Synthesis Essay | teachingportfolio

Becoming a Lifelong Learner

‘Teachers have three loves: love of learning, love of learners, and the love of bringing the first two loves together.’–Scott Hayden

Synthesis Essay PDF

I walked into Mr. Moore’s 8th grade science room on a typical Tuesday afternoon to find my friends already there with their lunches on the table. The tv in the top right corner already playing The Price Is Right. Mr. Moore is at his desk grading assignments while the rest of us chatted and enjoyed our lunch period. This happened almost every day at Pioneer Middle School. Mr. Moore would occasionally join us and bring up topics of conversation, but he always felt like more of a friend than a teacher. He provided a safe space for us to be when the rest of the world was too hard to be around. This is one of my fondest memories throughout my entire educational career. It may seem small and that the teacher probably should have allowed something like that, but he was the only person in that school that made the effort to get to know us outside of class. He cared about his students and wanted to be there for them. It was then that I knew I wanted to be a teacher and I wanted to be one that had her students look up to her like I did with Mr. Moore.

As a young child, I loved school. I was the person that woke up my parents on the first day of school dressed and ready to walk out the door. I truly loved to learn. I found my love of books early and to this day I am rarely seen without one in my hand. I disappeared into their worlds as I read connecting with the characters and their problems in the world. As a teacher, this is something that I try to instill in my students. I want them to read and experience the characters and their worlds in the same way I did. This is why I am always exposing them to books whether it be read by me or a read aloud online.

Throughout my bachelors’ program at University of Michigan Dearborn I was introduced to a way of teaching that was different from what I was used to. I was shown the philosophy of Reggio Emilia. It was something I had never heard of before, but from the moment I stepped into the classroom I knew this is where I wanted to teach. I saw how the children interacted with one another, solving their own problem, sharing ideas and all working towards a common goal. The teacher was a guide in their play offering thoughts, vocalizing their actions, and asking open-ended questions to get them thinking about their project.

I learned so much from my bachelors’ program, but after my first couple years of teaching, I knew I needed to know more. I went out in search of a program that would give me the knowledge and skills but also provided flexibility with my long hours at the early childhood center. This is how I landed at MSU. It provided online courses in a flexible time frame. I enrolled in the MAED program after closely considering all other options. I then chose to concentrate on Special Education, Math and Science.

Special Education

The early childhood center I work at is an inclusive site. We welcome children with special needs into the classroom. We have embraced the coteaching model which provides more adults in the classroom. This makes an ideal environment to support the needs of all children. We are fortunate to have a therapy center right next door that provides services to our kids both inside and out of the classroom. For this reason, I am being exposed to more and more kids with disabilities that I was illiquid to handle before finishing my masters. I needed to know more in order to support them.

The most meaningful course in my program was CEP 832: Education Students with Challenging behavior. Every year I have been teaching there have been at least two children with challenging behavior in my class. I would do my best to address it, but never knew the best way to go about doing that. During this course, I had the opportunity to pick a child, identify the behavior, track their behavior and find strategies to help them succeed in the classroom. This assignment is highlighted in my showcase. As a result of this I was able to improve the student’s behavior in the classroom as well as at home. It did not happen overnight, but over the course of the next four months we saw less physical contact with other and more communication and negotiation among his peers. I also was able to develop a plan on how to break down a student’s challenging behavior and figure out when it happens most frequently in order to plan to correct it. I now use these strategies for a variety of students that need extra support to succeed. I have learned that it can be the small things that make a difference. Changing the seating arrangement, allowing more wait time or even offering frequent breaks from instructional time can do a world of good for young children that need a little extra support.

Mathematics

Math has never been my strong suit. As a child I struggled to understand the equations and formulas needed to complete the problems. I developed a strong dislike for math because of the trouble I had understanding the content. This carried on through high school. It got a little better in college when I learned a new way of teaching math. It was then that it all clicked into place for me. I wish my teachers had taught me the way I was being taught how to teach it. For this reason, I wanted to challenge myself to learn more so I could provide more for my students. Thankfully I teach kindergarten, so the math does not involve those dreaded equations and formulas, but I still wanted to gain more confidence if I decided to move to a higher-grade level one of these years. So, I chose Math and Science as my second concentration area.

