A jigsaw puzzle is known as being composed of many different, oddly sized and shaped pieces that when combined together, form a complete picture of detailed proportion. As I reflect on my time before the Master of Arts in Education (MAED) program at Michigan State University and my progression through it, with each defining moment, I add another piece to my puzzle that will eventually form a complete picture of me. Throughout my life, I’ve experienced these defining moments that form the values and beliefs I possess today. Moments that are meaningless to others that are so impactful to me, have given rise to an incredulous eagerness that has only intensified throughout my time in the MAED program at Michigan State University.
Years ago while on an annual visit to my spouse’s hometown, a rural village in southern China, rather than confining myself at home, my curiosity led me to visit the local kindergartens in the area to learn further about the differences between western and local schools. The role of family, culture, and community play critical roles within the early childhood stage and as I stepped over the empty soda bottles strewn across the path that led to the iron gated entrance and shooed the chickens away, I entered a nearby kindergarten. It was a holiday therefore no students were present, but a large group of people who took over the ground floor of the school to have their Chinese New Year reunion dinner full of tasty local cuisine, toasts to a better year, and games of Mahjong. Climbing the steps of this three-
story building full of makeshift classrooms with the sounds of laughter and the smell of cigarette smoke rising up through the staircase overwhelmed me with a sense of sorrow and frustration. As McDevitt and Ormrod (2013) emphasize the effects of the environment on children within the early childhood age, I could only think because of the culture and community of this impoverished area, this environment had become normalized and accepted. This kindergarten, after ten years of illegal occupancy, finally closed this year as the community banded together to advocate for the remodeling of a preschool through grade six facility that still was well within the means of the local standard. However, how many years of children passed through the kindergarten, never getting the environment that was needed to foster their growth into the next phase of development.
Nine months pregnant, enjoying a Chinese New Year lunch.
Classroom with desks.
Interesting poster that tells what foods should not be eaten together as they will cause internal discomfort for different body parts (following traditional Chinese medicine beliefs).
Nine months pregnant, enjoying a Chinese New Year lunch.
It is moments like these in which I knew that the research and insightful guidance from renowned instructors within the field of education that I would study under within the MAED program would help me to see that I can make change happen. I would be given the necessary methods and tools to learn how to give back to the schools and communities that were in need in a productive and culturally appropriate way, learning how to create a classroom of unbridled learning. The MAED program has given me many pieces to add to my puzzle along with a helping hand to show me how these pieces fit.
Laying out the pieces
I am what you would consider an alternative educator as I did not graduate as an education major. Originally, I did not see teaching as a career that I would spend my life doing, but after spending ten years teaching in China, I accumulated questions about the pedagogy of teaching, how to improve the climate of the classroom, have better management practices and generally, how can I be a better teacher. This led me to the realization that this will become a lifelong career. Living in this day and age, the availability of information about these topics is limitless so finding the answers to my questions appeared simple enough. The reality was that the pieces of the puzzle were scattered about, but I didn’t know which piece to pick up first and begin. When looking at the teacher I was before
entering the MAED program, comparing myself then to who I am now, the changes are unfathomable. Advancing through the MAED program, I learned how to not just be a teacher, but an effective teacher with a plan. Teaching English language learners has been my sole position and it is one that I love and in order to provide the appropriate instruction for this diverse group of learners, I took all that I studied throughout this program and immediately began to apply it to the real situations in my classroom. The course texts, group collaborations and attentive professors truly helped me approach teaching with a vision for success. Having access to those
who have experienced what my struggles and challenges are and treating me as an equal, using their expertise to help me thrive has been my most cherished resource. Now, teaching is no longer a passive position as it was before because of all the uncertainties I held, but a call for action.
Choosing the right pieces
The pliability that the MAED program offers has allowed me to explore and tailor an educational experience that is suited to my needs. Throughout this program I have taken a mix of courses found within the Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Special Education (CEPSE) and Department of Teacher Education. Every course that I have taken in the program required ambitious leadership skills and a willingness, along with an open mind to not just accept what scholarly literature proposes, but to pursue my own research, examine my own findings and utilize them. I need to continuously form my own inquiries and solutions to the challenges that I faced. For a long period of time, I often felt that my responsibilities had to be performed and completed solely by me, but nearly each course in the MAED program made it essential that we collaborate with our classmates in small groups to complete projects such as classroom management or behavioral plans. Ultimately, I became aware that some puzzles can’t be completed alone in that working with others makes for a pleasant and insightful experience. Notably, there were three specific courses that left a deep impression on the way I teach and see myself as an educator. Not only was the course content enlightening, but the profound imprint that my professors and classmates left only helped to certify that in this line of work, there are many amazing individuals zealously working to make a difference in the future of students around the world.
Corner pieces
When putting together a puzzle, one common strategy that most people begin with is finding the corner or outside edges. These provide the outline, the silhouette of the future completed picture. With these firmly in place, there is a sense of organization and direction. The
step-by-step of picking pieces and trying to interlock them begins and repeatedly cycles until the puzzle is finished. I would like to spend some time talking about the significance of three courses that were the sturdy corner pieces of my MAED program.
CEP832: Educating Students with Challenging Behaviors
Typically across each classroom, there are “tough to teach” kids. These students display psychological and/or behavioral characteristics that make the job of a teacher quite taxing day in and day out. They can be difficult to teach as they are often disruptive, require long-term treatment, and can frustrate teachers due to lack of progress (Brophy, 2010). I’ve always had a few of these students in the classes I’ve taught over the years and truth be told, felt unprepared and unable to manage the classroom effectively when things got out of hand. This class was meaningful to me in that I learned, through research-based practices, how to be effective with these students. Developing a relationship with
the student and their family is of utmost importance. This course emphasized two key ideas which consisted of understanding the challenging behavior and making connections from the course to our classroom. This was accomplished through two particular tasks: group case discussions and an ABC project.
