Showcase of Work
Over the course of my studies the main theme was leadership which was mostly displayed through reading about different leadership styles or examples of leadership. However I also took a few courses in special education and I think the course that will help me the most going forward was in technology. I have organized my work in three sections: book reviews, special education and technology. My coursework has been very helpful to me in seeing the bigger picture in education. I am happy to share some of my work here.
Book Reviews
This is a book review of Atul Gawande's Better. This book appealed to me even though he was writing about the medical field. Really the book was all about doing the little things to the best of our ability and if we do the little things correctly our work will be "better."
This book was by Howard Gardner and it embodied the three virtues he felt were necessary to teach in our now media driven world. I found this book to be very interesting as it takes us away from all the technology and back to the core of why I wanted to teach. To me teaching is about building relationships and to do that you have to teach kids these virtues.
Piano Lessons
This book I found interesting as Noah Adams gave an account of his yearlong journey into buying a Steinway Piano and learning how to play it. The book lead us to look into things that we have taught ourselves and how we navigated our own journey. I think as a teacher, it is important to be able to relate to students about things that have taken time to master and learn.
Special Education
This is a sample Individualized Education Plan I co-wrote with a partner. As a special education teacher this was a fairly simple practice for me but it was fun to help guide my partner as he had never written one before.
This is a sample transition plan. This was a great project for me as a big part of my job is getting kids ready to transition to the next stage in their life. For this student we were writing a plan to continue his education at a program for students with moderate cognitive impairments ages 20-26.
Technology
This book made me look at my own relationship with technology and reconsider how I use it in my personal life. William Powers writes about the benefits we all enjoy, but also the potential harmful effects from too much technology in our lives.
This was a very beneficial project for me to do at the time as we were on and off of school all year. This class really helped me figure out google classroom a little more make my class more accessible.
The classroom code is 3yx76b5
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This is a technology biography where I reflected on my use of technology both personally and professionally. It plays off of Hamlet's Blackberry a bit as that was an eye opening book to me. In my reflection I found myself noticing things from articles we read that I was experiencing myself, which led to me cutting back on social media and use of my phone to be more present in my surroundings.