In the class TE855 Teaching School Mathematics, the final project was to choose a technique or mathematical concept to implement with my students over the course of a month. Upon reflection of the materials we had read so far, I choose to incorporate more story problems in the daily routine. I chose two students for the test subjects. I did an original assessment on how they solved story problems. Then I did a series of lesson plans teaching story problems in both large and small group settings. All students were taught the same content, but the two test subjects were evaluated. We tracked their improvement by documenting how they solved the problem and what misconceptions they had. This project helped me to reflect on my teaching and find an area where I needed to improve in order to give my students a well-rounded mathematics curriculum.

Science

Science is an area of study I have never been worried about. I have always enjoyed this subject and found it very easy for me to teach. Being a project-based learning school has helped me to really fine tune my skills where science is concerned. The Reggio Emilia Philosophy that we use in my school involves a lot of nature and natural materials. I have learned so much from my colleagues teaching there. Turns out there was still a lot for me to learn.

In the course Teaching Science for Understanding, I learned of a different way of teaching science. I was blown away by how amazing this program was. It is called Ambitious Science Teaching or AST. The basic idea is that all children are taught to deeply understand science, participate in activities and solve authentic problems. This was one of my favorite courses I took at MSU. I was blown away by this way of teaching. I watched video after video of how teachers were giving children a phenomenon like a child going down a slide and asking them to explain what is happening. The children would share their theories on push and pull and how it affected the person going down. I was inspired to incorporate some of these ideas into my science curriculum. The main project in this class was to develop a unit plan involving AST. I took the Next Generation Science Standards for kindergarten and focused a unit plan around three main ideas: puddles, apples and ramps and cars. I still use this curriculum plan today in my classroom and the kids love it!

Technology

Technology was a big part of my master’s program, although it was not one of my concentration areas, it was encompassed in many of my classes. It is the way of the future. Online learning is soon going to be a very large part of how teachers reach their students. This idea seems foreign to a lot of us that are used the more traditional way of teaching. It is going to take a lot for people to change their view of reality. I feel confident in my abilities after the education I have received from the professor at MSU. I use a SMART board in the classroom and throughout this program I was able to learn new and effective ways of incorporating it.

The course the taught me the lost was TE 831: Teaching Subject Matter with Technology. It covered all subject matter and how you could improve student learning and engagement with the use of technology. One of my favorite assignments was the Tech Tools. The objective was to find a new technology and use it in the curriculum. I showcased my use of ZeeMaps, Epic! And Kahoot! in the classroom. These were three small things that I implemented that aided in my ability to engage students for a longer period of time. These assignments are also showcased in my portfolio.

Overall, the professors at MSU taught me a great deal about myself and my teaching strategies. I was able to adapt what I am already doing and make it even more effective. They inspired me to do the best I can. For this reason, I am currently working on developing a curriculum plan for my kindergarten classroom to make sure that I am teaching each and every standard my students will need to know before moving on to the first grade. We do not have a curriculum written out for us. We teach children based off their interests, but I have realized that I can still do that while also making sure to hit all of the content areas. I am excited to create this very valuable tool!

This entire process challenged me to reflect on my way of teaching and the environment I was providing for my students. I started asking myself these questions:

Am I fostering their learning in an effective way?
How can I get families more involved?
How can I make sure I am teaching all of the standards my Kindergarteners need to know?
How can I use technology to my benefit?
How can I support those children with special needs?

I have answered some of my questions during my time at MSU but there is still more learning for me to do. It also helped me to want to learn more. I feel like being a teach for so long, I was just going through the motions. This master program challenges me to want to be better, to do better for my students. I now feel inspired to do things on my own, not just because it is required by administration. As a teacher I am trying to instill a sense of being a lifelong learner in my students and I plan on leading by example! I look forward to taking control of my future learning by participating in webinars, attending conferences and reading books! A teacher's job is never done!

Image Attribution:

inspirational quote poster, pinterst, https://www.pinterest.com/pin/293226625713160926/