In this course we focused on the study of curriculum and the major influences of how curriculum is developed. Coming into this course I had no solid baseline knowledge of the historical and political influences on curriculum. This course challenged me to learn more about how curriculum is developed. It also challenged me to work on my own curriculum and develop multicultural curriculum for all students while utilizing my understanding of what type of student I want to create as an end result.

EAD 830 opened my eyes to the institutional racism that occurs in the educational system specifically focusing on the racial achievement gap. We looked at numerous research studies that focused not only on a student's education, but their health, socioeconomic status, after school activities, etc. It broke down the barriers that cause unequal access to education. Yet it also provided strategies for improving urban education and finding out more about current research studies that are doing just that.

In this class we looked at how planning in post secondary education is often a natural part of our position. We as educators often find ourselves designing programs or classes and also advising students on their next steps in our program. We are used to having to plan workshops and develop conferences for our institutions. What I learned was the importance of reflecting on your current practices and having time to look at what influences those practices. Our final project asked us to look at what it means to be a program planner and how we can improve our planning and evaluation based on our new awareness of the social and political dimensions of our work including who is in power.

Mrs. Smith opened my eyes to what leadership truly meant and what it can mean in an educational institution. As a class we looked at the concepts of leadership during organizational change. This was done through assessing our own capabilities as leaders and how we focus on our leadership in times of change. As a new leader this class helped me focus on building up necessary skills and also aided me in reflecting on who I am in times of change. The theories that were introduced gave me a new understanding of traditional leadership versus more contemporary and how I can shape those into my current leadership style.

I had to admit I was nervous getting into this class because Dr. Dirkx is the coordinator for the online Master of Art in Education. Through his guidance I began to develop a better understanding of how adults learn and develop in their education. I also learned how our assumptions of adult learners can hinder their progress in our classrooms. What I enjoyed about this class was that we did not just focus on adult learners in formal settings we also looked at the informal settings of workshops, conferences and professional development. This class brought to life new research of adult learners while also utilizing our own experiences as learners to better aid us in our teaching of adults in the future.

ED 800 offered students the ability to both think and discuss their view points about education and the forms of inquiry that are present in that system. This is a foundational class that many students in the Master of Arts in Education will take in their first few semesters. The class was set up as a self paced class with six sections that focused on different types of inquiry. It started from the historical roots of education and moved to new inquiry utilizing technology and communication. The interesting part of this class is the use of hypermedia which allows students to get even more knowledge of inquiry from several different types of multimedia including photographs, journals, archives, etc.

EAD 850 is an introduction to what multicultural education is to educators. This class provides students with the opportunity to engage in conversation about power and privilege when it comes to the curriculum of our students. Alongside other students in the class I was able to examine existing practices for multicultural education and re-imagine what they could look like in my own workshops. What helped me in this process was critically reflecting on my own knowledge of multicultural education and my current practices in my classroom. This self reflection alongside my newly obtained knowledge of current practices will help me in working with the diverse community of youth in my school district.

TE 822 taught me how to effectively develop multicultural curriculum for all of the students I come in contact with through workshops, conferences and classroom work. It also opened my eyes to cultural differences in curriculum and assumptions of learners based on cultural differences in the classroom. The final paper of the course was open to the students to come up with a topic related to the course material. My paper spoke of the importance of critically reviewing myself and my work. It offered me the opportunity to engage in self reflection and understanding of why I do my current work and what will help me going forward to be the best educator I can be for the multicultural students I work with in my classroom.

This course was divided into three sections. Each section contained assigned readings and videos and a case problem in educational leadership. By myself and with groups I critically assessed the material given and offered my input on how to best resolve the case given to us. I valued the importance of discussion in this course because it offered me an opportunity to see different perspectives on the case. The last section of this course gave students the opportunity to develop their own educational leadership philosophy. This paper gave me a voice in saying what leadership meant to me.

Throughout this course I have designed a web based portfolio that offers others the opportunity to see the work I have developed throughout my Masters program. It gives a quick glimpse into my life for the last few years and helps others understand what this process has meant to me. Through this course I have also been able to engage with others in discussion and reflection on what the learning has meant to all of us. The discussion has also helped me in developing my portfolio and making it better week by week. The end result will be a well designed website that showcases everything that my journey through education has given to me and hopefully I can give to the world.