Through the Years
By: Kerry Shelton
"Who dares to teach must never cease to learn." -John Cotton Dana
In the summer of 2008 I began the Master of Arts Education (MAED) program at Michigan State University. Prior to beginning the program I put a lot of time and effort into researching the various options available for obtaining a master’s degree. Colleagues, close friends and family all offered their advice. Each of them had various reasons for their recommendations. Opinions ranged from what they had heard about a specific program to personal experiences. Although I appreciated everyone’s well intentioned advice, I knew that it was important that I choose the program that was right for me. Things that I considered when researching the various programs were my learning style, program options and flexibility for scheduling courses.
A few of the programs that I considered offered some of what I was looking for but not all the factors. The MAED program at Michigan State University met all my expectations and then some. I was really impressed with the idea of being able to complete my entire degree online. As a mother of three and a full time teacher, the idea of completing coursework when it was convenient for me was appealing. Not having to be on campus at specific times during the week would also be beneficial to my schedule. Another aspect that caught my attention was that I would not have to choose one area of concentration. I really liked the idea of being able to have both a special education concentration and literacy concentration. The final piece that weighed in on my considerations was that I had attended Michigan State University for my undergraduate studies.
My undergraduate experience at Michigan State was incredible. The rigorous education program prepared me in many ways to become a strong, confident and well educated person as I began to search for a teaching position. Having a solid resume prepared prior to graduation was definitely an asset when I submitted my resume along with hundreds of other perspective teachers. When I was contacted for an interview I would often hear that they were impressed with my resume and that it stood out among the others. This would have not been the case without the professional and peer feedback that I received while creating my resume during one of my undergraduate courses.
When I arrived at interviews, having a professional looking portfolio to present was a great added feature to my interview presentation. Making this project part of the requirements for completing the undergraduate program was another solid landmark of the education program at Michigan State. Having a well prepared portfolio gave me a solid edge over other candidates. My major was Child Development, as part of the program requirements in this area I was required to participate in intensive mock interviews. Having this practice prior to participating in actual interviews was extremely invaluable. I felt confident and well prepared when questions were asked of me during the interview process.
The final piece that contributed to me receiving my first job offer was the year-long internship. During the time that I was completing my internship I must admit that I was envious of my friends who were at other colleges and were only required to complete a semester of student teaching. However, once I completed my student teaching and began my first teaching job it all made perfect sense to me. I had experience with setting up a classroom, establishing classroom rules and routines, marking report cards, holding parent teacher conferences and finishing the school year with the students. When hiring, administrators feel that those who have completed a year-long internship are more experienced and confident when teaching children. In my current position as a kindergarten teacher I completely understand why administrators feel this way. I have student teachers in my classroom from a local university and they only stay for one semester. At the end of the semester when they leave I feel like they have learned a lot, but yet there is so much they have missed only seeing a part of the year.
As you can tell from my previous experience at Michigan State University returning to further my education almost seemed like the natural choice. In the winter of 2008 I filled out the application to the MAED program. I waited anxiously to find out if I would be accepted. During this time I remember thinking that if I was not accepted I was not sure where else I would apply. The program seemed perfect for my learning style and my past experiences at the university had been so beneficial to my current teaching position.
In the spring of 2008 I found out that I was accepted to the program! I could not wait to start the courses. After receiving the news of acceptance I was excited to tell family, friends and colleagues. Most of them were excited about my new endeavor. However, I was shocked by a few responses that I received, mainly from colleagues. They said things like, why would you want to go there you are going to pay more money than I did for my master’s degree. Others commented about my choice to do online classes. Saying that it would be easy and that they actually went to the university to get their degree. My decision was based on choosing the program where I knew I would learn how to become a better educator and also feel like when I received my master’s degree that I had worked hard and had truly earned it.
The summer of 2008 marked the beginning of my first graduate courses at Michigan State University. They were everything I thought they would be rigorous, intense and full of great information. Even colleagues who had been skeptical about online courses were highly impressed with the intensity and amount of information that I was learning and able to share with them.
