Meagan Mazurkewicz's
Literacy and Special Education Showcase
Literacy and Special Education Showcase
In my graduate work at Michigan State University, I chose two concentrations for my master's degree: Literacy and Special Education. Both areas were of interest to me so I decided to take three courses on each concentration to further increase my knowledge and experience in the field of education.
Below are some highlighted examples of some of the work I have completed in both concentrations. I believe these examples provide a clear understanding of my growth and development as an educator of literacy and special education.
Below are some highlighted examples of some of the work I have completed in both concentrations. I believe these examples provide a clear understanding of my growth and development as an educator of literacy and special education.
Literacy Education This was a very intensive project in which we had to pick some area of our classroom schedule (related to literacy of course) and add or improve it somehow. I chose to research and create a plan to introduce a Reader's Workshop into my Kindergarten classroom. I learned a great deal from this project and am very proud to be able to share it with my peers and colleagues. Check it out!
This culminating project was another very intensive, but rewarding, assignment that really forced me to analyze myself as an educator of literacy. We began by writing about our incoming beliefs and practices about literacy education. Throughout the semester, we decided on three affirmations of areas of literacy that we deem imperative to a classroom. Then, we came up with five questions we still had. We also came up with a plan of action for each affirmation and question to help us on the path to improving ourselves at literacy educators!
For this assignment, I researched UDL, the Universal Design for Learning, and completed a conclusive teaching project that included UDL theory and practice as well as specific case study documentation from working with a particular student in my classroom. I created interactive and comprehensive lesson plans as well as rubrics for proper individualized assessment. I also reflected on my lessons, making appropriate changes to things that didn't work and enhancements to those that did.
This is an independent project I took on after I studied the importance of poetry in the classroom in one of my literacy graduate courses. I put together an alphabet poem book for my Kindergarten students that went along with an alphabet CD. In each poem, the students find and circle the assigned letter. For example, when we learn "a" on the page above, the students circle all of the a's. This helps students learn in many different ways. It is visual, auditory and kinesthetic all wrapped into one!
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Special Education This was the project that really made me examine myself as an educator; in the most positive way! The assignment was to choose a behavior in one of my students that I had difficulty dealing with. I then had to examine my "teaching stance" and research and develop ways to remain in an effective stance, in order to properly handle the behavior. I collected data on my student, created a behavioral strategy plan (including providing rationale for the interventions I chose), carried out the plan, and then carefully analyzed the plan's effectiveness.
This project was a semester long assignment in which we had to locate three articles that connected language development and Autism Spectrum Disorder. We completed an in depth analysis of each article and then created a summary for the connection between the three articles. Click here to view the paper assignment. Then, we compiled the information into a presentation meant to be used to educate others. I showed it to my colleagues at a Professional Development conference and was told by many how informative and organized it was. It was one of the most time consuming but equally rewarding assignments I have even completed.
This was one of the most helpful and eye opening projects I have completed within my graduate education. It taught me so much about myself as an educator of students with difficulties. I completed a special topic research paper on a type of disorder that I wanted to know more about. I chose Oppositional Defiant Disorder because I had a student in my classroom that had been diagnosed with it. I had to synthesize information from a variety of electronic and textual resources and compile them into a cohesive and informational PowerPoint presentation that would allow me to share my research with my colleagues and peers.
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