I knew that once I finished my Bachelor’s Degree at Michigan State University, that I wanted to continue my professional education by getting my Master’s at Michigan State as well. I come from a mother who always challenged herself to better. At 57, my mom accomplished her dream of earning her law degree at Wayne State University in the Spring of 2016. I was motivated by her success to challenge myself even more in earning at least one more degree.

 

I already knew where I would complete my Master’s degree. It was no surprise that I would go back to my alma mater Michigan State for graduate school. Michigan State does an excellent job at having their programs spelled out for you. The advisors are so polite, knowledgeable, and helpful. The program requirements are easy to read and comprehend. All that was left for me to do was complete the program agreed upon between my advisor and me. And little did I know I would struggle through the program with the pressures of working a full time job, a part-time weekend job, being a Master’s student, and overcoming personal and family issues.

 

The road to obtaining my Master’s was rough. Looking back on all I went through, I am so glad to have overcame so many obstacles. Here’s what happened.

 

Towards the beginning of my Master’s Program, I enrolled in a course titled CEP 805, Learning Mathematics with Technology. I really enjoyed this class. I took the class in hopes of learning how to better educate myself on how to bring technology into the classroom. The children today are very tech savvy. Our students usually read, learn, and communicate by technology. With the increase exposure to fast, up-to-date technology, the students’ attention span when listening to lectures are lowering. Therefore, I believe that technology is one way to keep my future students interested in learning in and out of the classroom. In the CEP 805 course, my classmates and I were challenged to find different tech tools that would benefit the students in our current grade levels. Upon finding those different technologies, whether they were websites on a computer or apps for a tablet, the most important aspect of introducing a technology to our students was for us as teachers to evaluate the technology first. As the teacher, you want to ask yourself a few questions about the technology that you want to expose your students to.

 

A few questions to ask yourself about the technology tool would be: 1) What subject(s) or specific concepts will my students learn from this tech tool that will allow them to achieve a learning standard or goal? 2) Is the site accommodating for all learners or what modifications can be made to make it usable for the students that struggle or have learning difficulties? 3) As the teacher, can you monitor the student’s progress in order to see what new goals can be set for the student based off their successes, failures, and etc. from the tech tool? 4) Is the tech tool easily assessable, age appropriate, pleasing to the eye, but also challenging?

 

After taking the time to evaluate several mathematic tech tools, I was able to understand why it is so important to plan lessons ahead of time. Some of the technologies took too long to load, others were too old to use and were boring, and there were a few that did not accommodate learners who would need more than the allotted time to answer the math questions provided at the time. The biggest lesson I learned from this course was that as a teacher, I want to be able to bring the best resources to my students that will aid them in reaching their learning targets. I have to take the time to evaluate what I want my students to know, how they will learn it, and monitor their learning in order to plan future lessons.

 

A second class that really impacted me during the road to my Master’s was TE 846 Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners. Along with learning how to incorporate technology into the classroom, I also had to evaluate whether or not my literacy lessons catered to ALL students!!! Not all students learn in the same way for many reasons. My instructor did an awesome job of pointing out the many reasons students may have a hard time learning literacy. Some of the reasons why students may struggle in literacy is that they 1) are English Language Learners (ELL), 2) have a learning disability, 3) have a lack of literacy skills to use in order to aid them in reading, writing, and comprehending, 4) have a lack in literacy resources whether at home or in previous schools. Whatever the case may be, it is up to the teachers to aid their students in whatever stage of literacy they are at, in order to provide the best literacy instruction based on the student’s own individual needs.

 

There are ways that a teacher can aid the different literacy learners in their classroom. For ELL students, teachers must be direct and explicit in their instruction. Teachers must see what it is the student knows in their first language and use those skills to learn new literacy skills in English. Teachers can substitute English words when speaking to the student in their native language. That way the student is slowing incorporating their new language into their daily speech. For students with a learning disability, teachers should first pinpoint what the learning disability is, have the student evaluated by a professional, and then collaborate with that same professional on ways that the student can succeed in the classroom. Teachers can also provide materials for the student to use during assessments and classwork that will aid the student in the successful completion of the task instead of leaving them on their own just to be frustrated, disappointed, and hopeless. Teachers need to find out what it is that the student likes and be able to incorporate that into the lesson plans as well. Maybe the disabled student works best with manipulatives, or technology, or even work best by drawing. Everyone learns in their own way and as teachers, if we can just find that one way the student with disability learns, it can open a world of possibilities to create lesson plans just for that student. If the student came from a lack of resources at home or from a previous school that resulted in poor literacy acquisition, teachers need to first learn what it is that the student knows already, and then go from there. Teachers might have to go back to the basics of literacy by teaching letter and letter sounds, blending, and etc. Then from there, move on to sight words and creating sentences with those words. By using pictures in association with words tend to help as well. Then teachers can incorporate literacy activities through centers that the students can work at. Literacy centers could include sight word bingo, making words using letter tiles, writing prompts, tablet literacy applications, cut and paste activities, and so much more. One website I used for literacy centers and activities was the Florida Research for Literacy. You find the grade you need and then download the pdf files for whatever skills you are currently working on.

