Showcase
Introduction
During my master’s program at Michigan State, I chose to concentrate on technology and its role in education. Many of my classes were focused on the use of technology in the classroom and how it can provide students with a more differentiated and comprehensive learning experience. The elective classes either reflected this focus on technology and/or focused on teaching classes at the college-level which is something that I may want to do in the future.
​
Below you will find a variety of samples of my work that shows the skills and strategies that I have learned over the course of my Master of Arts in Education program and how they can and/or have been applied to my classroom. I have categorized this showcase according to the overall subject matter of my work. The Course Materials section is made up of work that I have done for specific courses/lessons. The Case Studies/Projects section consists of work that I have done where I conducted case study research and analyzed my findings. My final category, Skill-Based Activities, consists of work that I have done to help my students improve upon their thinking skills, especially in the field of history.
Course Materials
World War I Unit
I created this unit on World War One to help give my AP World History students a learning opportunity within a blended learning environment. The unit focuses on helping my students practice a variety of skills (i.e., comparison, causation, etc.) through the use of multimedia tools such as Padlet, NowComment, and EdPuzzle that are embedded in weebly.com. The final assessment for this unit is designed to get my students ready for the AP Test, particularly the Long-Essay Question. When I created this unit, I learned how to use an online course management system to facilitate a unit in a blended/online setting for the first time.
American Civil War Unit
I created this unit on the American Civil War in the same vein as my WWI unit because of the success of the previous unit. I also created it because I wanted to have a blended unit set-up this summer before I begin teaching AP United States History for this first time during this upcoming school year. The activities & assessments of the unit are designed to help my students practice the same historical skills and essays as they do in the WWI unit. This project was my second attempt to put a full unit online and because of what I learned from my first attempt, this unit had a more collaborative focus to it. The increased collaborative set-up of the unit helped improve student comprehension.
Course Syllabus
All courses need to be properly organized as well as provide students with the ability to understand what tasks they will undertake while they are enrolled in the course. In this syllabus, I laid out a course design for an introductory-level World History course for college students. This syllabus displayed a course that is built on developing the historical thinking skills that are necessary for all learners within a history course. Furthermore, this course operates as a blended course that functions with traditional face-to-face meetings as well as having an online presence. In designing this syllabus, I was able to gain an understanding of what it takes to prepare a course at the college level and I now feel that I would be prepared to do so, if I were to start teaching my own college course in the future.
Case Studies/Projects
Literacy Learner Analysis Project
In this project, I picked a reading skill that I have noticed my students have struggled with in my classes: cause and effect. In this project I had one of my students undergo a series of lessons that focused on identifying the causes and effects of historical events, namely the American Revolution and the American Civil War. This paper was in three parts and a links can be found here: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. This project allowed me to further analyze the mistakes and misconceptions that many of my students develop in recognizing cause and effect. I was able to take what I learned from this project and apply it to my teaching this past school year.
College Course Observation & Analysis
In this paper, I observed, interviewed, and analyzed a college Spanish class to determine what it is like as a teacher in a college classroom. This paper, delved into every aspect that a college teacher faces within a class such as the types of students that take the class as well as how the class is designed and organized. As I observed and analyzed this college setting, I learned about all of the different aspects that make up a college course. In particular, this assignment helped me gain a better understanding of the wide variety of prior experiences that are brought to a college classroom and what considerations need to be made by the teacher for each student to be successful in your course.
Skill-Based Activities
Silk Road Simulation
Using Minecraft.edu as a tool, I created this simulation as a way to introduce gaming and technology in my classroom. In this simulation, students were tasked with trading a variety of goods with other cities to obtain the goods they need. They also needed to protect themselves from other students who are raiders and could steal their trade goods. The simulation focused on helping my students learn how the Silk Road operated in a collaborative manner. Another link to a video tour of the simulation can be found HERE. This simulation project helped improve my ability to implement technology more effectively as well as the use of games for learning purposes.
Instructional Re-Design
In this reading activity, I re-designed a traditional article by adding in visuals as well as various multimedia links to help make the learning experience for my students more engaging and comprehensive. Every aspect of media, whether it is an image, link, or video is designed to provide my students with a more in-depth learning experience with the reading as well as help them comprehend what they are reading. By re-designing this article and analyzing this activity, I gained a better understanding about how to use technology to enhance my students' overall reading/learning experience.
Historical Thinking Skills
I created this lesson to give my students the opportunity to practice their critical thinking, comparison, and synthesis skills in preparation for the AP World History exam. This activity used the historical actions that have taken place in the Middle East over the last century as a vehicle for practice. This lesson allowed myself to improve on the engagement level of the activities that I use to teach the historical skills that are necessary for my students to by successful in AP World History.