Showcase of Work
As I continue my journey as a lifelong learner I believe there are three categories that are key as I develop myself into an effective educator. Teaching, learning, and collaborating are all crucial in helping me to be the best teacher I can be for my students.
Here you will find a showcase of the work that I have completed that has helped me to begin to develop myself as a teacher, learner, and collaborator. Each section below includes the work I am most proud of and the work that has helped shape me into the educator that I am today.
Teaching
TE 846 gave me the opportunity to research various approaches and techniques for literacy instruction and to engage in a focused research case study with two kindergarten students struggling with literacy issues. I have linked my final case study which shows growth significant gains in the area of phonological awareness, specifically blending and segmenting, based upon a variety of diagnostic, formative and summative assessments used before, during and after carefully planned instruction.
In CEP 818 we discussed and explored many different creative thinking tools of the world's most creative people. One tool we discussed was patterning which I would define as finding a connection amongst seemingly unrelated items that leads to a stronger understanding of a concept. I use this creative thinking tool often in my classroom to benefit my learners. For example, I looked carefully at the letter sounds my kindergarten class as a whole consistently struggled to grasp, found a pattern amongst the letters, and developed a strategy to use with them that closed that gap. View my reflection in the linked document to learn more.
Learning
In CEP 817 I learned about design and how it plays a role in teaching. Our main project in this course was to design an answer to a problem of practice we experienced in our own educational world using the Design Thinking Model from the Stanford Design School. Learning about the design process was extremely beneficial to my position as a classroom teacher. I have used this model in designing lessons for my students, collaborating with my colleagues, and problem solving issues in our classroom. I have linked my final project from CEP 817, a fictitious journal article that shows my reflection on this process.
In CEP 832 I developed a research-based intervention for a student with challenging behaviors in my own classroom. I was able to implement the intervention in my classroom and saw positive changes immediately. By completing this case study I gained many resources and strategies for working with students with challenging behavior and now feel confident in creating behavior plans for students with varying needs. You can read the full case study and view my short presentation in the following links.
In ED 800 I was challenged to observe a culture of people different than my own and act as a participant observer. This exercise taught me the value of taking the time to observe and making an effort to understand cultures other than my own and the value upon our own learning it presents. I reflected upon this form of inquiry in the essay linked here.
One of my favorite assignments in ED 800 involved learning about seven Americans known for being “forces of the age” in their own time in Philip Cusick's book, A Passion for Learning. This text gave me an insight into the education and lives of many important individuals from history and allowed me to reflect upon the strengths and quality of their lives as learners. In delving deeper into one of Cusick’s subjects, Benjamin Franklin, it was plain to see through this text and through online resources how the pillar of early and serious reading was the basis to his success and eminence. Learning about his emphasis on early reading reinforced my belief as a Kindergarten teacher that literacy is crucial in the development of our youngest learners. Read my essay reflecting upon my learning here.
Collaborating
In CEP 818 we read and discussed Root-Bernstein's book, Sparks of Genius: The Thirteen Thinking Tools of the World's Most Creative People. Before immersing myself in this text I always thought of myself as a creative person, but after exploring these tools to extend creative thinking I have a "toolkit" of strategies to use to develop my creative ideas which has resulted in developing strong lessons and projects that have been beneficial for my students. I found myself sharing my learning from this course often with with my colleagues and as a result for my final project I chose to design a book study surrounding the course's text. I have linked the infographic I designed to attract attention as well as my synthesis essay for the course.
In CEP 817 we were challenged to choose a problem of practice in our current educational assignment and develop a plan or product to alleviate the problem. In my building I have noticed time and time again that many teachers don’t utilize the technology that has been given to us and all of the money we spent to get Chromebooks, interactive whiteboards, and other tools sits on the shelf collecting dust. I completed a complete cycle of the Design Thinking Model from the Stanford Design School in an effort to solve this problem. Through this process I developed a fictitious prototype of a Professional Development session I created to share with teachers in my building designed to teach them to incorporate their interactive white board into their calendar time that has evolved into an actual course I plan to teach to my coworkers this fall. I have linked my full final report which includes the agenda to my PD session and my valuable experience with the Design Thinking Model.
