Synthesis 

Best Laid Plans...

Rarely does life seem to play out exactly as people plan it to. My path to my Master of Arts in Education and the career it is useful for, is not a straight one. I knew I wanted to be a teacher, and so I set off into my undergrad to become a high school math teacher. As I quickly became embroiled in math theory, computer programming, and a particularly dry course my undergraduate university offered called beautiful math, it became clear that this was not the path for me. One major switch later, and I was moved to middle school education with a focus in math and science. Surely this would set things in stone for me and as I neared the end of my undergraduate degree. I had an idea of what I wanted to walk into; a job at a medium public school. Thanks to a confluence of outside factors, I ended up teaching at a tiny school that was part of a religion I don’t even subscribe to. Next, thanks to more outside life factors, I ended up at another small school one state away that was of a different religion, but still not the one I am a part of. Finally, mostly due to a few health concerns, I started teaching online. 

When I made the decision to teach science online, I had no idea how well I’d be able to flourish. The job played into all of my strengths as an educator. My ability to learn and apply technology as an educator as well as my communication and planning skills. As an added plus, I was reaching the students that needed my help most. Now that I was slotted into a job that suited me and had wonderful students and peers to steward, I wanted to maximize my positive effect. Which is when I decided to start my Master of Arts in Education.

When I started my first job as a 6-8th grade science teacher, I was only given standards and asked to fill in the gaps. This was no small task. My undergraduate degree taught me that science was no longer rote memorization but with such little experience and no resources, I fell prey to what was easiest. TE 861A Teaching Science for Understanding and TE 861B Inquiry, Nature of Science, and Science Teaching gave me the skills and confidence to boldly tackle science teaching. It’s no exaggeration to say these courses completely altered the way I teach. They are essential for learning how to read, teach, and understand the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). A stand out teaching method I learned from these courses was using phenomena to open a new unit. To peek students interested in a new unit, you show them a phenomenon that they cannot yet understand or explain. Throughout the unit, students build enough knowledge to explain how the phenomena works. This teaching method is now a staple in my science classroom. 

Next Generation Science Standards contain three parts in every standard: Disciplinary Core Ideas, Crosscutting Concepts, and Science and Engineering Practices. TE 861A taught me the importance of and how to integrate all three of these into my teaching. It can be easy to just teach Disciplinary Core Ideas, for example everything is made up of atoms, but each piece is essential. Crosscutting concepts, for example patterns or cause and effect, are interwoven through all k-12 standards. Crosscutting concepts are life skills that students can use beyond the classroom. Science and Engineering Practices, for example asking questions, are also skills that students use beyond the classroom. We also discussed the importance of pointing out Crosscutting concepts and Science and Engineer Practices. Students should be aware that they are working on recognizing patterns or asking questions. To integrate this into my classroom, I have begun highlighting the different parts of the standard to my students. Figure 1 details an example from my classroom. These courses were essential in shaping my thinking about the science classroom and have heavily influenced how I teach. 

Much like how I approach standards differently now, I also approach my students differently. ED 800 Concepts of Educational Inquiry, presented different perspectives that really broadened and stretched my understanding of how I relate to my students. New perspectives are encountered by a person almost everyday, but this course offered a vast spread of perspectives on education within a relatively short amount of time that gave me a unique opportunity to see how others have learned and continue to learn. As someone who grew up in white suburbia, my view on education was very limited. All of my peers looked like me and had similar experiences. This course allowed me to see how others experience education. There are many factors that can affect a student's education. Some of these factors include ethnicity, sex, cognitive ability, and socioeconomic status. While I was aware of these factors, reading first hand experiences made it more of a reality for me. This course allowed me to step beyond my limited view of the reality that awaits in education. 

One course that didn’t surprise me with its practical application in my classroom was CEP 820 Teaching and Learning Online. As a fully online educator for what has now been most of my career, I was excited to take a course dedicated to exactly what I do. Two areas where this course has really impacted my teaching are through a better understanding of the importance of feedback and communication. While technology creates a bridge between me and my students that is otherwise impossible outside of the classroom, it also creates a barrier. In a purely online setting, extra communication and feedback is key because of the absence of the natural way this plays out in person. Students need a clear understanding of the expectations for communication and feedback. Detailed feedback in the online classroom is so important, as students are spending less time in the “classroom” with the teacher. I offer my students written feedback on assignments, detailing how to move forward and resources that are available to them. I then provide that same feedback in our online learning system, students are then notified directly. 

Communication does not only refer to emails and phone calls, but how the course is set up. Course set up can lead students to success or failure. To help my students successfully navigate a course I set it up by unit. An example is shown in figure 2. When in a brick and mortar school, students will often see a schedule for the week listed on the board. To best communicate a schedule to my online students, I create a detailed calendar invite which is shown in figure 3. In my classroom I currently use the communication expectations I created during this course. The expectations detail how I will communicate with students, how students will communicate with me, and how students will communicate with each other. After taking this course, I have grown in my passion for creating courses that are clear and easy for students to navigate.

The twists and turns in my journey as an educator did not end when I started this program. Since starting, I’ve navigated having a child, shakeups at my school, and much more. Some of this has changed my vision in this program. I initially thought I’d focus on math and special education as a balancing complement to my existing skillset. After wading into the program, I decided to hone my skills I already use everyday. In addition to what I’ve mentioned that the program has cultivated in me as a teacher already, I am positive that there are other positives that the program has fostered in me as an educator. As time passes, it's easy to miss what you learn and apply along the way. My hope is that I continue to learn how to foster a learning environment that is of most benefit to my science students.