiencing and that we can all learn from. I think this part of this course has helped my thinking a lot because I have been able to interact with so many experienced teachers who have given me such good advice and answered so many of my questions on how to help students reach their full potential. At the end of the day we really only get about 9 months with each kid, so how can we maximize our time in a way that allows for the most success. 

All in all, this master’s program here at Michigan State University has done wonders for me and my learning and my future. It is why this is one of, if not the best educational program in the United States. I think there is nowhere else I would rather be, and no place that would be as willing to go above and beyond for the future children and their learning environments, but also the teachers and helping them with their abilities to have success with students in the classroom. I am beyond thankful and grateful for my time spent in the program, and I cannot wait for the future in the classroom where I can utilize all of the skills and practices, I have learned and developed in this program. Thank you!