I chose the special education and literacy concentration for a few reasons. I received a quality undergraduate education at Michigan State, but because I chose to receive a general education degree I was not fully prepared for the diverse abilities that I would be working with in my classroom. After obtaining my teaching position I quickly realized how much I had to learn about special education laws and accommodations. Literacy was another area where I felt that I could benefit from additional strategies. Since literacy covers such a vast subject area there were times while I was teaching that I did not feel as confident as I knew I could be.
In this section I am going to highlight some of the courses that I took while in the MAED program. Although I truly enjoyed all my courses in the program, these are the ones that stood out for me.
CEP 843 ASD: Characteristics and Educational Implications.During this course we studied Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in depth. We learned the characteristics to look for when diagnosing Autism, tools used for diagnosis and how to best meet the needs of this diverse group of learners. This class was extremely beneficial since students with Autism are in my classroom each year. This caused me to realize how truly broad the Austism spectrum is. Each child that has this disorder is truly a unique and special individual. There is definitely not a "one size fits all" approach that can be used. In this course we learned how important it is to get to know the child and their family in order to best accommodate them . Some of these students may range from being verbal to completely nonverbal. Others may have exteme sensory disorders while some will have very little sensory disorders.
During this course we learned how to write a transition plan for a chid who is continuing to the next grade or school. Detailed transition plans are an extremely beneficial tool for children with Austism because consistency and routine are esstenial components to an Autisic child's education. In this course we were also required to create a presentation that could be used for a professional development or to educate families about ASD. This presentation can be viewed as a link on my coursework page.
After taking this course I was able to provide critical information, through observations to our special education team regarding a student in my classroom. This was a 5 year old boy who exhibited characteristics of ASD but had not been diagnosed yet. Most likely because his family moved frequently and adults outside of the family had not got to know him well enough. After his diagnosis of ASD the family was extremely supportive and happy to know how to best meet their child’s needs.
TE 848 Writing Assessment and Instruction. This course focused on teaching students how to effectively write in various genres. The instructor also had us practice and evaluate our own writing in different genres. Practicing and evaluating our own writing as adults was an invaluable experience. Writing instruction is an area that I lacked confidence in, but this class helped to build that confidence. My confidence was boosted by receiving critical but helpful feedback in a positive manner and also by being encouraged to write outside my comfort zone. I also enjoyed reading and researching the best practices to effectively teach writing.
During this course I created a unit plan based on expository writing. Each of my kindergarten students chose an animal that correlated to a different letter of the alphabet. They read some nonficiton books about their animal and then wrote two facts they had learned about their chosen animal.The final product was a poster with an illustration and the facts written below in their own handwriting. I hung the posters up in the hallway in alphabetical order. Everyone enjoyed reading these including older students in the building. Many parents commented on how impressed they were that kindergarteners could have produced this type of work.
Prior to taking this course I had my students do expository writing but it was often something about themselves or their families. I read them nonfiction books and they would read simple ones on their own. However, I thought that having them write in this type of genre would be too challenging. Taking this course made me realize how interested young children are in nonficiton and when children are extremely interested in something they are more likely to write. This certainly was the case. The children absolutely love this unit and I am glad that I had the encouragement to try this task with kindergarteners because it certainly was well worth it. This is a course that I would work on over the weekend and then go back to my classroom on Monday excited to try some of the things I had learned.
CEP 840 Policy, Practices and Perspectives in Special Education. This class is exactly what I was looking for to improve my understanding of special education laws, guidelines and best practices. In this class we had the opportunity to practice writing an IEP. Learning how an IEP is developed helped me to understand how a student’s IEP goals are created. It also gave me a deepened sense of appreciation for the special education teachers who write IEPs on a regular basis. This important document contains a lot of crucial information so it is important to make sure that it is done properly. As a general edcuation teacher this document is extremely important to me. It provides a guideline about how to best meet the needs of the individual child.