 

The third class that impacted me the most while in graduate school was ED 830, Issues in Urban Education: Racial Achievement Gap. In order to fix the achievement gap that the United States is currently facing, it is best to look back at the history of how it came to be. Back when slavery was a common institution in the US, African Americans were not allowed to read or write. After years of oppression, African Americans fought for the right to be free, to be able to learn in schools, read, write, and vote. When black schools were first created, funding was very low resulting in a lack of resources for the students. Nonetheless, African Americans were determined to build schools and relied on private funding and money raised in the community. Thereafter, the government was forced to provide funding for black schools. Even though forced to provide funding, the government still provided more funding for white schools than Blacks hence, another factor increasing the achievement gap. Fast forward to today, and schools are still struggling with the achievement gap amongst the different ethnic groups in the US. Schools even implemented tracking to combat the disadvantages students have in urban schools. By grouping students into high, medium, and low groups based on their abilities did not have the best results when attacking the achievement gap. Students in high level classes received the best opportunities and resources whereas students in the low class were seen as dumb and remedial, and therefore learned low level material keeping them behind their peers. In order to combat the racial achievement gap within schools, it is best to implement programs for all students, families, and communities around the schools. By making sure to provide differentiation of instruction in the classroom helps a lot in closing the achievement gap. Differentiation allow teachers to be able to reach all the learners in their classroom by providing instruction that tailors to the way they all learn. By implementing literacy programs during school hours, after school tutoring programs, positive social activities for the families, and incorporating the needs of the community around the school when planning future programs will help to ensure that everyone is reaching the goal that everyone can learn when provided the opportunity and resources to learn, no matter the different gaps in literacy between students, schools, communities, races, and the like. A few good articles to read about how schools have tackled the achievement gap are:

 

• Carter, P.L. and Welner, K.G. (eds.). (2013). Closing the opportunity gap: What America must do to give every child an even chance. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Read Ch 7, Barnett & Lamy, “Achievement gaps start early: Preschool can help” (pp. 98-110).

• Green, T. (2015). Leading for urban school reform and community development. Educational Administration Quarterly, 51(5), 679-711.

• Jencks, C. and Phillips, M. (eds.). (1998). The black-white test score gap. Washington, DC: Brookings Institute Press. Read Ch 1, Jencks & Phillips, “Introduction” (pp. 1-54).

• Rothstein, R. (2004). Class and schools: Using social, economic, and educational reform to close the black-white achievement gap. Washington, DC: Economic Policy Institute. Read Ch 1, “Social class, student achievement, and the black-white achievement gap” (pp. 13-60).

​

Of course there were other courses that impacted and restructured my professional teaching philosophies for the better. I now have a different approach as to how I teach my students. As I continue to grow in my profession, I will always make sure to take into account where my students came from, what knowledge they already have, what opportunities needed to be afforded to them in order to learn successfully, and how I can positively impact their future as their teacher by providing the best educational experiences possible.

​

All while taking courses at MSU for my Master’s I had been tested in all areas of my life. I was tested emotionally, physically, and intellectually. As I mentioned earlier, in addition to taking courses for my Master’s, I had two jobs and had personal problems as well. I was diagnosed with Lupus back in 2005 and Fibromyalgia in 2009. How was it that I had to endure pain from two diagnoses in such little time? You never know how much strength you have until strength is  all you have to rely on when you are at your wits end. As I was learning more about how to be a better educator, I was also learning how to face my obstacles head on. I realized that without the proper health care, I’d be in bad shape. That got me thinking about my students. How many of them have proper health care? Are their parents able to get them to doctor appointments and the hospital if need be? How does their health affect how they learn? There were times when I just shut down from the pain of both diseases and couldn’t finish my coursework. Luckily I had some great instructors who did all they could to help me pass every course and for that I am forever grateful. I said all that to say, when educating students, their personal background is as much important to their educational experiences as any other influences. We have to see what it is our students struggle with, help them to overcome it by providing other opportunities for them in the classroom that still ensures their success. Every child comes with their own obstacles, their own learning challenges, and their own level of understanding. As their teacher, I promise to take all I learned throughout graduate school to make sure none of those obstacles get the best of them. The road I traveled to get my Masters was a rough one, but it was worth every step of the way. I am a much better educator and person because of the courses and challenges I experienced.