Transcript | Maressa Capstone

ANNOTATED TRANSCRIPT

Below you will find a brief description of the courses I completed while attending Michigan State University to obtain my Master of Arts in Education (MAED) degree.

Fall 2017

TE 855:Teaching Children Mathematics

Instructor: Luke Tunstall

This course focuses on preparing teachers to understand how students conceptually understand mathematics through readings, tasks, and collaboration. During this course, I designed a math multi-part math task based on a popular column in a math education journal. This class also focused on providing feedback to peers through the use of rubrics, so I was able to reflect on readings and assignments in collaboration with others.

TE 831: Teaching School Subject Matter with Technology

Instructor: Dr. Douglas Hartman

This course provides students with the opportunity to learn about and try a variety of technologies in the classroom. In this course, I was able to engage in 21st century learning to improve learning outcomes for students. Each week, I would not only read about teaching with technology, but also apply it to a classroom context. Dr. Hartman also created a number of opportunities for peers to share resources and engage in thoughtful dialogue about technology use in a K-12 setting.

Spring 2018

TE 846: Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners

Instructor: Dr. Laura Tortorelli

This course explores different strategies teachers can use to support all learners in a literacy classroom. While in this course, I was able to engage in a semester-long literacy study with a 2nd grade student I worked with. Based on the readings in Best Practices in Literacy Instruction, Fifth Edition, observations, and a series of assessments, I created a series of lessons to target a specific reading behavior. This assignment allowed me to apply research and analyze student work to improve student outcome.

EAD 830: Issues in Urban Education: Racial Achievement Gap

Instructor: Dr. John Yun

This course challenges students to examine the history of the racial achievement gap, along with other inequities, in our education system. While enrolled in this course, I was able to closely examine what causes the racial achievement gap and what educators and other stakeholders can do to minimize the effects for our marginalized students. I also researched gender inequality in mathematics classrooms.

Spring 2019

ED 800: Educational Inquiry

Instructor: Dr. Steven Weiland & Nathan Clason

This course is one of the foundational courses in the MAED program and it is designed to challenge students to think critically about education through a variety of lenses: philosophical, psychological, biological, historical, biographical, and ethnographic. Each module pushed me to think beyond the classroom through books, movies, and voice recordings. At the end of each set of readings, I was tasked with completing a reflection paper based on the unit of study. This course really pushed me to think critically about the origins of education and the why behind our practices.

TE 861C: Action Research in K-12 Science and Mathematics Classrooms

Instructor: Marcos Gonzalez-Flores

This course supports students through the steps of an action research project through the readings and application. Week after week, we learned about a different element of the action research project, then we applied that element to our own context. At the end of the course, each student had an action research proposal that they were ready to implement within their school based on a topic that would benefit students.

Fall 2019

CEP 802: Developing Positive Attitudes toward Learning

Instructor: Dr. Evelyn R. Oka

This course examines behavior and research-based strategies that support student success. This course also taught students how to determine what exactly is causing disengagement. Throughout the course, concepts such as extrinsic and intrinsic motivators were applied to a fictional student. I then applied these concepts to my own classroom and designed an action plan for one student. I put behavior interventions in place and recorded data to change a targeted behavior.

EAD 863: Training and Professional Development

Instructor: Dr. John Dirkx

This course focuses on different methods for delivering training and professional development to staff. Each week, different readings focused on a specific way adult learn and the design that goes into these learning environments. I also interviewed a colleague who is in an instructional leadership role within my school community to gain insight into how the professional learning goals are determined within my own district. At the end of the course, I was able to synthesize my professional development philosophy based on course readings and peer collaboration.

Spring 2020

TE 836: Awards and Classics of Children's Literature

Instructor: Lauren Elizabeth Reine Johnson

This course allows students a close look into awarding and how these honors effect children’s literature. The course begins with the question ‘what is the best book you read as a child?’ This question frames the rest of the course as we work to examine award criteria and the perpetual problems associated with many of the most influential awards in children’s literature.

ED 870: Capstone

Instructor: Dr. Matthew Koehler, Aric Gaunt

This course is designed for MAED students to reflect on growth and goals throughout their time at MSU. I have designed this webpage as a live artifact of the active learning that has taken place throughout my MAED program. I have also used this course to think about the next steps I plan to take within my professional career.