In this class we also discussed why inclusion is beneficial, best practices for working with special education students and the types of Assistive Technology that are available for students with special needs. While in this course I created an indepth resource about ADHD and the types of Assisstive Technology that are useful for students with this disorder. This resource can be found on this website under the "more" link.
Taking this course was a great addition to my graduate education. I had realized the importance of inclusion earlier in my education, but did not have much more information beyond that. This course not only taught us about best practices when including special education children in the classrrom, it also provided us with resources to help with modifications and accommodations in the classroom. Students who are being labeled special education is on the rise. This means that almost every year I have at least one student in my classroom with special needs. My experiences in this course will help me to better serve these students in years to come.
ED 870 Capstone Seminar. This course is a great way to wrap up the program at Michigan State. As I mentioned above, I created a portfolio during my undergraduate work. This portfolio was one that I physically carried in and out of interviews. I still have it am sure I will keep it for many years to come. However, it has become outdated because of advancements in technology and because it only contains my undergraduate work. Completing this course has provided me with an online professional portfolio to share. This portfolio will serve many purposes as there will be many different people from various audiences viewing it. Creating the online portfolio caused me to reflect, review and focus on what I have achieved during my four years in the MAED program.
Having experienced this course I am now looking forward to creating a classroom website that will be beneficial to both my students and their their parents.This has been something that I had been aspiring to do but had difficulty finding the time to learn how to do. Obtaining the skill of website creation is something that will serve a useful purpose in my career in many different capacities.
If you visit the coursework page of my portfolio you will find at least one monumental project that I created in each of the courses throughout the program. By viewing these you can quickly see the high quality education that I received in the MAED program. This program met all of my expectations for completing a master’s degree. By participating in these online courses I believe that I gained a wealth of valuable knowledge. Aside from learning about current research and understanding and implementing best practices I also learned a significant amount of information about technology that I probably would have not learned otherwise. I learned how to work with others collaboratively online through Google Docs and Wikis. I also learned how to create my own website which can have a multitude of benefits for me, my students and my colleagues.
Completing this program does not complete my learning. Through the years I will continue to learn in many different ways. I will continue to learn online. I will also learn through professional development opportunities and of course some of the most important things that I will continue to learn will come from my colleagues and my students. As Henry Ford once said, “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.”
Thank you for taking the time to go through the years with me as I have experienced both undergraduate and graduate work at Michigan State University.
A few of the programs that I considered offered some of what I was looking for but not all the factors. The MAED program at Michigan State University met all my expectations and then some. I was really impressed with the idea of being able to complete my entire degree online. As a mother of three and a full time teacher, the idea of completing coursework when it was convenient for me was appealing. Not having to be on campus at specific times during the week would also be beneficial to my schedule. Another aspect that caught my attention was that I would not have to choose one area of concentration. I really liked the idea of being able to have both a special education concentration and literacy concentration. The final piece that weighed in on my considerations was that I had attended Michigan State University for my undergraduate studies.
My undergraduate experience at Michigan State was incredible. The rigorous education program prepared me in many ways to become a strong, confident and well educated person as I began to search for a teaching position. Having a solid resume prepared prior to graduation was definitely an asset when I submitted my resume along with hundreds of other perspective teachers. When I was contacted for an interview I would often hear that they were impressed with my resume and that it stood out among the others. This would have not been the case without the professional and peer feedback that I received while creating my resume during one of my undergraduate courses.
When I arrived at interviews, having a professional looking portfolio to present was a great added feature to my interview presentation. Making this project part of the requirements for completing the undergraduate program was another solid landmark of the education program at Michigan State. Having a well prepared portfolio gave me a solid edge over other candidates. My major was Child Development, as part of the program requirements in this area I was required to participate in intensive mock interviews. Having this practice prior to participating in actual interviews was extremely invaluable. I felt confident and well prepared when questions were asked of me during the interview process.
