Forever a Spartan, Forever a Learner
Megan Carnaghi
For as long as I can remember I have wanted to be an elementary teacher. I have a deeply rooted passion for teaching others and for working with young children. With the impeccable reputation MSU’s College of Education has, there was also never a doubt in my mind that I wanted to be a Spartan. Throughout my numerous field placements in various elementary settings, I became fascinated with the integration of technology into the classroom, or in some placements, the lack there of. Technology has certainly come a long way since my elementary days and I constantly find myself in awe at the realm of possibilities for technology uses in the classroom.
In February of 2010, as my yearlong student teaching internship was winding down, I began to think about which Master’s program I would pursue. I knew I wanted to continue my education through Michigan State, but was unsure of which program to apply for. It was around this same time I had the privilege of attending the MACUL conference. While browsing kiosk after kiosk and exploring the different technologies, I came across the MSU MAET program table. I quickly became lost in conversation with Leigh Graves Wolf, and it didn’t take me long to realize that the MAET program was something I wanted to be a part of. And so, in the summer of 2010, I began my MAET journey.
I entered the MAET program with six credits from my student teaching internship. Thus, I only had eight courses left to take in order to complete the program. At the same time I began the MAET program, I also landed my first teaching job in East Lansing Public Schools. Thus, as it would be my first few years of teaching, I decided to only take my MAET courses during the summer, 2-3 at a time. This would allow me to complete the program within 2-3 years. I quickly found, however, that I was enjoying the courses so much, and utilizing so much of what I was learning in my own classroom, that I began taking courses every semester following my first year of teaching.
While all of the courses I have taken through the MAET program have positively impacted my life and my classroom in one way or another, there are three courses in particular that have been very profound for me. The first one, CEP 811 (Adapting Innovative Technologies to Education), I took during my first semester in the MAET program (summer 2010). The second one, CEP 812 (Applying Educational Technology to Problems of Practice), I took in the spring of 2011, near the end of my first year of teaching. The third was actually not just one course, but three courses wrapped into one summer cohort. During the summer of 2011, I took CEP 800 (Learning in Social and Other Settings), CEP 815 (Technology and Leadership), and CEP 822 (Approaches to Educational Research), as part of the Year 2 East Lansing Summer Cohort. These two courses and cohort have really shaped my MAET experience and have had an immense impact on my classroom and have changed the way I view technology integration.
As stated above, I took CEP 811 during the summer of 2011. I began my first MAET courses at the same time I found out I would completing my first year of teaching in a first grade classroom in East Lansing Public Schools. Thus, I was eager and excited to begin my coursework, so I could apply what I learned in my own classroom. CEP 811 really helped me to change and advance my views on integrating technology into the classroom. It was through this course that I really began to think critically and creatively about how I wanted to use technology in my own classroom for the upcoming school year. Specifically, it was through the creation of the StAIR (Stand Alone Instructional Resource) and Webquest projects that I really started to realize how technology could be used collaboratively with curriculum and pedagogy to provide engaging and effective instruction.
Prior to my teaching experiences in kindergarten and first grade classrooms, I had always held the misconception that young students were very limited in their technology capabilities. Admittedly, when I first began the MAET program, I worried about how much I would really benefit from it, as I would be teaching lower elementary students. I feared that the program would be entirely geared for upper elementary and secondary students and that I would struggle to make connections between what I was doing in my courses and what I was doing in the classroom. Likewise, when I initially began CEP 811 and learned about the Webquest and StAIR assignments, I questioned their relevance in my first grade classroom. I thought it would be impossible for my students to use a StAIR or Webquest independently. As I began learning about the structure of the StAIR and studying others’ StAIR examples (which were mostly geared toward secondary students), I began to think critically about how I could make use of the StAIR in my classroom. I decided to make a StAIR about economics. I wanted to take a core subject many students, especially younger students, struggle with in terms of their level of engagement with and understanding of and make it interesting and engaging for them. Likewise, I really tried to push my thinking with the Webquest project as well. I decided to create a science Webquest about weather. When looking through StAIR examples, I was really inspired by the work of Jessica Steffel. Once I realized another first grade teacher was utilizing the StAIR and Webquest in her classroom, I felt motivated and excited to use them in my future classroom. Jessica became an inspiration for me and I turned to her work throughout much of the MAET program for ideas and motivation.
