I enrolled in EDR 612 at Grand Valley State University. This course fulfilled a reading requirement needed prior to obtaining by professional teaching certificate. This course also transferred to Michigan State University as TE 846 and was my first graduate level course. Throughout this class I examined literacy assessments and differentiated instructional methods useful in a classroom with widely diverse needs.

This was a course devoted to the numerous awards that can be achieved by authors and illustrators of children’s literature. We examined the criteria books need to win an award and critiqued the winning texts that successfully met each component. During this course I reflected on the literature I choose to share with my students. I made it a goal of mine to include more culturally diverse texts in my classroom library after the harsh realization that my students rarely see themselves as the main characters in the texts assigned in our curriculum.

At the beginning of this course, I investigated the multiple meanings of the term diverse in order to consider some of the assumptions I had about diverse learners in my classroom. This course was particularly interesting to me as I have only taught in school buildings with a widely diverse student population. I explored how my own background (race/ethnicity, language, and gender) have impacted the material in which I choose to share with my students. I observed how standard curriculum can be adapted to better suit the needs of diverse learners. I inquired, specifically, if it is possible for an educator to teach to the test and teach students. We explored these areas through the text, Un-Standardizing Curriculum: Multicultural Teaching in the Standards-Based Classroom.

I started this course with a reflection on my own general feelings about mathematics. We discussed how our experiences have shaped our understanding and feelings towards our teaching of mathematics. I examined how the learning gap is widening due to varying circumstances, and identified steps to help bridge that gap in my own classroom. I implemented a new teaching strategy for me called Number Talks. I established number talks into our daily routine in hopes of encouraging conversations involving math. As a result, students' self-confidence grew and we had more purposeful conversations.

Throughout the semester I worked on a personal theory of learning which proved to be quite the task for me. Looking back on it now, each unit we studied should have been a component of my theory. Realizing this, it will probably be a document that I modify even after the conclusion of this course as I learn and grow as an educator. Similar to what I shared in my learning theory, I learn best when collaborating with my peers. Our Zoom meetings were valuable in my understanding of key concepts. I enjoyed the opportunity to communicate with grad students across the country. Something I learned in CEP 800 is that setting goals is fine but are easily forgotten if not monitored and adjusted. This can be translated to my teaching, but also to the progress of my students. Goals are meant to be set and accomplished, but can also be modified or changed completely.

During this course we focused on the development of curriculum and how it has changed over time. I participated in group discussions on some of the issues surrounding curriculum and some of the challenging questions teachers face. What should students learn? Who decides what students in each grade level should learn? What is the purpose of schooling? I created a blog that addressed these questions and allowed me to share my beliefs and struggles with curriculum.

This is a foundational course that is to be taken within the first few semesters of your masters program. It is a course that was thought provoking and that focused on essential questions surrounding education. It relied heavily on the reflection, writing, and discourse of different types of inquiry. The self-paced coursework was divided into six sections in which I reviewed educational roots with John Dewey and completed my own inquiry as a participant observer. The process of observing is beneficial for me in a couple different ways and I would like to make it a regular practice of mine, not just in my own classroom but in my colleagues rooms as well.

During this course we considered how our own identities, passions, and perspectives shape our understandings and engagements with various texts across multiple genres. We participated in several group discussions that encouraged conversations of similar domains within our classrooms. I studied some of the current issues and trends in relation to genre, formatting, and recognition of diversity. I read the books Refugee , The Hate You Give , and several picture books to analyze how themes are represented across genres. I reflected on my own reservations about reading and how I can transfer my joys and even struggles into my own lessons without realizing it.

Throughout this course I participated in numerous discussions with my home team. We studied the ways in which technology can be used for the learning and teaching of mathematics. I evaluated technology-rich tools that supported my students' understanding of mathematic standards. I examined the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards as well as the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), and created a personal online resource library of tools to enhance my delivery of math instruction in the classroom.

This was the culminating course of the Masters of Arts in Education program. Throughout the class, I developed an online portfolio highlighting some of my best work, and illustrated my passion for teaching. Creating a website was quite the task for me, as I had never explored that part of technology before. Surely, my portfolio will continue to strengthen as my time in education continues to grow. I look forward to keeping my web page updated as a way to document my interests in education.