This page showcases a collection of some of my best work as a Master of Arts student in Education. The following classes have motivated me to become a better teacher, student, and co-worker, while helping me to build a repertoire of knowledge which I will continue to take with me in the years to come.
5th Year Internship Year - Transfer Coursework (TE 501, TE 502, TE 801, TE 802, TE 803, TE 804)
Fall 2009 - Spring 2010
Professors: C. Rosaen, S. Labadie, B. Herbel-Eisenmann, N. Gilbertson, C. Schwarz, L. Andresen, A. Halvorsen, B. White
After obtaining my Bachelor of Arts in Education I went off to complete my year long internship program at Michigan State University. During the course of that year I really got to know myself, and what I wanted. I realized that education was about improving the lives of other people, uplifting them, and taking them to new places, unbeknownst to them. I encountered many different individuals, all of which influenced me either directly or indirectly, and in that influence I grew to become a more socially aware teacher, an honest friend, and a knowledgeable writer and researcher.
Authenticity and the Writer's Workshop Math Unit Plan
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TE 846 Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners
Summer 2010
Professor: G. Troia
This course marked the beginning of my theoretical thinking in regards to reading and writing in different literacy learners. In this class I conducted a series of case studies where two diversely different students were observed in their reading capabilities, particularly in the area of comprehension. Lessons were created and implemented towards think alouds, predictions, and making connections within a text. As a result one of those students showed gains in reading comprehension because they were given valuable strategies by which they called upon during a follow-up to the lesson.
Term Project Case Study Think Aloud Lesson Plan
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ED800 Concepts of Educational Inquiry
Summer 2010
Professors: S. Weiland
This class addressed concepts of inquiry in various different frameworks. Questions this class presented were: What is inquiry? What is meaning? Who makes it? What do we do with that thinking and how do we inform our instruction from it? In asking and learning amongst these questions I learned to analyze information, the desire to want to form more personal connections with my students, and the importance of reflection within my own practice. It is not enough that we ask our students to write, we too must write, and we too must be critical.
Nature and Nurture Synthesis Critique of Vivian Paley's Work
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TE 865 Teaching and Learning K-12 Social Studies
Fall 2010
Professors: M. Missias, R. Stanulis
Social Studies was the focus of this class. I learned the purpose for teaching it, a much more indepth review of what it encompassed, why citizenship was important, and how critical literacy played a key role in the structure of the social studies curriculum. I was asked to critically look at maps, photographs, multimedia, and textbooks, by asking myself, "Who created this document? What meaning did they intend for me to make? How has the author's meaning influenced my own thinking? And lastly, How does this implicate social studies learning and teaching?" In completing this course I discovered that I was quick to take information as the Bible, never questioning it. That lack of questioning is way too prevalent in our K-12 classrooms.
Internet Consumers & Critical Literacy Creating Authorship and Perspective
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CEP 802 Developing Positive Attitudes Towards Learning
Fall 2010
Professors: L. Benson, E. Oka
In CEP 802 I learned about cognitive approaches to motivation, extrinsic, intrinsic, and behavioral approaches to motivating students. I found that I primarily used reward system to motivate my students and those reward systems were not being consistently used for all of my students. Therefore, this course made me analyze how affective my current strategies were and the changes which I needed to make in order to meet the needs of my students.
Critique of Rewards Case Study
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TE 848 Methods of Writing Instruction
Spring 2011
Professors: L. Hawkins, R. Stanulis, J. Certo
This class allowed me to explore personal writing as a way of reflecting and understanding the writing of my students. It allowed for me to see that I was personally drawn to personal narratives and fiction, and thus those were the genres I communicated to be superior and much more fun for my students. In seeing that ideal it allowed for me to write with other genres less explored, from poetry to expository, and in doing so I embarked upon a research question which explored why expository writings were less explored at the elementary level, and why they seemed so far removed from my students.
Bridging the Gap Between Expository and Authenticity Translation from Personal Narrative to Poetry
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TE 843 Reading, Writing, and Reasoning in Secondary School Subjects
Spring 2011
Professors: C. Clara, R. Stanulis
This was one of the last courses I took in my Masters program. It made me evaluate the question: Who are my students? What impact Do I have on their lives? For weeks upon weeks I was called to research children's picture books, Disney stories in the form of Cindarella and Snow White, and in doing so I found that I was programmed to think in a certain way. I was programmed to believe the stereotypes and misconceptions, yet with this class I was trained in looking critically at those mediums of media, asked to question it, and turn away from it.
