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As soon as I finished my bachelor's degree I knew I needed to continue to by education. I had been going to school since my preschool years and knew that if I took a break it may be hard to get the motivation to go back, as I also just got my first job as a kindergarten teacher. I searched around for online universities, but didn’t feel any of them met my educational standards. I wanted to attend a university with a great reputation, the highest learning standards, and a manageable schedule for a new teacher who was just beginning her career in education. The answer was clear; Michigan State University is where I needed to go. As I wrote my educational goal statement to the admissions department at Michigan State University, I began better understand why it was important for me to attend this university. Yes, it would fulfill the requirements for my teaching certificate, but more than that, it would give me an opportunity to expand my knowledge areas in which that I loved.



Once admitted into the online master’s program, I began to look at areas I wanted to expand my knowledge in. Literacy has always been my first passion in education, so this was a clear choice for me. Michigan State offered some dynamic courses that would give me precise expertise in this area. Literacy would now become my first area of concentration. After beginning the school year in the elementary school I worked, it became very clear, very fast, that another area of concentration that would be beneficial for my students and I would be special education. Special education students were being mainstreamed into the classrooms and I needed the tools to understand the variety of different learning styles these children had. I needed the tools to give these students as much success as the typical student in my classroom. Therefore, my second area of concentration would be special education. I would soon find out that both these areas of education would be beneficial to my profession, my students, and me personally.



One of my favorite courses I took was TE 846, Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners. This course was wonderful for helping me find ways to meet the needs of all the early learning literacy students in my classroom. Since I teach kindergarten, I always start the year with students who don’t even to how to write their names or even the letters in their names, to students who are reading books. How do you accommodate all the different literacy learners? TE 846 was a great course to help me achieve this.



During TE 846, we worked to the end goal of creating a comprehensive case study for a struggling student. From the beginning of this course, the professor Dr. Troia, asked us to pick a student who was struggling in literacy. I remember picking one of my youngest male students who struggled with “wanting” to learn literacy and therefore struggled actually learning it. In my kindergarten classroom, literacy is the single, most important part of my teaching and is the building block for all subjects in kindergarten.  My students' success depends on how well they achieve in their literacy skills and getting there is sometimes a hard process.  As a teacher, I try to differentiate my instruction to meet the needs of all my students, however this is not always effective for all my students.  The student I worked with throughout my case study was one who struggles with some aspects of early literacy.  More specifically with phonemic awareness and his ability to decode unknown words.  Phonemic Awareness is one of the building blocks to literary success.  For my case study, I ended up with a thorough write up and documents to show where my student began, what we did, and the goals we achieved. I believe this assignment was one of my most comprehensive assignments I had to do, and I was very proud of what I accomplished. 



Another course I found to be very meaningful was CEP 843, Autism Spectrum Disorders: Characteristic and Educational Implications. This course was especially meaningful because during this semester I had a student with Autism. With this course, the help of the special education teacher, and all other support I received, I was able to make huge progress with this student. Not only was his first grade teacher grateful the following year, but the principal and my colleagues were also impressed as well. Although it was very nice to hear, I have to credit many others for my student's success. Most notably would be the course CEP 843.



During CEP 843 we were involved in various discussions, read books, articles and other literature on the disorder, reflected upon what we read, as well as created things for our students with Autism. Just the literature alone gave me a better understanding of Autism. One of the books that I read, Breaking Autism’s Barriers: A Father’s Story by Bill Davis had a huge impact on me. Bill Davis; a father of a child with Autism, describes the fight to overcome the physical, emotional, public, educational, and therapeutic obstacles his family had to endure. It used the perspective of a father, and showed his family’s journey. The book was endearing and gave me real life perspective. It gave me useful information to help me understand diagnosis, effective education, skilled therapists, and funding for Autism. It was a very inspirational story and opened my heart to the disability at a time where I was becoming very frustrated.



Another one of the assignments that I found to have instant gratification in CEP 843 was the transition plan I created for my student with Autism. This transition allowed me to collaborate with all the people who worked closely with this student and come up with a plan to help him have better transitions throughout the day. These transitions included going from carpet time to his desk, getting ready for lunch, coming in from recess, going to essentials, etc. Some of the things we used with him have now carried over, and are being used with his first grade teacher.



Although literacy and special education were my areas of concentration, the program also allowed for me to take a few elective courses of my choice. Technology has had a huge influence on education and I believe will continue to have a huge impact. One course that I found very useful was CEP 850, Technology and Literacy for Students with Mild Disabilities. This course would allow me to use technology to help my struggling literacy students. This course was comprised of not only my passion for literacy, but also special education and technology.



During this course we were introduced to many different technologies to help struggling students. By the end of the course we were asked to pick students who were struggling in literacy, the areas they needed help, and to comprise a plan to help these students meet their goals. I was able to create a plan that used many different technologies. This was a great experience because I can honestly say I now use some of these technologies for even my typical students. The plan I created not only helped my students meet their goals, but also gave these students the confidence to succeed in other areas as well.



With technology, I feel it can make it easier for struggling students. For example, imagine a kindergarten student who was unable to write when the others around them were writing. What if the student knew the assignment, what to do, but just couldn’t get it out on paper? What if you gave a student an iPad and allowed them to use voice recognition software to write what they were thinking? If you’re not assessing on writing, does it matter if they use this technology to show you what they know through this technology? My answer would be no. In order to help students I plan to use all the technology I can. Technology is not simply a tool that you have in your classroom and can pull out for certain lessons, but something that should be integrated into EVERY lesson. Technology can be used in many ways and is our future. It has changed the world we live in and will continue to do so. It affects human life, and is the children of today’s future. As teachers it is our job to set children up for success. Technology is their way of life and we need make it ours. It can bring opportunities to struggling students and typical students, and gives them more opportunities to be successful. This course broadened my knowledge of so many technologies.  I feel fortunate to have been able to take this course, and I know my students are too.



Lastly, I would like to talk about ED 870, the Capstone course. This course was one that would challenge me in the sense that I would need to make a website showcasing my work for Michigan State’s online master’s program. I was able to create a webpage that I feel is professional and shows my vast knowledge in my areas of concentration.  As for the technology aspect, the capstone course has given me an opportunity to reflect upon my time spent at Michigan State and articulate through the use of technology all that this program has taught me.



The Capstone course has also given me an opportunity to write essays reflecting on my original goal statement that I wrote to the admissions department as well as what I see in the future in my Future as a Learner essay. After reflecting upon both, the answer is clear. Continuing education will always be a priority for me. I want to continue to evolve as an educator and never want to be stagnate in education and molding the lives of children. My time spent at Michigan State has given me even more of a drive to do so. As of now I do not have a definite plan for the future, but my goal is still the same. I will continue my education, forever.



It truly has been a rewarding, challenging and life-changing experience to be apart of this master’s program. I am very sad this journey has come to an end but look forward to what is to come. I know the benefits I have because of this program, and what it will bring for me in the future. I will forever be grateful fro my time spent at Michigan State and hope to return in the future. I have been asked by a former professor to think about continuing my graduate studies and work with him as a teacher assistant. I feel just him asking is a huge compliment, and one that I don’t know if I could pass up. Until next time, I look forward to what the future holds.