Before I became a full-time teacher I was always told that the first couple of years were the most difficult. For me, this definitely held true. My whole mentality the first year was “just survive” as I struggled with time management, lesson/unit planning, and the countless other duties that teachers must attend to. I thought about leaving the profession, but thankfully, stuck it out for year two - which went much smoother. That year I was more confident as a teacher (probably because I had taught the course before), and had a better understanding of the needs of my students. However, I knew that I needed to further my understanding in the art of teaching science. In order to do this I decided to enroll in the Master of Arts in Education (MAED) at Michigan State University (MSU). I chose to attend MSU for two reasons - first they have the top graduate studies program for secondary education in the country; and second, I had already completed a number of credits during my internship year making the program more reasonable financially.  As I finish the program and reflect back on my experience, the program has changed me as a teacher and as a person.

​

When I sat down to think about the classes I needed/wanted to take I knew that I wanted to focus on three main ideas to help me become the teacher I always envisioned. Students today have the world at their fingertips with their digital devices - they can look up anything they want and have the answer in seconds. Therefore, I wanted to focus on using that technology in the classroom to help my students understand difficult science concepts. I also knew that my students struggled with their literacy skills and I had not had any previous training in teaching literacy so I knew that I needed to focus on helping my students become better readers and writers. Lastly, with the new Next Generation Science Standards  (NGSS) rolling out in the near future, I knew that I wanted to concentrate on using the NGSS to drive my classroom instruction. I was able to study these three aspects of teaching; technology, literacy, and science discourse in each of the classes I took while completing the MAED program.

​

Technology

Throughout the first two years of my teaching, I always tried to implement technology into my lessons as often as possible. Some of the lessons were successful, but more often than not, students came away with a lack of comprehension and a feeling of, “What was the point of that?” In order to help combat this, I took TE 831-Teaching Subject Matter with Technology, in the fall of 2014 to further my knowledge of using technology in the classroom. In this class, I learned about various types of technology resources that teachers could use to help students of differing ability levels with their understanding. We also looked at various educational technology theories, including Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK), which is a framework that identifies how teachers can effectively use technology in the classroom. Furthermore, I looked at several different online resources that would be valuable to a science teacher. The “Tech Tools” assignments allowed us to pick a technology resource, play with it, create a lesson or assignment and then reflect on our experience. Before this class, I was always hesitant to try new technology resources because of the amount of time that it took to learn and implement it. After completing the assignments, I learned that that time it takes to learn the tool is the most valuable time because I was able to be a student of the tool and see what it has to offer. I was able to anticipate what struggles my students would encounter, or I could highlight specific questions I wanted to ask my students. The tech tools were a great way for me to be cognizant of how I wanted to implement the tool and in what capacity. Furthermore, that assignment opened my eyes to the important of trying new things even though they may seem difficult or time consuming.

​

I was also able to create a vodcast, which allowed me to present material to my students using a video. I used the vodcast to flip my classroom (this allows students to complete the “lecture” at home and the homework or assignments in class). I found that my students were very receptive to the flipped classroom because it was new and they enjoyed watching the video and being able to go back and play it multiple times. The vodcast assignment opened up my eyes to how powerful videos can be when used in conjunction with the classroom content. Since this class, I have furthered my repertoire of technology tools and have successfully created several vodcasts that my students watch in order to clarify their understanding on the periodic table, stoichiometry, and gas laws. Without this class, I would probably still be stuck using the same technology resources that I learned about during my internship year.