With the completion of CEP 811 began my first year of teaching. I was both nervous and excited to utilize the StAIR and Webquest projects with my students. My coursework and collaboration with other educators through CEP 811 had left me with a newfound motivation and determination to effectively integrate technology into the classroom throughout my first year of teaching. Both the StAIR and Webquest were a huge success with the students and proved to be not only within my students’ realm of capability, but also very engaging and motivating for many students. After conquering the StAIR and Webquest independently, I found many of my students had a newfound confidence when it came to using technology, and computer lab time quickly became the students’ favorite time of the week. The students felt empowered by what they were able to accomplish through the StAIR and Websquest and for many of them, it sparked a curiosity and passion for learning about new technologies. Likewise, with the huge success of the StAIR and Webquest in my classroom, I also had a newfound confidence in my ability to effectively integrate technology into the classroom, as well as in my students’ ability to learn about and effectively utilize a variety of technologies in the classroom.
My journey through the MAET program continued with CEP 812 in the spring of 2011. Much like CEP 811, CEP 812 proved to be both inspirational and motivating to me. This course helped me to find my “second wind” at the end of a very long first year of teaching. It was through this course that the concept of TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge) was reintroduced to me and helped me to continue to think critically about how to effectively integrate technology into my classroom. Likewise, the Wicked Problem Project provided me with another great opportunity to really push my thinking in terms of effective technology integration into the classroom. Moreover, I used this project as an opportunity to reach out to a student in my class who was really struggling, both academically and socially.
This student had come to me midway through the year. He began the year in second grade, but due to an immense lack of academic abilities, as well as some severe emotional issues, it was decided he would benefit from an extra semester in first grade. From the time her first entered my classroom, this particular student both frustrated me to no end, but also tugged at my heartstrings. He had been through much more than a child of his age should ever have to go through, and he really struggled behaviorally as a result of a chaotic and unhealthy home life. Preoccupied with emotional issues, most days he was very unengaged and disconnected from what was going on in the classroom. Because he was inhibited by emotional stress, he was unable to attend in the classroom and he struggled academically. Reading at a kindergarten level, I felt very lost and hopeless in terms of how to help him succeed as a learner. The Wicked Problem Project served as the perfect means for connecting with him and helping him achieve some level of academic success. Using Audacity and MP3 players, I let the student record his own audio books to listen to during independent reading time. This not only gave me a chance to work one-on-one with him and give him the individual attention he was so craving, but also helped to engage him in reading and find confidence in himself as a learned. The success I had with this student inspired my to continue my Wicked Problem Project in my classroom this year, to help other struggling readers. It also inspired me to let all of my students record their own audio books to help engage them during independent reading time, as well as gave me the idea to use MP3 players to record students’ running records. This way my students, their families and I can track and celebrate their literacy successes throughout the year.
As my first year of teaching came to a close and my summer vacation began, so did my Year 2 East Lansing Summer Cohort experience. The cohort combined three courses into a six weeklong hybrid of face-to-face and online learning. First we came together for two weeks on MSU’s campus for a very intense, fast-paced learning experience. Then, we spent the next four weeks working independently online. We came together for one final meeting to celebrate all we had accomplished. The experience was an incredible one that I will never forget. People from all over the world came together to create a very diverse, yet very cohesive and inspirational learning community.
One of the biggest factors that drew me to the MAET program was the online learning component. I have always been a huge supporter of online courses. For me, online courses provide flexibility, a chance for self-discovery and independent learning, as well as a very unique learning experience. What I learned through the Year 2 East Lansing Summer Cohort experience, however, is that there is something to be said for face-to-face learning. The cohort experience really helped me to make sense of the MAET program in its entirety, as it was wonderful to meet many of the people I had worked online with in previous MAET courses. For me, the cohort experience really tied together all of the big ideas we had covered throughout the other MAET courses. It was so amazing to come together with this unique group of people and, together, make sense of all we had learned in the MAET program thus far. It was motivating and inspiring to share and hear others’ ideas about integrating technology into the classroom. Great friends, great resources, and great discoveries were gained from my cohort experience, and I am forever grateful for that experience.
