Introduction
The following showcase is examples of the work that I have done during my master's program at Michigan State. Throughout my experience in the MAET program I have focused on improving my teaching practice by considering how to help students and parents with literacy expectations. My favorite assignments focused on literacy and parent communication because I feel strongly that partnerships with parents can build student learning .
The second part of my showcase focuses on personal reflection and how instruction design can impact cognitive overload.. These artifacts serve as examples of growth in these areas. |
Bridging the gaps: school, home and student achievement
One of my favorite things about teaching kindergarten is teaching my students how to read and write. Reading success is the key to education success. A huge part of teaching reading is establishing letter and sound recognition. I created a google form to help my students learn beginning letters by listening to the beginning sounds of their sight words. This form could also be a great way for me to assess their letter sound knowledge.
Artifact: Google Form
Artifact: Google Form
During the kindergarten year a large amount of time is spent on learning sight words. A sight word is a word that it is recognized immediately. This EDpuzzle has been a fun way for my students to learn their sight words.
Artifact: EDpuzzle
Artifact: EDpuzzle
The ultimate goal of reading is to construct meaning. My dream text project was aimed at helping students to automatically read and spell the most frequent words used. Within each lesson a screen cast was used to help students and parents understand what my expectations were. These helped students to understand directions of each lesson and the visual helped them to see what it would look like.
Artifact: Dream Text Project
Artifact: Dream Text Project
Unfortunately images of our schools can often be standardized, a one size fits all approach. Effective teachers figure out ways to differentiate their instruction to meet the needs of all their students. In my redesign project I took a science unit based on living and non-living things and created a five part interactive poster using the web tool easly.ly and thinglink. I felt that it was a great way to introduce the subject of living and non-living things to my kindergarten students. I also like that it is more interactive than traditional workbooks and can be done at home with parents too.
Artifact: Re-Design Challenge
Artifact: Re-Design Challenge
Good two-way communication between families and your classroom is necessary for student success. The goal of my dream text project was to create something that would strengthen my kindergarten student's sight word abilities. I also wanted to let my parents know what kindergarten reading expectations are for the year. Smore newsletters are a great way to communicate with parents and pass along important information. This newsletter was created to help inform parents about why sight words should be given priority when teaching students how to read.
Artifact: Smore Newsletter
Artifact: Smore Newsletter
Personal Reflection & Cognitive Load
As Socrates says, "the unexamined life is not worth living". The great thing about writing a personal manifesto is that it does not have to be written in stone but can be edited as you make changes and grow personally. A personal manifesto gave me the chance to look at what I am passionate about. This manifesto focused on my teaching but since creating this one I have gone on to make different ones that take a deeper look at my life and think about what makes me tick.
Artifact: Personal Manifesto
Artifact: Personal Manifesto
How do we process information? The cognitive load theory focuses on human processing of information. We looked at working memory and see that it can only hold small amounts of information while our long term memory can provide permanent storage. Learning can involve a great amount of effort and it is important to not reach overload. I found this assignment a fun way to think about cognitive load. Who doesn't love to make a cartoon!
Artifact: Cognitive Load Cartoon
Artifact: Cognitive Load Cartoon
When using traditional power point slides they are often text heavy, frequently with quotes and citations. These presentations can allow the listener to drift away and tune out what the speaker is actually trying to say. During CEP 800 I created a PechaKucha. The essence of PechaKucha is to set limits on speakers using PowerPoint. The object of this assignment was to create a simple presentation format where you show 20 images, each for 20 seconds. This format helps to keep the presentation fast paced and concise. My PechaKucha needed to be about a positive or negative experience in education. I loved this assignment but found the time constraint very difficult. I like how this project encourages more dialogue and response, not just the bland reading of bullet-points on a slide.
Artifact: PechaKucha
Artifact: PechaKucha
Images Courtesy of:
- http://www.clipartsheep.com/download-image.php?img=557748
- http://static.wixstatic.com/media/c7a7ed_b255f35d9af144afacbb0520ee68be
- http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5CD6Ql9bd1U/S9bPTdJP5CI/AAAAAAAAALc/FdLff3BXMdw/s1600/Puzzle-PicSm.png
- http://smitak.weebly.com/uploads/3/7/9/7/37971601/7229364_orig.jpg?354
- http://images.clipartpanda.com/newsletter-clipart-newsletters.jpg
- http://www.passionintoprofit.com/home/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/personal-manifesto.jpg
- http://threehourtransformation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/information-overload-01.jpg
- http://static.pechakucha.org/pechakucha/uploads/event/poster/50bc38cf4f5c295056000008/pechaKuchaFlyerFrontVol17-web.jpg