“Not The End but a New Beginning”
Aaron Blain
Coffee - A staple drink of the MEAD student
It is hard to imagine, but in a month I will be finished with my Master’s in Education from Michigan State University. When I started, I felt that I already had a great deal of balancing to do. I was a third year teacher working with at risk students in a school-within-a-school. Outside of school, I was the boys swimming and diving coach who ran a morning and afternoon practice five days a week. That same year I also agreed to become the head coach of the girls swimming and diving team. Terrified was a word that best reflected my overall feelings when I began allocating time to my grad classes. Many pots of coffee later and an alarm clock that was set for six am in the summer, I feel refreshed and rejuvenated as I near the end of the MAED program.
As a social studies teacher and a swim coach, the emphasis in coaching and secondary education in the MAED program seemed like a natural fit. I hoped that the courses would enhance and expand my knowledge in these two fields as well as provide relevant lessons and theories that could be immediately used. Helping students and athletes successfully maneuver their way through curriculum and practices while reinforcing self-discipline, persistence, and character was my goal before the program and I feel these skills have been amplified the last three years. The two concentrations were the most beneficial for me as a teacher and as a coach. I have learned an immense amount in the online program and it has undoubtedly benefited those who I serve as an educator and coach.
While I was waking up early in the summer or firing up my laptop for some evening postings, many changes were happening that were out of my control. The state of Michigan required new teachers to take a state certified reading course for approval of a professional teaching certificate. Meanwhile changes were happening in our district. Kentwood Public Schools scores on the 11th grade Michigan Education Assessment Program were on a downward trend over the last three years. The scores in reading and comprehension were discouraging among general education students but were extremely poor among English as a Second Language and Special Education students. Our district made a push to raise reading and comprehension scores. I was curious to discover how TE 846 Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners could help our districts lowest achieving readers make a change for the better.
As a social studies teacher and a swim coach, the emphasis in coaching and secondary education in the MAED program seemed like a natural fit. I hoped that the courses would enhance and expand my knowledge in these two fields as well as provide relevant lessons and theories that could be immediately used. Helping students and athletes successfully maneuver their way through curriculum and practices while reinforcing self-discipline, persistence, and character was my goal before the program and I feel these skills have been amplified the last three years. The two concentrations were the most beneficial for me as a teacher and as a coach. I have learned an immense amount in the online program and it has undoubtedly benefited those who I serve as an educator and coach.
While I was waking up early in the summer or firing up my laptop for some evening postings, many changes were happening that were out of my control. The state of Michigan required new teachers to take a state certified reading course for approval of a professional teaching certificate. Meanwhile changes were happening in our district. Kentwood Public Schools scores on the 11th grade Michigan Education Assessment Program were on a downward trend over the last three years. The scores in reading and comprehension were discouraging among general education students but were extremely poor among English as a Second Language and Special Education students. Our district made a push to raise reading and comprehension scores. I was curious to discover how TE 846 Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners could help our districts lowest achieving readers make a change for the better.
Under the direction of professor Trioa, I gained an incredible about of knowledge and insight as to how a social studies teacher can begin to close the achievement gap between readers. Choral reading, planned parings, varied texts, cultural linguistic similarities, and decoding strategies were some of the ideas that I took from the course. I began to immediately adopt these strategies in my social studies classroom to help all types of readers. However, the most profound paradigm shift that occurred in regard to my views of reading was my work with a reading disabled student named Dan.
Dan was a member of my swim team. He had just worked up enough courage to tell me that he had a reading disability at the end of his junior year. As the course required, I had to practice a literacy strategy to see how it worked with a reading disabled students and I eager to work with Dan so that I could better accommodate his needs. In an effort to understand his reading ability and to collect data that could be used to measure growth, I decided to conduct a pre-test and a post-test. For the pre-test I administered the high school Maze test. The test measures the decoding and fluency skills of reader. The reader has to circle the correct word options that best fit the text. The text is roughly five hundred words in length and the student has three minute to complete the test. Dan only completed 16.6% of test. For the first time, I had seen how the struggles that reading disabled students face in and outside of the classroom. Dan and I worked on several strategies such a choral reading, computer assisted text-to-speech programs, and worked with companion text in hopes of improving his decoding and fluency. In the post test, I administered the same Maze test. In the post-test Dan completed a 37.5% increase in the number of words he correctly circled. The improvement was validation that learning strategies can help close the gap.
After the class ended I was determined to bring more of the reading strategies into my social studies classroom. I have partnered with an English Language Arts teacher in school-within-a-school to identify struggling readers and provide them strategies to improve their fluency and comprehension. Reading and comprehension scores are also rising in the district as well – in fact, the group showing the most improvement are English Language Learners and our Special Education students. From a coaching standpoint, I paired Dan with another swimmer who employs the choral reading technique to help Dan understand the complicated workouts. I’m proud and excited of the work that I have accomplished since taking TE 846. This class has allowed me to facilitate greater achievement for both my students and athletes.