The final piece that contributed to me receiving my first job offer was the year-long internship. During the time that I was completing my internship I must admit that I was envious of my friends who were at other colleges and were only required to complete a semester of student teaching. However, once I completed my student teaching and began my first teaching job it all made perfect sense to me. I had experience with setting up a classroom, establishing classroom rules and routines, marking report cards, holding parent teacher conferences and finishing the school year with the students. When hiring, administrators feel that those who have completed a year-long internship are more experienced and confident when teaching children. In my current position as a kindergarten teacher I completely understand why administrators feel this way. I have student teachers in my classroom from a local university and they only stay for one semester. At the end of the semester when they leave I feel like they have learned a lot, but yet there is so much they have missed only seeing a part of the year.
As you can tell from my previous experience at Michigan State University returning to further my education almost seemed like the natural choice. In the winter of 2008 I filled out the application to the MAED program. I waited anxiously to find out if I would be accepted. During this time I remember thinking that if I was not accepted I was not sure where else I would apply. The program seemed perfect for my learning style and my past experiences at the university had been so beneficial to my current teaching position.
In the spring of 2008 I found out that I was accepted to the program! I could not wait to start the courses. After receiving the news of acceptance I was excited to tell family, friends and colleagues. Most of them were excited about my new endeavor. However, I was shocked by a few responses that I received, mainly from colleagues. They said things like, why would you want to go there you are going to pay more money than I did for my master’s degree. Others commented about my choice to do online classes. Saying that it would be easy and that they actually went to the university to get their degree. My decision was based on choosing the program where I knew I would learn how to become a better educator and also feel like when I received my master’s degree that I had worked hard and had truly earned it.
The summer of 2008 marked the beginning of my first graduate courses at Michigan State University. They were everything I thought they would be rigorous, intense and full of great information. Even colleagues who had been skeptical about online courses were highly impressed with the intensity and amount of information that I was learning and able to share with them.
I chose the special education and literacy concentration for a few reasons. I received a quality undergraduate education at Michigan State, but because I chose to receive a general education degree I was not fully prepared for the diverse abilities that I would be working with in my classroom. After obtaining my teaching position I quickly realized how much I had to learn about special education laws and accommodations. Literacy was another area where I felt that I could benefit from additional strategies. Since literacy covers such a vast subject area there were times while I was teaching that I did not feel as confident as I knew I could be.
In this section I am going to highlight some of the courses that I took while in the MAED program. Although I truly enjoyed all my courses in the program, these are the ones that stood out for me.
CEP 843 ASD: Characteristics and Educational Implications.During this course we studied Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in depth. We learned the characteristics to look for when diagnosing Autism, tools used for diagnosis and how to best meet the needs of this diverse group of learners. This class was extremely beneficial since students with Autism are in my classroom each year. This caused me to realize how truly broad the Austism spectrum is. Each child that has this disorder is truly a unique and special individual. There is definitely not a "one size fits all" approach that can be used. In this course we learned how important it is to get to know the child and their family in order to best accommodate them . Some of these students may range from being verbal to completely nonverbal. Others may have exteme sensory disorders while some will have very little sensory disorders.
During this course we learned how to write a transition plan for a chid who is continuing to the next grade or school. Detailed transition plans are an extremely beneficial tool for children with Austism because consistency and routine are esstenial components to an Autisic child's education. In this course we were also required to create a presentation that could be used for a professional development or to educate families about ASD. This presentation can be viewed as a link on my coursework page.
After taking this course I was able to provide critical information, through observations to our special education team regarding a student in my classroom. This was a 5 year old boy who exhibited characteristics of ASD but had not been diagnosed yet. Most likely because his family moved frequently and adults outside of the family had not got to know him well enough. After his diagnosis of ASD the family was extremely supportive and happy to know how to best meet their child’s needs.
TE 848 Writing Assessment and Instruction. This course focused on teaching students how to effectively write in various genres. The instructor also had us practice and evaluate our own writing in different genres. Practicing and evaluating our own writing as adults was an invaluable experience. Writing instruction is an area that I lacked confidence in, but this class helped to build that confidence. My confidence was boosted by receiving critical but helpful feedback in a positive manner and also by being encouraged to write outside my comfort zone. I also enjoyed reading and researching the best practices to effectively teach writing.
