Showcase

The Literacy Learner Project focuses on helping a struggling reader.  This project consisted of various steps. It began with identifying a struggling reader. Then I assessed the reader, using three different research based practices. This artifact demonstrates my ability to identify a reader's strengths and weaknesses, identify target areas and formulate lesson plans, intending to improve those areas. I designed Lesson Plan One, Lesson Plan Two, and Lesson Plan Three to help the emergent reader, based on best practices. The lesson plans are designed to give the emerging reader tools and strategies that they need to improve their literacy skills. After ample practice, I reassessed the struggling reader. I reviewed the assessment and provided feedback. The parent and teacher of the struggling reader was supportive during this time. 

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live a day in the life of a Literacy Coach? I got the real life experience! Click here to read about how I interviewed and job shadowed a Literacy Coach for a Literacy Class. It was an amazing experience and I learned a lot about their daily duties and interactions. Literacy coaches help students learn by collaborating with and supporting their teachers. They also design and implement Professional Development using research based best practices. 

My Heritage Project is a PowerPoint that encompasses a collection of research that includes languages spoken, dialects, family trees, and language origin. This article demonstrates my ability to delve into research, learn new things, and effectively share information using an array of technological resources. This project was a huge eye opener for me. I read research on the dialect spoken in Michigan. Then I researched the difference between the dialect in Northern Michigan vs the Southern part of the state. I obtained a copy of my family tree. My grandpa was a native Polish speaker and I was able to hear his spoken language. It was really amazing to delve into learning more about my family's culture.

I created a paper that explains the benefits of including Folklore and strategies for implementing it, when teaching Literacy. This artifact demonstrates how I incorporate diverse texts into my teaching. Students in my classroom will learn about other culture's values and beliefs. It offers insight into different languages and even life lessons. It's a way to entertain and bond with students. Students can create an inclusive culture by discussing folklore that has been passed down from their family.

This article demonstrates my ability to collaborate with peers and engage in higher level thinking in order to create a presentation that explains the difference between two similar texts. I collaborated with peers and created a  presentation that analyzes the differences between a youth adaptation and the original version of the novel Stamped. This was a great opportunity to read an eye opening novel. The youth adaptation is easier reading and relates to a younger age group yet follows the same storyline. The author uses relevant media, language, and pop culture to introduce concepts to students. This project inspired the group to think about how we can encourage students to be changemakers at school and in their personal lives. The conversations that organically occur while reading this book are important and needed in the classroom.

For a Leadership Class, I designed and implemented Professional Development, offering new ways for teachers to use technology in the general education classroom. This project showcases my ability to design and implement PD, using effective educational framework as a base. I used framework such as the social constructivist theory and research on cognitivism when planning the PD. I planned the training using a backwards design method. I had the learning outcome in mind and planned instruction around that. This project helped me to feel more confident as a leader. It's one thing to learn about leadership styles, techniques, and strategies. It was an eye opening experience to decide which structural framework, theories, and strategies to use and then actually create a professional development based on that. Afterwards I felt confident that I could hold my own Professional Development session. 

For my Leadership Case Analysis paper, I analyzed a leadership cases from Santamaría & Santamaría’s (2011) book Applied Critical Leadership in Education. This project allowed me to analyze a leadership case using three deifferent theories. This project was a big assignment that required critical thinking and extensive knowledge of various leadership theories. It tested my knowledge and deepend my understanding of leadership theory. I summarized the case, then analyzed Santa Maria's analysis of the case, using applied critical leadership. Finally, I analyzed the case myself, using 3 additional leadership theories from Dugan’s Leadership Theory book. 

I wrote twelve theory overviews  for my leadership class. These overviews show my ability to read higher level text and use critical thinking to analyze and enage with the reading. Each overview summarized a different theory. The source that we used for this is a textbook  by John Dugan. The theories consist of transformational leadership, connective leadership, emotionally intelligent leadership, and the leadership challenge model. This assignment helped me to become more familiar with different leadership styles and techniques. It made me delve deeper into reflecting on my own leadership style and ways that I can improve or strengthen as a leader.