Deanne Woityra's Annotated Transcript
Below is a compilation of courses completed for my Master of Arts in Education degree (MAED) program. Each course includes the semester, course name, instructor(s) and course description.
During this course, I was able to create a literacy foundation for myself and my students. This course was taken as part of my teaching preparation “internship year” program. Throughout the course I was able to reflect on my own literacy practice and investigate/assess the literacy foundation that was acquired by my students. Collaboration was greatly encouraged in this course and in doing so, I was able to design a literacy unit that was applicable to my student teaching placement.
As part of my teaching preparation program, my journey continued with this course that focused on integrated units in/with social studies for all students. This course helped me develop a social studies unit plan with varying levels of integration (project, small group and situated learning based). During this semester, I improved my role as an educator through reflective practices in and out of the classroom. During my lead teaching period, I planned and implemented unit lessons that focused, not only on content, but modified instruction to accommodate special needs.
This was the last course of my teacher preparation program that included the science portion of my internship year coursework. This course helped me plan, prepare, practice, implement, and assess a science inquiry based unit for a fourth grade classroom. During this course I was able to reflect and build on the knowledge acquired in prior education courses. By using the resources and information provided by my instructor and peers, I learned how to create, implement, assess and reflect on a science based unit that was developed from the FOSS science program. Throughout this course I learned how to teach my students the foundational inquiry skills needed to become investigative scientists and explore the world of science.
Summer 2013
CEP 840 Policies, Practices and Perspectives in Special Education
Instructors: Carol Sue Englert and Mari MacFarland
This course marked my official start to the MAED program. As an introductory course for my special education concentration, I became more familiar with the current trends in special education and today’s best practices for special education in the classroom. Not only did I learn about universal design for learning (UDL), response to intervention (RTI), assistive technology (AT), and positive behavior interventions and support (PBIS), I explored inclusion in the classroom and the components of the individuals with disabilities education act (IDEA) as well. Additionally, I learned about the different learning and behavior disabilities, the legal and professional responsibilities of classroom teachers, and the laws and legislations that impact special education. This course provided me with foundational knowledge for special education and gave me the opportunity to begin webpage design.
Summer 2013
CEP 841 Classroom & Behavior Management in the Inclusive Classroom
Instructors: Troy Mariage, Mei Shen, and Nai-Cheng Kuo
My trek through the MAED program continued with this course. With the design to challenge one’s current teaching practices and beliefs on learning, it also introduced difference special education practices to include in the classroom. I was able to reflect on my main classroom management practices and envision my ideal classroom setting. Through peer collaboration, I was introduced to and explored new classroom management strategies and inclusion strategies for special education.
As a foundational course to the MAED program, educational inquiry provided me with the opportunity to think and write about questions and ideas surrounding education. My writing was centered on the following topics that impact education: foundations of education, teacher inquiry, personal and cultural reflection, history, curriculum and technology. As an educator, it is important to get students thinking about education on different levels. This course taught me how to think deeper about educational inquiry.
Winning isn’t everything. As one of my elective course in the MAED program, I was able to develop a greater understanding of facilitating positive youth development through sport. Throughout the course, the teachings focused on many important factors that effect positive youth development through sport. A few topics covered were the role of sports and extracurricular activities, the critical issues surrounding poor sportsmanship, increased pressures and expectations, parent involvement, sport specialization, burn out, and coach and parent education. I was able to reflect on my current coaching practice and explore new strategies to help educate and guide youth in life skill development.
Spring 2014
CEP 842 Content-Area Instruction for Students with Mild Disabilities
Instructors: Cindy Okolo and Caroline Peterson
As the last course of my special education concentration, I was able to focus my attention and instructional practices on three core subject areas: mathematics, science and social studies. While the main focus was to investigate instructional practices used to help all students in the classroom, including students with mild learning problems and disabilities , I was able to learn how to design and differentiate instruction to the needs of all learners. Through the exploration of universal design for learning (UDL), collaborative planning and teaching, technology application, and professional development, I have expanded my special education repertoire and created a foundation for being able to implement my knowledge in and out of the classroom.
During this course I was introduced to the best teaching practices and assessments used to guide literacy instruction. I was given the opportunity to explore different teaching methods that can be incorporated to accommodate all learners during literacy instruction. The bulk of the course was centered on completing a Literacy Learner Analysis project (child study). My child study focused on a student with difficulties in reading fluency and comprehension. Through the use to different reading assessments, I was able to design and implement lesson plans to help my student improve on his/her reading struggles and develop a new found confidence for reading.
Summer 2014
Instructors: Matthew Koehler, Joshua Rosenberg, Spencer Greenhaigh, and Brittany Dillman
In conclusion to my journey towards my Master of Arts in Education degree, this is my final course in the MAED program. The main focus of this course is to explore different web based portfolios and website platforms that can be used to help create a portfolio that best portrays myself to potential employers. Through peer collaboration and personal exploration, I designed a web based professional portfolio that showcased my work as a student, educator, and professional. This final product will be used to give readers insight on where I started, where my journey took place, and where I see myself as a future educator.
Images courtesy of Wix