Critical Literacy Unit Plan From Slave Ship To Freedom Road
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ED 870: Capstone Portfolio
Summer 2011
Professor: M. Koehler
This course allowed for me to develop a web portfolio, allowing me to reflect on my professional journey as an educator, graduate student, sister, wife, and daughter.
http://ambermillersportfolio.weebly.com/
Fall 2009 - Spring 2010
Professors: C. Rosaen, S. Labadie, B. Herbel-Eisenmann, N. Gilbertson, C. Schwarz, L. Andresen, A. Halvorsen, B. White
After obtaining my Bachelor of Arts in Education I went off to complete my year long internship program at Michigan State University. During the course of that year I really got to know myself, and what I wanted. I realized that education was about improving the lives of other people, uplifting them, and taking them to new places, unbeknownst to them. I encountered many different individuals, all of which influenced me either directly or indirectly, and in that influence I grew to become a more socially aware teacher, an honest friend, and a knowledgeable writer and researcher.
Authenticity and the Writer's Workshop Math Unit Plan
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TE 846 Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners
Summer 2010
Professor: G. Troia
This course marked the beginning of my theoretical thinking in regards to reading and writing in different literacy learners. In this class I conducted a series of case studies where two diversely different students were observed in their reading capabilities, particularly in the area of comprehension. Lessons were created and implemented towards think alouds, predictions, and making connections within a text. As a result one of those students showed gains in reading comprehension because they were given valuable strategies by which they called upon during a follow-up to the lesson.
Term Project Case Study Think Aloud Lesson Plan
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ED800 Concepts of Educational Inquiry
Summer 2010
Professors: S. Weiland
This class addressed concepts of inquiry in various different frameworks. Questions this class presented were: What is inquiry? What is meaning? Who makes it? What do we do with that thinking and how do we inform our instruction from it? In asking and learning amongst these questions I learned to analyze information, the desire to want to form more personal connections with my students, and the importance of reflection within my own practice. It is not enough that we ask our students to write, we too must write, and we too must be critical.
Nature and Nurture Synthesis Critique of Vivian Paley's Work
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TE 865 Teaching and Learning K-12 Social Studies
Fall 2010
Professors: M. Missias, R. Stanulis
Social Studies was the focus of this class. I learned the purpose for teaching it, a much more indepth review of what it encompassed, why citizenship was important, and how critical literacy played a key role in the structure of the social studies curriculum. I was asked to critically look at maps, photographs, multimedia, and textbooks, by asking myself, "Who created this document? What meaning did they intend for me to make? How has the author's meaning influenced my own thinking? And lastly, How does this implicate social studies learning and teaching?" In completing this course I discovered that I was quick to take information as the Bible, never questioning it. That lack of questioning is way too prevalent in our K-12 classrooms.
Internet Consumers & Critical Literacy Creating Authorship and Perspective
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CEP 802 Developing Positive Attitudes Towards Learning
Fall 2010
Professors: L. Benson, E. Oka
In CEP 802 I learned about cognitive approaches to motivation, extrinsic, intrinsic, and behavioral approaches to motivating students. I found that I primarily used reward system to motivate my students and those reward systems were not being consistently used for all of my students. Therefore, this course made me analyze how affective my current strategies were and the changes which I needed to make in order to meet the needs of my students.
Critique of Rewards Case Study
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TE 848 Methods of Writing Instruction
Spring 2011
Professors: L. Hawkins, R. Stanulis, J. Certo
This class allowed me to explore personal writing as a way of reflecting and understanding the writing of my students. It allowed for me to see that I was personally drawn to personal narratives and fiction, and thus those were the genres I communicated to be superior and much more fun for my students. In seeing that ideal it allowed for me to write with other genres less explored, from poetry to expository, and in doing so I embarked upon a research question which explored why expository writings were less explored at the elementary level, and why they seemed so far removed from my students.
Bridging the Gap Between Expository and Authenticity Translation from Personal Narrative to Poetry
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TE 843 Reading, Writing, and Reasoning in Secondary School Subjects
Spring 2011
Professors: C. Clara, R. Stanulis
This was one of the last courses I took in my Masters program. It made me evaluate the question: Who are my students? What impact Do I have on their lives? For weeks upon weeks I was called to research children's picture books, Disney stories in the form of Cindarella and Snow White, and in doing so I found that I was programmed to think in a certain way. I was programmed to believe the stereotypes and misconceptions, yet with this class I was trained in looking critically at those mediums of media, asked to question it, and turn away from it.
Critical Literacy Unit Plan From Slave Ship To Freedom Road
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ED 870: Capstone Portfolio
Summer 2011
Professor: M. Koehler
This course allowed for me to develop a web portfolio, allowing me to reflect on my professional journey as an educator, graduate student, sister, wife, and daughter.
http://ambermillersportfolio.weebly.com/