All in all, I couldn’t have asked for a better experience with the MAET program; it has far exceeded my expectations. The program proved to be challenging, engaging, motivating, thought provoking and eye opening. Though I am sad to see it end, I am grateful for all I have gained through the MAET program. Despite the end of this chapter in my life, I know I will forever be a Spartan and forever be a learner.
In February of 2010, as my yearlong student teaching internship was winding down, I began to think about which Master’s program I would pursue. I knew I wanted to continue my education through Michigan State, but was unsure of which program to apply for. It was around this same time I had the privilege of attending the MACUL conference. While browsing kiosk after kiosk and exploring the different technologies, I came across the MSU MAET program table. I quickly became lost in conversation with Leigh Graves Wolf, and it didn’t take me long to realize that the MAET program was something I wanted to be a part of. And so, in the summer of 2010, I began my MAET journey.
I entered the MAET program with six credits from my student teaching internship. Thus, I only had eight courses left to take in order to complete the program. At the same time I began the MAET program, I also landed my first teaching job in East Lansing Public Schools. Thus, as it would be my first few years of teaching, I decided to only take my MAET courses during the summer, 2-3 at a time. This would allow me to complete the program within 2-3 years. I quickly found, however, that I was enjoying the courses so much, and utilizing so much of what I was learning in my own classroom, that I began taking courses every semester following my first year of teaching.
While all of the courses I have taken through the MAET program have positively impacted my life and my classroom in one way or another, there are three courses in particular that have been very profound for me. The first one, CEP 811 (Adapting Innovative Technologies to Education), I took during my first semester in the MAET program (summer 2010). The second one, CEP 812 (Applying Educational Technology to Problems of Practice), I took in the spring of 2011, near the end of my first year of teaching. The third was actually not just one course, but three courses wrapped into one summer cohort. During the summer of 2011, I took CEP 800 (Learning in Social and Other Settings), CEP 815 (Technology and Leadership), and CEP 822 (Approaches to Educational Research), as part of the Year 2 East Lansing Summer Cohort. These two courses and cohort have really shaped my MAET experience and have had an immense impact on my classroom and have changed the way I view technology integration.
As stated above, I took CEP 811 during the summer of 2011. I began my first MAET courses at the same time I found out I would completing my first year of teaching in a first grade classroom in East Lansing Public Schools. Thus, I was eager and excited to begin my coursework, so I could apply what I learned in my own classroom. CEP 811 really helped me to change and advance my views on integrating technology into the classroom. It was through this course that I really began to think critically and creatively about how I wanted to use technology in my own classroom for the upcoming school year. Specifically, it was through the creation of the StAIR (Stand Alone Instructional Resource) and Webquest projects that I really started to realize how technology could be used collaboratively with curriculum and pedagogy to provide engaging and effective instruction.
Prior to my teaching experiences in kindergarten and first grade classrooms, I had always held the misconception that young students were very limited in their technology capabilities. Admittedly, when I first began the MAET program, I worried about how much I would really benefit from it, as I would be teaching lower elementary students. I feared that the program would be entirely geared for upper elementary and secondary students and that I would struggle to make connections between what I was doing in my courses and what I was doing in the classroom. Likewise, when I initially began CEP 811 and learned about the Webquest and StAIR assignments, I questioned their relevance in my first grade classroom. I thought it would be impossible for my students to use a StAIR or Webquest independently. As I began learning about the structure of the StAIR and studying others’ StAIR examples (which were mostly geared toward secondary students), I began to think critically about how I could make use of the StAIR in my classroom. I decided to make a StAIR about economics. I wanted to take a core subject many students, especially younger students, struggle with in terms of their level of engagement with and understanding of and make it interesting and engaging for them. Likewise, I really tried to push my thinking with the Webquest project as well. I decided to create a science Webquest about weather. When looking through StAIR examples, I was really inspired by the work of Jessica Steffel. Once I realized another first grade teacher was utilizing the StAIR and Webquest in her classroom, I felt motivated and excited to use them in my future classroom. Jessica became an inspiration for me and I turned to her work throughout much of the MAET program for ideas and motivation.