​

Literacy

Another problem I faced in the beginning part of my career was helping my students with their literacy skills. Some of the students that were in my class were reading below grade level and lacked the abilities that are needed to digest a scientific article or reading.  Other students were able to read the text fully, but struggled with comprehending what they had read. The district I was in did not offer many professional development opportunities for me to learn how to teach my students specific scientific literacy skills. In the spring of 2016, I enrolled in TE 846-Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners, which focused on helping students of differing ability levels with their literacy learning. Although the class was geared more towards elementary than secondary, I still consider it the class I learned the most in because of the amount of new knowledge I had acquired. I also credit the class for helping change the way I think about teaching literacy. Before taking this class, I stayed away from teaching literacy because I was one of those teachers that thought English teachers should be teaching literacy skills, not science teachers. Which is not the case at all because reading in English class and reading in Science class is completely different. Throughout the course, I was able to read several different articles that focused on how teachers can help students read informative text for comprehension, as well as how students can partake in close reading of the text that allows them to interact with the text. Lastly, I was able to read about how different teachers use annotations in their classroom to support student learning. The class shifted my mindset in regards to how I incorporate reading into my daily activities. My students complete some sort of reading activity on a daily basis, which allows me to formatively assess their literacy skills throughout the semester.

​

I have since changed districts and now work in a school with an extremely high number of English Language Learners (ELLs), which was a major theme in TE 846. One of the ideas that was discussed was that teachers need to use concrete, meaningful examples that the students are able to relate to. Using my students’ interests and experiences causes the comprehension of their learning to increase dramatically because they are able to relate to the content in a meaningful way. At the beginning of the semester, I have my students fill out an interest survey that allows me to gauge what type of person they are and then use that to try and incorporate examples from their interests. By doing this, I am able to pique the motivation of my ELL students because they have some background knowledge they can build upon. These changes in my teaching style would have been nearly impossible without having taken TE 846.

​

Science Discourse

The state of Michigan has adopted the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and they will be fully implemented by the year 2020. As a science educator, I knew that I needed to be properly educated on what the standards consist of, as well as best practices for enacting NGSS. TE 861B-Inquiry, Nature of Science, and Science Teaching, informed me about NGSS and how teachers are already using NGSS and inquiry in their classrooms. While in the class, I had the opportunity to take a unit that I previously taught and tweak it so that it fit the needs of NGSS and teaching through inquiry. Through this project, I learned that inquiry-based learning leads students to a deeper understanding and a greater recall on the topic. I was amazed at how well my students performed on their summative assessment, mostly due to the inquiry-based learning. They were able to express their knowledge on a deeper level than my students in the past and I credit that to the way that I taught the content. By studying the NGSS and its framework in TE 861B I was able to get a head start on practicing the implementation of the standards, and I am now looked at as a leader in my department due to my knowledge of NGSS.

​

Besides studying at the NGSS and inquiry-based learning, I was also fortunate to observe teachers via Ambitious Science Teaching, which allowed me to see the framework in action. I was able to watch their various talk moves, tasks, and tools that they use in their classroom, and that gave me several ideas that I currently put into action. The framework is centered on student ideas and the discussions that they have. At the beginning of the unit students are asked to make observations about an anchoring phenomenon that then drives all of the learning. After every activity, the teacher asks how it relates back to the anchoring phenomenon and thus the students must discuss with one another the relationship. By watching these videos and analyzing the way the classroom is set up, I have come to realize that a quality teacher allows students to do all of the heavy lifting as they sit back and guide them to knowledge and understanding. I have also adopted a group work mentality and am constantly having my students work in groups to solve problems, complete activities, and discuss with one another. I will always look back at TE 861B as the class that was most influential throughout my master’s program due to the direct relevance of the work to my classroom.

​

As my time in the MAED comes to a close and I reflect back on my experience, I can’t help but to think how far I have come from those first two years of teaching when the goal was “just survive”. These past two years have taught me more than I could have ever imagined. I learned about new technologies that I am able to use in my classroom; how to help my students become better readers and writers; and how to implement the NGSS into daily lessons and units. Now when I step into the classroom, I feel like I can truly change my students’ lives. Whether it is teaching them something they didn’t know about or helping them gain a better understanding, this program has given me the confidence to be a highly qualified teacher for the rest of my career.