Just the Beginning
By: Mark Connors
I remember looking at my Michigan State transcripts in the spring of 2009, and realizing that I was about to lose my credits from the internship year. I quickly got together the application, essay and references that were needed to get into the Michigan State Masters program. I remember feeling so nervous because I am usually a much better planner but my first two years of teaching had taken up so much of my mind. The online option was my only choice since I currently live in South Carolina but I knew very little about how the classes would operate, another reason I was nervous. Since I had never taken a online course I had a lot of anticipation once that accepted letter came. I was very happy to continue to attend Michigan State since I had such a positive experience during my Bachelor’s Degree.
My family has always been full of educators. While growing up my mother used to be a substitute teacher in our school district. As we got older she opened up a daycare center in our hometown and worked there for many years. In fact, she is retiring this year. My sister also received her teaching certificate and moved down to Atlanta to start her teaching career in Kindergarten. While she was there she met her future husband and fellow 1st grade teacher while they were getting their Masters Degree from Georgia State. They eventually moved to Wisconsin where he is currently an elementary principal and is working on is PhD in education at the University of Wisconsin. I got my first taste of teaching in the summer going into my 8th grade. I was a vacation bible school counselor at our local church. I remember feeling very overwhelmed with many kids. The one thing I remember is the strong relationship we built over a short two week period. It was amazing. In High School I worked at the local country club and taught tennis lessons to children four days a week. The way the children looked up to you, the growth they showed at the end of the programs and just the sheer joy of it drove me into teaching. Once I got accepted to Michigan State University I knew I wanted to be a part of the classroom in my adult life.
Those lesson and relationships I learned while earning my Bachelors from Michigan State is what kept my coming back for my Masters even though I live 900 miles away. I knew that this program would be exactly what I would need to get better at my craft and work on one of my weakness which was literacy.
Entering the classroom the first year you think you know it all and you will be that magic teacher that doesn’t need the extra work, practice, experience to get those students to listen to you and do their work. Boy was I wrong, and I quickly realized that I needed work and that work was in literacy. I realized that not every student was like me who just enjoyed to read for the fun of it. After being accepted into the Literacy program I really liked the freedom the program allowed. I got a core of literacy classes to help me in my everyday classroom but I also got to take a couple other courses that I deemed necessary to my overall growth as an individual. I got to take an administration class that has pushed me farther in that direction. The freedom and flexibility of the courses made it an easy fit.
One class that really stood out to me during the MAED program was my TE 848 Methods of Writing Instruction. This is one area that really stood out to me as a teacher on where I could improve my instruction for my students. I am not a huge writer myself and feel very hesitant sharing writing with other people. One great assignment was a course long creative writing project. There were really no rules you just had to suck it up and write a story or poem or something and share it with the class in phases. It really helped me understand what my students go through when they write a piece and really feel their anxiety of somebody checking over their work or giving them feedback. That assignment helped break me out of my shell even in my online classes and be more responsive to feedback and being more open.
A second great assignment from that class was our book clubs. The professor was great and gave us three choices and one of them was on the book The Spoken Revolution. This is a book of poetry, accompanied by a cd, of famous urban poets reciting their own poems or their take on classic poems. This was a wonderful resource to find because I teach in an urban, Title One school and the students are often bored by the poetry reading I could find or find it hard to relate to other famous poems. I was so excited to take this book with me into the class and show the students a different way for poetry to sound. The students loved it and they couldn’t wait to write their own poems to try to emulate the raw powerful voices they were hearing on the CD.
Another class that was very powerful in my improved instruction was my TE 882 class that focused on improved assessments. As a new teacher I usually just used whatever test and experienced teacher gave me or used the one from the textbook and thought nothing of it. I was so overwhelmed with the trials and tribulations of a first year teacher that I barely ever looked at them after grading them. This class taught me to understand what assessments were all about, how to create them and then how to use them in the classroom. It was interesting to see that everyone in the class had a different take on what an assessments purpose was and how they used them in the classroom. It made me feel a lot better that people were in the same boat as me.
One of the more useful projects the MAED program was for us to pick a subject we teach and create a formative and summative assessment for that class. It was wonderful because not only was I learning how to build and make an assessment but it would be something that I would get to use in class and get me ahead of the game. I thought making an assessment would be easy, boy I was wrong. Creating a fair, unbiased test that covered all my performance standards for Social Studies was not only tricky but confusing. Luckily we got to work in teams and received feedback on our assessment as we created them. Using multiple types of test questions from multiple choice, true false and essay questions I created a Chapter One Social Studies test that would be a great indicator of what I had taught and what the students had learned. I also found out how much better I was prepared as a teacher knowing exactly what was on the test was what the students learned and so my lessons were much more concise and to the point. It was exactly the type of assignment I had signed up for.
