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Master of Arts in Education Showcase
Master of Arts in Education Showcase
Welcome to my Master's showcase! Over the past two years, I have worked very hard on many impactful projects. My time at Michigan State University has challenged me in so many amazing ways. I have read countless research articles and listen to numerous video lectures. My work has been centered around pedagogy, youth development, research practices, and professionalism. In this showcase, I would like to share with you some of my most favorite pieces from my time in the MAED program. I am so proud of the work I have accomplished and I hope you enjoy a look into my graduate journey.
The work I would like to share in this showcase can be divided into two main categories. Half of my showcase is designated for work I am simply very proud of. Part of being an educator is committing to a lifetime of learning. Forever a Learner is the title of the first section of my showcase. Not everything I did directly translated into my professional goals but those projects still taught me many valuable skills. Most importantly, they are work I enjoyed doing. The other section of this showcase is entitled, As an Educator. In this section, I highlight work that has directly helped me as an educator. Both sections are very important to me and demonstrate how benefical the MAED program has been for me as a learner and as an educator. I hope you enjoy!
Forever A Learner
Forever A Learner
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Michael_unit2essay.pdfIn a course I took about educational research, we were required to read many books and write essays about our findings. Writing many essays based off given prompts taught me how to formulate a high level paper. I learned to organize my ideas in a reader friendly way and ensure to include only the necessary information. I am proud of how this paper is designed and written. Without reading the book, readers are still able to understand the main points.
The next artifact I would like to share is from one of the first courses I took in this program. At the end of this course, I was required to create a video presentation summarizing my learning. That was not something I had ever done before so it was a very intimidating task at first. However, I am very proud of the end result. I was able to learn so much about multimedia. I gained skills on Zoom, iMovie, Google Slides, and Youtube. I was also able to improve my ability to "cut to the chase" as they say. I only had a certain amount of time for the video so I had to keep my explanations brief and to the point. I learned so many useful skills from this one project that have helped me with many more assignments in the MAED program.
coaching.pdfAs an educator, I have developed multiple teaching philosophies throughout my life. A class I took on positive youth development (PYD) in sports gave me my first opportunity to write a coaching philosophy. This assessment helped me develop the skill of taking in content based information and finding the most important pieces. I was also able to focus on what information would be most beneficially to share with athletes and parents. I had to conduct research and ensure my philosophy was based in proven PYD elements. Additionally, I used Canva to design my philosophy into a fun, friendly, and readable pamphlet. Navigating that site has helped me design many other useful things since this assignment.
Another piece of work I would like to share in this section is by far the piece I am most proud of. In the video you see to your right, I detail my experience of learning a skill online. Using different technology sources I learned how to play the ukulele and navigate online resources. Making this video taught me how to navigate voice overs and embed different media into a video. The technology skills I developed during this assignment have helped me with many other projects both personally and professionally.
Additionally, throughout my time learning about technologies influence on learning, I was able to documented my experience in a multi-media blog. This blog is much like the portfolio you are viewing right now. It highlighted information and skills I learned during the course I was taking. Making this blog has helped me tremendously with the formation of this graduate portfolio. I learned about formatting and organization. I also learned about embedding links and adding design elements. I am so proud of this blog and hope you can take a look. Everything you'll find led me to be able to design this very site today.
As an Educator
As an Educator
As briefly mentioned above, I did a lot of work regarding technology during the MAED program. 21st Century Learning is a term coined in education which refers to the integration of our new world into the education system. I was asked to discuss my takeaways on this topic in the video linked. As the name might suggest, 21st century learning is a fairly new concept. Research has never been my strength but this project really helped me to work on this skill. I searched through articles for key concepts and looked for patterns among different sources. It was challenging but rewarding to understand the concept better after each new source I read. I feel like the work I did to collect information on the subject, as well as how I delivered that knowledge was something I had never done before. Creating brief but knowledgeable slides for my presentation was also a great way to practice keeping things simple for students. The skills I learned during this assignment have helped me become a better modern educator for my students.
This next artifact ties directly into my last entry. As a part of the same course, I was asked to take my knowledge of 21st century learning and create a modern day lesson plan. I had to use the information I found through research to create an actual example that could be used in a classroom. I was able to utilize my experience lesson planning while incorporating a new focus. I developed the skill of considering how our new world could help better the classroom environment. This can be done with technology but also by the incorporation of unique student experiences. Children now are able to experience so much more than we were 20 years ago. Classrooms now a days are much larger than 4 walls and this project helped me realize that.
Here is another example of how my work in the MAED program has directly affected my life as an educator. All the way back in 2022, I took a course focused on math instruction. During this assignment I was able to develop skills that allow to me to incorporate more meaningful math tasks into the already rich curriculum. I learned to pull out the main teaching points from district lessons and use those to inspire new tasks with the same focus such as a Number Talk. The slides you see to your left are something I use weekly in my classroom. This document explains more of the reasoning behind these tasks.
Lastly, the slides embedded to the right came from a project I did in 2023. This assignment required me to collect information on a special education qualifier. I had to collect research, design a presentation, collaborate with a teammate, and reach out to colleagues in my school and in my district. This project showcases nearly every skill the MAED has helped me develop. The slides are brief but deliver the most important research based facts. I was able to practice public speaking and collaboration when I presented this presentation to my peers. Finally, as I mentioned, I was able to get in touch with some special education professionals in my district in order to understand my role in the process as a general education teacher. I am proud of the work that went into this presentation and have even used it as an information source for myself and my students this year.
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