CEP 818:  Creativity in Teaching and Learning

Punya Mishra and Kristen Kereluik

 

We live in a society where technology is reshaping our brain, changing how we think and shortening our attention spans.  Yet, education continues to push standardized testing.  Unfortunately, standardized testing makes it easy for teachers to fall into a trap of teaching to the test, instead of teaching for creativity.  The goal of this course is to make sure we as educators, avoid this trap and infuse creativity within our lessons.  This course demonstrates a need to learn to recognize and embrace creativity in a variety of contexts.  Once we were able to recognize creativity, we expanded our own creativity and used these methods within lessons.

 

 

SPRING 2012

EAD 801:  Leadership and Organizational Development

Nancy Colflesh

 

Schools have many groups of leadership that operate simultaneously.  Importantly, each group must recognize the leadership role of the other existing groups.  The goal of this course is to make sure that each group works together, instead of individually.  In order for a school to reach its maximum potential, shared leadership among the groups must take place.  This class analyzed the importance of leaders to have a strong emotional intelligence such as self-awareness, self-regulation, motiviation, empathy and social skills.  As a leader, it is important to make sure the entire school functions as a team.  When teamwork does not happen as it should, steps need to be made to ensure teamwork exists.  Also, the faces of the team change over time.  When there is a change in the team, it is important for all to feel welcomed and everyone needs to have a say in the ground rules for what will make the school succeed.

 

 

 

FALL 2012

ED 800:  Concepts of Educational Inquiry

Steven Weiland

 

The foundation of our education system was the focus of this course.  We took a journey into the past to see where the United States started with education.  We analyzed how each generation reshaped who could immerse themselves in education and what should be learned while at school.  The course was an important reminder from my undergraduate studies to show how students learn best and the importance of inquiry in the learning process.  This course helped me realize that I need to continue to find ways to help create a want to learn more within all of my students and show them the most practical ways to build on the knowledge that we already possess. 

 

 

SUMMER 2013

CEP 841:  Classroom Management in the Inclusive Classroom

Troy Mariage, Alisha Brown, Nai-Cheng Kuo and Mei Shen

 

We are all unique learners and some of this learning comes with special needs.  The focus of this course was how a teacher and school can teach students with special needs and how to best create a classroom management plan that works best for these children.  Our classrooms become more diverse each year and it is important to understand how to manage each individual within the class.  This course analyzed different methods about how to manage a student with special needs, so to not embarrass or single out a student amongst their peers.  We also analyzed different methods that a school can use to best educate students with special needs.  Within this course, I was introduced to Response to Intervention (RTI), a method that my school currently uses.  Within this method, the school will analyze the needs of each individual student and set up a time when these specific needs will be taught at the level that would best help the child succeed.

 

 

TE 846:  Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners

Janice Knight

 

It is imerative that all students have the ability to read.  It is very easy to make this statement, yet it is not so easy to actually give all students the ability to read.  The focus of this course is to provide teachers with the tools necessary to reach all individuals, to help them learn how to read.  This course demonstrated that we do not have to reinvent the wheel to help students learn how to read.  There are numerous best practice methods that research has proven truly works.  I am very grateful for this course, because I truly was trying to create methods to teach students.  I simply did not understand where to go to find the best methods available. 

 

 

FALL 2013

TE 865:  Teaching and Learning K-12 Social Studies

Elizabeth Kenyon

 

Understanding the importance of teaching social studies and the role of the social studies teacher, is the goal of this course.  Topics covered within the course included the foundations of teaching social studies, the importance of teaching about democracy, issues of justice, the role of perspective, the need for global education and current tensions within the sphere of K-12 social studies.  I completed an inquiry project about how the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) will impact social studies.  Within my research, I concluded that CCSS will have a positive impact as students are challenged to use primary sources to help build a foundation of knowledge.

 

 

SUMMER 2014

TE 831:  Teaching School Subject Matter with Technology

Doug Hartman

 

From their infancy, today's student has relied on computers, cell phones and other forms of technology, to help them build knowledge.  As educators, it is important that we understand new technologies and find ways to include technology within our lessons, to better help students learn in the fashion that they always have learned.  This course analyzes the usefulness of a vast amount of technology available today.  This course helped me understand that I can not simply use every available technology throughout the course of a school year.  However, mastering a few forms of technology and using them within my lessons will excite students and keep teaching fresh.

 

 

EAD 860:  Concept of a Learning Society

Steven Weiland

 

The goal of this course was to figure out what is meant by a 'learning society' and understand the primary domains and activities across different social, economic and cultural groups.  I learned from this course many of the different motivations people use to learn in a variety of contexts.  For example, we watched Erin Brockovich and analyzed her amazing story about going from a person looking for any job possible, to winning the largest suit in court history without a formal education in law.  We also analyzed the work of a successful doctor who works in multiple countries, demonstrating the different standards that healthcare has throughout the world.  Finally, we read about a middle aged adult who suddenly decided he wanted to learn how to play the piano.  This valuable course reinforced that every person has their own motivations to succeed in a variety of ways.  I need to make sure I find these motivations in my students and help them pursue their passions.

 

 

SUMMER 2015

EAD 882:  Seminar in Educational Administration:  Serving the Needs of All Learners

Kristy Cooper

 

Our diverse classrooms come with a variety of students who have a specific set of needs compared to other students.  The goal of this course is to identify the different groups of students with specific needs and to use best practices to enable these students to succeed.  The groups that I analyzed include English language learners, students receiving special education services, students at risk of dropping out of school, students who are homeless, students involved with bullying and students in foster care.  I started this course on July 6, so I will update the remaining portion of this paragraph to better explain what I learned.

 

 

ED 870:  Capstone Seminar

Matthew Koehler, Sarah Keenan, Spencer Greenhalgh and Chris Seals

 

The purpose of this course is to take a look back at our career as a graduate student and analyze what we truly learned.  This course reminded me of where I started and how I have grown as an educator throughout the years.  As this graduate program is solely online, the course went one step further, having us create the website that you are currently reading.  This course demonstrated the importance of technology and what the future may hold in education.