Dan was a member of my swim team. He had just worked up enough courage to tell me that he had a reading disability at the end of his junior year. As the course required, I had to practice a literacy strategy to see how it worked with a reading disabled students and I eager to work with Dan so that I could better accommodate his needs. In an effort to understand his reading ability and to collect data that could be used to measure growth, I decided to conduct a pre-test and a post-test. For the pre-test I administered the high school Maze test. The test measures the decoding and fluency skills of reader. The reader has to circle the correct word options that best fit the text. The text is roughly five hundred words in length and the student has three minute to complete the test. Dan only completed 16.6% of test. For the first time, I had seen how the struggles that reading disabled students face in and outside of the classroom. Dan and I worked on several strategies such a choral reading, computer assisted text-to-speech programs, and worked with companion text in hopes of improving his decoding and fluency. In the post test, I administered the same Maze test. In the post-test Dan completed a 37.5% increase in the number of words he correctly circled. The improvement was validation that learning strategies can help close the gap.
After the class ended I was determined to bring more of the reading strategies into my social studies classroom. I have partnered with an English Language Arts teacher in school-within-a-school to identify struggling readers and provide them strategies to improve their fluency and comprehension. Reading and comprehension scores are also rising in the district as well – in fact, the group showing the most improvement are English Language Learners and our Special Education students. From a coaching standpoint, I paired Dan with another swimmer who employs the choral reading technique to help Dan understand the complicated workouts. I’m proud and excited of the work that I have accomplished since taking TE 846. This class has allowed me to facilitate greater achievement for both my students and athletes.
Another undeniable change is the role of technology in the world and in the classroom. As a teacher whose students have transitions away from paper and pencil to netbooks and Google docs, I feel that have been on the cutting edge of change in the education process. Therefore, taking TE 831Teaching School Subject Matter with professor Byker was a natural fit for such a transition. Some of the most beneficial concepts of the class were the emphasis professor Byker placed on TPACK theory. TPACK was the work of our capstone professor Matthew J. Koehler and Punya Mirshra. In a high school classroom filled with netbooks it is easy to forget about pedagogy and content but a effective teacher finds balance. TPACK calls for an equal balance among content, pedagogy, and technology. Indeed, some of the best lesson I have created for the students in my classroom balanced all three areas.
I found that the course work that I published for the class benefited my high school social studies classroom. I took the course in the summer of 2010, one season before I started teaching in Global Tech. I had high hopes of taking some of the ideas right in my classroom – I was not let down. In one of the assignments I was challenged to repurpose an old technology assignment and give it new life. In the lesson I used the 11th century Crusades as topic of study and reworked an antiquated PowerPoint assignment into a Google Earth Lit Trip. I was proud of the lesson but the ultimate test would be how my Global Tech students reacted to the project. Working with Google Earth and its many features (thumbtack, storyboard, etc) coupled with the geopolitical layers of the Crusades was a difficult for my students. Nonetheless, I was amazed to see how they helped each other navigate through the challenging content and new technology loopholes. This project was a giant success but I continue to revisit this lesson and I keep making changes in the hopes of facilitating even better student work. This lesson, along with experience creating a digital story, a Wordle, and a Glogster were some of the different types of technology that are used in my Global Tech classroom. This course allowed me to investigate and explore technologies - it had a profound impact on the teaching and subsequent projects in the first year pilot technology program.
At this point in my education, I continue to incorporate technology in my classroom but I hope the application is authentic and enhances higher order thinking. With English and Science preparing for the new national common core, I can see that another new set of standards and challenges will be impacting my instruction. The emphasis of the common core it higher order thinking skills. I believe that technology can assist students as they show proficiency with higher order concepts. Since technology is always changing it is critical that I adapt and keep up on the technology that can showcase critical thinking skills as well as show student creativity
I found that the course work that I published for the class benefited my high school social studies classroom. I took the course in the summer of 2010, one season before I started teaching in Global Tech. I had high hopes of taking some of the ideas right in my classroom – I was not let down. In one of the assignments I was challenged to repurpose an old technology assignment and give it new life. In the lesson I used the 11th century Crusades as topic of study and reworked an antiquated PowerPoint assignment into a Google Earth Lit Trip. I was proud of the lesson but the ultimate test would be how my Global Tech students reacted to the project. Working with Google Earth and its many features (thumbtack, storyboard, etc) coupled with the geopolitical layers of the Crusades was a difficult for my students. Nonetheless, I was amazed to see how they helped each other navigate through the challenging content and new technology loopholes. This project was a giant success but I continue to revisit this lesson and I keep making changes in the hopes of facilitating even better student work. This lesson, along with experience creating a digital story, a Wordle, and a Glogster were some of the different types of technology that are used in my Global Tech classroom. This course allowed me to investigate and explore technologies - it had a profound impact on the teaching and subsequent projects in the first year pilot technology program.