During this course I created a unit plan based on expository writing. Each of my kindergarten students chose an animal that correlated to a different letter of the alphabet. They read some nonficiton books about their animal and then wrote two facts they had learned about their chosen animal.The final product was a poster with an illustration and the facts written below in their own handwriting. I hung the posters up in the hallway in alphabetical order. Everyone enjoyed reading these including older students in the building. Many parents commented on how impressed they were that kindergarteners could have produced this type of work.
Prior to taking this course I had my students do expository writing but it was often something about themselves or their families. I read them nonfiction books and they would read simple ones on their own. However, I thought that having them write in this type of genre would be too challenging. Taking this course made me realize how interested young children are in nonficiton and when children are extremely interested in something they are more likely to write. This certainly was the case. The children absolutely love this unit and I am glad that I had the encouragement to try this task with kindergarteners because it certainly was well worth it. This is a course that I would work on over the weekend and then go back to my classroom on Monday excited to try some of the things I had learned.
CEP 840 Policy, Practices and Perspectives in Special Education. This class is exactly what I was looking for to improve my understanding of special education laws, guidelines and best practices. In this class we had the opportunity to practice writing an IEP. Learning how an IEP is developed helped me to understand how a student’s IEP goals are created. It also gave me a deepened sense of appreciation for the special education teachers who write IEPs on a regular basis. This important document contains a lot of crucial information so it is important to make sure that it is done properly. As a general edcuation teacher this document is extremely important to me. It provides a guideline about how to best meet the needs of the individual child.
In this class we also discussed why inclusion is beneficial, best practices for working with special education students and the types of Assistive Technology that are available for students with special needs. While in this course I created an indepth resource about ADHD and the types of Assisstive Technology that are useful for students with this disorder. This resource can be found on this website under the "more" link.
Taking this course was a great addition to my graduate education. I had realized the importance of inclusion earlier in my education, but did not have much more information beyond that. This course not only taught us about best practices when including special education children in the classrrom, it also provided us with resources to help with modifications and accommodations in the classroom. Students who are being labeled special education is on the rise. This means that almost every year I have at least one student in my classroom with special needs. My experiences in this course will help me to better serve these students in years to come.
ED 870 Capstone Seminar. This course is a great way to wrap up the program at Michigan State. As I mentioned above, I created a portfolio during my undergraduate work. This portfolio was one that I physically carried in and out of interviews. I still have it am sure I will keep it for many years to come. However, it has become outdated because of advancements in technology and because it only contains my undergraduate work. Completing this course has provided me with an online professional portfolio to share. This portfolio will serve many purposes as there will be many different people from various audiences viewing it. Creating the online portfolio caused me to reflect, review and focus on what I have achieved during my four years in the MAED program.
Having experienced this course I am now looking forward to creating a classroom website that will be beneficial to both my students and their their parents.This has been something that I had been aspiring to do but had difficulty finding the time to learn how to do. Obtaining the skill of website creation is something that will serve a useful purpose in my career in many different capacities.
If you visit the coursework page of my portfolio you will find at least one monumental project that I created in each of the courses throughout the program. By viewing these you can quickly see the high quality education that I received in the MAED program. This program met all of my expectations for completing a master’s degree. By participating in these online courses I believe that I gained a wealth of valuable knowledge. Aside from learning about current research and understanding and implementing best practices I also learned a significant amount of information about technology that I probably would have not learned otherwise. I learned how to work with others collaboratively online through Google Docs and Wikis. I also learned how to create my own website which can have a multitude of benefits for me, my students and my colleagues.
Completing this program does not complete my learning. Through the years I will continue to learn in many different ways. I will continue to learn online. I will also learn through professional development opportunities and of course some of the most important things that I will continue to learn will come from my colleagues and my students. As Henry Ford once said, “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.”
Thank you for taking the time to go through the years with me as I have experienced both undergraduate and graduate work at Michigan State University.