In that class we also had to read a case study about an assessment given in class and then sign up for a chat and discuss that case study with the professor and other classmates. I thought it was a good use of the technology aspect to get us as classmates to communicate. Often we had to just use discussions boards but this was a nice change of paces to be able to speak with someone live. We had a very lively debate on the case study and I think it opened everyone’s eyes to the troubles with assessments.
The next class I really enjoyed was my EAD 882 Educational Administration class. This was not one of my core classes but I picked it as one of my electives. I have always been interested in the possibility of being an administrator later in my career so this class was very interesting for me. The class really focused on the educational gap that exists between schools. This gave me a chance to really examine my school, the programs in place and what ways I could help facilitate change in the school. It was really uplifting to read about schools that were underperforming but were able to turn it around through strong leadership, teacher effectiveness and accountability. It changed my belief that the student’s home life is the most important thing that determines a student’s education. While home life is important reading about schools in which student’s have hard home lives and still manage to be successful in school and go on to college.
The professor gave us an interesting final assignment in the class in which we were to take a look at our school, imagine we were the principal and create a plan of action for the upcoming school year. This assignment really made you analyze your school and look at more than just your classroom. It got me to use the literature and discussions to find best practices that had turned around and made other schools high performing. I realized that my school needs higher expectations for not just the students but also the teachers and staff. Our staff also needed more training in literacy and map and a greater understanding of student data. These things I still take with me to school every day and use it to make my colleagues and I better every day. This assignment gave me a brief but closer look at the job of administrators and many of the decisions one day I will hopefully make.
One important aspect of the MAED program was the use and integration of technology in not only our courses but implementing them into our classrooms and work. Before the MAED program began I felt that I was proficient in computer programs. I could use most Microsoft Office products (word, Powerpoint, Excel), could download music and use email. In my classroom I am lucky enough to have, use and create lesson for SMART technology and a SMART board. Basically I could what I needed in a day but not much more.
Now that is the end of my MAED program I have learned that technology can and will be used so much more in the future of education. During my time we used live chats, discussions boards, watched videos and created websites to enhance our learning experiences. I would like to utilize discussion boards with my students and colleagues to enhance our relationship together. For our students it could be used to enhance learning based on ability and across classrooms. For teacher it could be a quick way to get help from one another. I want to see my use of technology improve in my professional setting.
The Capstone course was the course I was most worried about with the technology aspect. I have never created a website and do not consider myself very artistic. However, now that the course is coming to a close I feel very confident in my ability to create a webpage and I am very excited to take this new found skill with me into my professional life. I have really enjoyed this course as it was a great time to sit back and reflect on how much I have accomplished and learned during my two years in the MAED program. Looking back I realize how many strategies, practices, relationships and experiences I have learned in this time that are now a part of my teaching life and what I still want to put into my teaching. I am honored to say that I earned my Masters of Literacy through Michigan State University!
My family has always been full of educators. While growing up my mother used to be a substitute teacher in our school district. As we got older she opened up a daycare center in our hometown and worked there for many years. In fact, she is retiring this year. My sister also received her teaching certificate and moved down to Atlanta to start her teaching career in Kindergarten. While she was there she met her future husband and fellow 1st grade teacher while they were getting their Masters Degree from Georgia State. They eventually moved to Wisconsin where he is currently an elementary principal and is working on is PhD in education at the University of Wisconsin. I got my first taste of teaching in the summer going into my 8th grade. I was a vacation bible school counselor at our local church. I remember feeling very overwhelmed with many kids. The one thing I remember is the strong relationship we built over a short two week period. It was amazing. In High School I worked at the local country club and taught tennis lessons to children four days a week. The way the children looked up to you, the growth they showed at the end of the programs and just the sheer joy of it drove me into teaching. Once I got accepted to Michigan State University I knew I wanted to be a part of the classroom in my adult life.
Those lesson and relationships I learned while earning my Bachelors from Michigan State is what kept my coming back for my Masters even though I live 900 miles away. I knew that this program would be exactly what I would need to get better at my craft and work on one of my weakness which was literacy.
Entering the classroom the first year you think you know it all and you will be that magic teacher that doesn’t need the extra work, practice, experience to get those students to listen to you and do their work. Boy was I wrong, and I quickly realized that I needed work and that work was in literacy. I realized that not every student was like me who just enjoyed to read for the fun of it. After being accepted into the Literacy program I really liked the freedom the program allowed. I got a core of literacy classes to help me in my everyday classroom but I also got to take a couple other courses that I deemed necessary to my overall growth as an individual. I got to take an administration class that has pushed me farther in that direction. The freedom and flexibility of the courses made it an easy fit.
One class that really stood out to me during the MAED program was my TE 848 Methods of Writing Instruction. This is one area that really stood out to me as a teacher on where I could improve my instruction for my students. I am not a huge writer myself and feel very hesitant sharing writing with other people. One great assignment was a course long creative writing project. There were really no rules you just had to suck it up and write a story or poem or something and share it with the class in phases. It really helped me understand what my students go through when they write a piece and really feel their anxiety of somebody checking over their work or giving them feedback. That assignment helped break me out of my shell even in my online classes and be more responsive to feedback and being more open.