At this point in my education, I continue to incorporate technology in my classroom but I hope the application is authentic and enhances higher order thinking. With English and Science preparing for the new national common core, I can see that another new set of standards and challenges will be impacting my instruction. The emphasis of the common core it higher order thinking skills. I believe that technology can assist students as they show proficiency with higher order concepts. Since technology is always changing it is critical that I adapt and keep up on the technology that can showcase critical thinking skills as well as show student creativity
This last fall, I took Positive Youth Development with Professor Gould. Simply put, the course had a dramatic impact on my coaching philosophy. I came away with three major themes from that class. 1). the current state of youth sports is in desperate need of reform 2). I was reinforcing a decompetitive model during competitions and 3). I was capable of fostering tremendous change through coaching. I wish I could have taken this course earlier in my coaching career. The knowledge gained in this class alone satisfied my desire to improve as a coach. The topics allowed me to reflect on my previous practices and evaluate my current methods based on the works of top behavioral scientist in the youth sports field.
Professor Gould presented the class with a book entitled “Race to the bottom” which examined the current state of youth sports. I was assigned to read a chapter and respond to a prompt and comment on a peer’s interpretation. Throughout the book and through dialogue with classmates, it was apparent that current trend of specialization in one sport at an younger and younger age was having a detrimental impact on youth retention and was increasing the risk of injury. As a former age group swim coach, I was part of such a system that sometimes unknowingly singled out the best at a young age and offered little chance for new athletes late to the sport to make it. It prompted me to write my final paper on retaining youth in the sport of swimming. I am currently in the process of mentoring the junior high swim teams in Grand Rapids. The hope is to build participation and deter risky and dangerous activities among teenagers. This class was a catalyst for meaningful change within my community. I cannot think of better example of ideas and learning sparking change.
The timing of this course could not have come at a better time for my own team. I started KIN 857 as the girls swimming and diving season was beginning. In many ways, I had always thought that I was a character coach but my beliefs were struck to the core by the midterm project. Professor Gould required us to read True Competition by Shields and Bredemeir. We were required to write up our comments about the books principles. After reading the book and typing my thoughts out for the midterm paper, I had an epiphany. I realized that I was encouraging my athletes to flaunt their superiority over their opponents during competitions. I didn’t stand for mockery, taunting, or any other overt poor sportsmanship but I encouraged the notion that it was “us” versus “them” in a competition. A week later the girls swim team had a meet against their crosstown rival and before the meet, my speech contained a different tone. I encouraged the girls to bring out the best in their opponents as they strived with them not against them. This striving with, or true competition, is a theme I am grateful to have discovered through this course through the coaching education emphasis.
I hope that this synthesis essay has given you some insight into my experiences in the online master’s in education program from Michigan State University. Furthermore, I hope that I have been able to paint a better picture how the classes have made an immediate impact in my classroom and at the pool. I entered the program eager to learn and find myself even more excited and rejuvenated with the learning process.
Professor Gould presented the class with a book entitled “Race to the bottom” which examined the current state of youth sports. I was assigned to read a chapter and respond to a prompt and comment on a peer’s interpretation. Throughout the book and through dialogue with classmates, it was apparent that current trend of specialization in one sport at an younger and younger age was having a detrimental impact on youth retention and was increasing the risk of injury. As a former age group swim coach, I was part of such a system that sometimes unknowingly singled out the best at a young age and offered little chance for new athletes late to the sport to make it. It prompted me to write my final paper on retaining youth in the sport of swimming. I am currently in the process of mentoring the junior high swim teams in Grand Rapids. The hope is to build participation and deter risky and dangerous activities among teenagers. This class was a catalyst for meaningful change within my community. I cannot think of better example of ideas and learning sparking change.
The timing of this course could not have come at a better time for my own team. I started KIN 857 as the girls swimming and diving season was beginning. In many ways, I had always thought that I was a character coach but my beliefs were struck to the core by the midterm project. Professor Gould required us to read True Competition by Shields and Bredemeir. We were required to write up our comments about the books principles. After reading the book and typing my thoughts out for the midterm paper, I had an epiphany. I realized that I was encouraging my athletes to flaunt their superiority over their opponents during competitions. I didn’t stand for mockery, taunting, or any other overt poor sportsmanship but I encouraged the notion that it was “us” versus “them” in a competition. A week later the girls swim team had a meet against their crosstown rival and before the meet, my speech contained a different tone. I encouraged the girls to bring out the best in their opponents as they strived with them not against them. This striving with, or true competition, is a theme I am grateful to have discovered through this course through the coaching education emphasis.
I hope that this synthesis essay has given you some insight into my experiences in the online master’s in education program from Michigan State University. Furthermore, I hope that I have been able to paint a better picture how the classes have made an immediate impact in my classroom and at the pool. I entered the program eager to learn and find myself even more excited and rejuvenated with the learning process.