With the completion of CEP 811 began my first year of teaching. I was both nervous and excited to utilize the StAIR and Webquest projects with my students. My coursework and collaboration with other educators through CEP 811 had left me with a newfound motivation and determination to effectively integrate technology into the classroom throughout my first year of teaching. Both the StAIR and Webquest were a huge success with the students and proved to be not only within my students’ realm of capability, but also very engaging and motivating for many students. After conquering the StAIR and Webquest independently, I found many of my students had a newfound confidence when it came to using technology, and computer lab time quickly became the students’ favorite time of the week. The students felt empowered by what they were able to accomplish through the StAIR and Websquest and for many of them, it sparked a curiosity and passion for learning about new technologies. Likewise, with the huge success of the StAIR and Webquest in my classroom, I also had a newfound confidence in my ability to effectively integrate technology into the classroom, as well as in my students’ ability to learn about and effectively utilize a variety of technologies in the classroom.
My journey through the MAET program continued with CEP 812 in the spring of 2011. Much like CEP 811, CEP 812 proved to be both inspirational and motivating to me. This course helped me to find my “second wind” at the end of a very long first year of teaching. It was through this course that the concept of TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge) was reintroduced to me and helped me to continue to think critically about how to effectively integrate technology into my classroom. Likewise, the Wicked Problem Project provided me with another great opportunity to really push my thinking in terms of effective technology integration into the classroom. Moreover, I used this project as an opportunity to reach out to a student in my class who was really struggling, both academically and socially.
This student had come to me midway through the year. He began the year in second grade, but due to an immense lack of academic abilities, as well as some severe emotional issues, it was decided he would benefit from an extra semester in first grade. From the time her first entered my classroom, this particular student both frustrated me to no end, but also tugged at my heartstrings. He had been through much more than a child of his age should ever have to go through, and he really struggled behaviorally as a result of a chaotic and unhealthy home life. Preoccupied with emotional issues, most days he was very unengaged and disconnected from what was going on in the classroom. Because he was inhibited by emotional stress, he was unable to attend in the classroom and he struggled academically. Reading at a kindergarten level, I felt very lost and hopeless in terms of how to help him succeed as a learner. The Wicked Problem Project served as the perfect means for connecting with him and helping him achieve some level of academic success. Using Audacity and MP3 players, I let the student record his own audio books to listen to during independent reading time. This not only gave me a chance to work one-on-one with him and give him the individual attention he was so craving, but also helped to engage him in reading and find confidence in himself as a learned. The success I had with this student inspired my to continue my Wicked Problem Project in my classroom this year, to help other struggling readers. It also inspired me to let all of my students record their own audio books to help engage them during independent reading time, as well as gave me the idea to use MP3 players to record students’ running records. This way my students, their families and I can track and celebrate their literacy successes throughout the year.
As my first year of teaching came to a close and my summer vacation began, so did my Year 2 East Lansing Summer Cohort experience. The cohort combined three courses into a six weeklong hybrid of face-to-face and online learning. First we came together for two weeks on MSU’s campus for a very intense, fast-paced learning experience. Then, we spent the next four weeks working independently online. We came together for one final meeting to celebrate all we had accomplished. The experience was an incredible one that I will never forget. People from all over the world came together to create a very diverse, yet very cohesive and inspirational learning community.
One of the biggest factors that drew me to the MAET program was the online learning component. I have always been a huge supporter of online courses. For me, online courses provide flexibility, a chance for self-discovery and independent learning, as well as a very unique learning experience. What I learned through the Year 2 East Lansing Summer Cohort experience, however, is that there is something to be said for face-to-face learning. The cohort experience really helped me to make sense of the MAET program in its entirety, as it was wonderful to meet many of the people I had worked online with in previous MAET courses. For me, the cohort experience really tied together all of the big ideas we had covered throughout the other MAET courses. It was so amazing to come together with this unique group of people and, together, make sense of all we had learned in the MAET program thus far. It was motivating and inspiring to share and hear others’ ideas about integrating technology into the classroom. Great friends, great resources, and great discoveries were gained from my cohort experience, and I am forever grateful for that experience.
All in all, I couldn’t have asked for a better experience with the MAET program; it has far exceeded my expectations. The program proved to be challenging, engaging, motivating, thought provoking and eye opening. Though I am sad to see it end, I am grateful for all I have gained through the MAET program. Despite the end of this chapter in my life, I know I will forever be a Spartan and forever be a learner.