A second great assignment from that class was our book clubs. The professor was great and gave us three choices and one of them was on the book The Spoken Revolution. This is a book of poetry, accompanied by a cd, of famous urban poets reciting their own poems or their take on classic poems. This was a wonderful resource to find because I teach in an urban, Title One school and the students are often bored by the poetry reading I could find or find it hard to relate to other famous poems. I was so excited to take this book with me into the class and show the students a different way for poetry to sound. The students loved it and they couldn’t wait to write their own poems to try to emulate the raw powerful voices they were hearing on the CD.
Another class that was very powerful in my improved instruction was my TE 882 class that focused on improved assessments. As a new teacher I usually just used whatever test and experienced teacher gave me or used the one from the textbook and thought nothing of it. I was so overwhelmed with the trials and tribulations of a first year teacher that I barely ever looked at them after grading them. This class taught me to understand what assessments were all about, how to create them and then how to use them in the classroom. It was interesting to see that everyone in the class had a different take on what an assessments purpose was and how they used them in the classroom. It made me feel a lot better that people were in the same boat as me.
One of the more useful projects the MAED program was for us to pick a subject we teach and create a formative and summative assessment for that class. It was wonderful because not only was I learning how to build and make an assessment but it would be something that I would get to use in class and get me ahead of the game. I thought making an assessment would be easy, boy I was wrong. Creating a fair, unbiased test that covered all my performance standards for Social Studies was not only tricky but confusing. Luckily we got to work in teams and received feedback on our assessment as we created them. Using multiple types of test questions from multiple choice, true false and essay questions I created a Chapter One Social Studies test that would be a great indicator of what I had taught and what the students had learned. I also found out how much better I was prepared as a teacher knowing exactly what was on the test was what the students learned and so my lessons were much more concise and to the point. It was exactly the type of assignment I had signed up for.
In that class we also had to read a case study about an assessment given in class and then sign up for a chat and discuss that case study with the professor and other classmates. I thought it was a good use of the technology aspect to get us as classmates to communicate. Often we had to just use discussions boards but this was a nice change of paces to be able to speak with someone live. We had a very lively debate on the case study and I think it opened everyone’s eyes to the troubles with assessments.
The next class I really enjoyed was my EAD 882 Educational Administration class. This was not one of my core classes but I picked it as one of my electives. I have always been interested in the possibility of being an administrator later in my career so this class was very interesting for me. The class really focused on the educational gap that exists between schools. This gave me a chance to really examine my school, the programs in place and what ways I could help facilitate change in the school. It was really uplifting to read about schools that were underperforming but were able to turn it around through strong leadership, teacher effectiveness and accountability. It changed my belief that the student’s home life is the most important thing that determines a student’s education. While home life is important reading about schools in which student’s have hard home lives and still manage to be successful in school and go on to college.
The professor gave us an interesting final assignment in the class in which we were to take a look at our school, imagine we were the principal and create a plan of action for the upcoming school year. This assignment really made you analyze your school and look at more than just your classroom. It got me to use the literature and discussions to find best practices that had turned around and made other schools high performing. I realized that my school needs higher expectations for not just the students but also the teachers and staff. Our staff also needed more training in literacy and map and a greater understanding of student data. These things I still take with me to school every day and use it to make my colleagues and I better every day. This assignment gave me a brief but closer look at the job of administrators and many of the decisions one day I will hopefully make.
One important aspect of the MAED program was the use and integration of technology in not only our courses but implementing them into our classrooms and work. Before the MAED program began I felt that I was proficient in computer programs. I could use most Microsoft Office products (word, Powerpoint, Excel), could download music and use email. In my classroom I am lucky enough to have, use and create lesson for SMART technology and a SMART board. Basically I could what I needed in a day but not much more.
Now that is the end of my MAED program I have learned that technology can and will be used so much more in the future of education. During my time we used live chats, discussions boards, watched videos and created websites to enhance our learning experiences. I would like to utilize discussion boards with my students and colleagues to enhance our relationship together. For our students it could be used to enhance learning based on ability and across classrooms. For teacher it could be a quick way to get help from one another. I want to see my use of technology improve in my professional setting.
The Capstone course was the course I was most worried about with the technology aspect. I have never created a website and do not consider myself very artistic. However, now that the course is coming to a close I feel very confident in my ability to create a webpage and I am very excited to take this new found skill with me into my professional life. I have really enjoyed this course as it was a great time to sit back and reflect on how much I have accomplished and learned during my two years in the MAED program. Looking back I realize how many strategies, practices, relationships and experiences I have learned in this time that are now a part of my teaching life and what I still want to put into my teaching. I am honored to say that I earned my Masters of Literacy through Michigan State University!