The group case discussions were a weekly assignment involving myself and three other classmates in which we were given a “real world” situation involving a fictitious student whose characteristics were of the particular problem we were focusing on that week. The types of problem students that were studied throughout the semester fell within four broad categories: achievement, hostility, role-adjustment, and social relationship problems. Within each of these groups, further distinct problems were observed and assessed. The group I was assigned to work with was brilliant and we offered solid, research-driven solutions. The ideas we shared and great communication skills we all had helped to bolster the support we had for each other and our contributions to the group. As a group, we far succeeded our expectations and proved the merits of collaboration over acting alone.
© Guilford Press
Most touching to me was the semester-long ABC (Addressing Challenging Behaviors) project. Using all of the knowledge that I learned throughout the course from texts and discussions, I selected an actual student of mine who displayed multiple challenging behaviors that I learned about in the course. I spent a substantial amount of time describing the student’s behavior, observing and analyzing the behavior, and designing in and out of class strategies. Following, I implemented the strategies and evaluated the strategies based on their effectiveness. While I would like to boast about how my strategies transformed my student, in fact, one strategy completely failed and the other only produced minimal change. Change nonetheless, but it was humbling to fail. Recognizing that a setback is not the end of the world was a good feeling. I learned an innumerable amount of positive support strategies and persevered. Personalizing my instruction for individual students rather than for the class as a whole has helped me to become the school professional I envisioned myself to be.
TE842: Elementary Reading Assessment & Instruction
One of the biggest challenges that I’ve faced in my teaching career has been knowing how to adequately assess English language learners’ listening, speaking, reading, and writing abilities. Over the years as I became more experienced, I felt that it became easier to evaluate a student’s English capability based on the hundreds of students that I had taught before. However, for all the experience I had garnered, I never knew how to do a research-based, professionally-supported assessment until I joined this course. The entirety of the course focused on introducing common assessments used in reading instruction which I gained proficiency in and made applicable in my student data analysis projects throughout the semester. Similar to the fictional students I was assigned in CEP832, I was given a fairly large amount of data about a struggling reader. After evaluating the student’s assessments, I made conclusions and proposed what type of specialized instruction was needed in order for this student to be brought up to the current standard for their grade level based on Common Core State Standards.
The two texts in the course, Assessment for Reading Instruction and Words Their Way: Word Study for Phonics, Vocabulary, and Spelling Instruction were the most powerful textbooks I have used in my master’s program. When I say power, I mean that these two books sat on my desk in my office at work and I would constantly fan through them when I had a free moment. The texts themselves offer a detailed look at orthographic development, word study developmental stages, informal reading inventories, and assessing word recognition, spelling, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and strategic knowledge. Nearly 100 extra pages of assessment materials supplement this text. As I had no experience with this material beforehand, I felt intimidated. My professor patiently spent time personally helping me understand the assessments and offered her guidance. As I continued on, I developed a passion for this type of research and assessment as I was able to
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genuinely give students the right instruction. I have already gone on to use several of these assessments with my actual students. Now, I feel I have the best measures to allow me to know what my students’ needs are and when I encounter readers who are struggling in the future, I’ll be ready.
TE849: Methods and Materials for Teaching Children’s and Adolescent Literature
As an adult, I can say that before this course, I had lost the magic that can be found in children’s and young adult literature. After having a bad experience involving myself being teased for being an adult reading a young adult novel, I put off all children’s literature that wasn’t being read in my classroom. Beyond this lousy experience, I didn’t think there was any element in children’s and YA literature that as an adult, I didn’t already understand. Fortunately, I was stunned to find out how rich and easily immersed I became in the literature I read throughout the course. Each week, I read one to three pieces of literature that dealt with youth and marginalized communities. Engaging with the texts through written responses and class discussions, I began to understand the term “difference” on a new level. How the authors represented power and identity through their stories allowed me to be a better advocate for conversations about diversity in the classroom. All of the chosen books were award-winning culturally diverse pieces. Considering the current state of the nation, the books I read have become ever so relevant. One book in particular, All-American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, stirred such strong emotion in me that I felt my temper flair and heart race as I actually felt like the protagonist had been a friend of mine. The effects of this class still affect me today as I now have a better understanding of how to involve children and young adults in literature that deals with topics of diversity.
© Scholastic Press
© Atheneum Books for Young Readers
© Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
The final piece
Holding the last piece of the puzzle gives such a rush of accomplishment. I did it! All that time and effort has paid off. Now, I get to see the reward for all my efforts. As I put the last piece in its place, I marvel at the complete image. I’ve completed the puzzle, and yet, it still doesn’t feel done. Even with the years of experience being in the classroom, I still feel that my knowledge of educational pedagogy is still in its infancy. There is much room for growth and improvement. There are many passionate people in this field and their willingness to collaborate has allowed me to develop an immense network of professionals around the globe. Through them, I gained the confidence to succeed and not be burdened by negative intrusive thoughts of imposter syndrome. Most importantly, I've become
patient in my practice along with the class management skills that I have honed throughout the program. Giving students the individualized attention they need is when differences begin to appear. It’s imperative to continue reading the most up-to-date research findings and what it means for the field of education as a whole and what it means in my classroom. Especially within the field of English as a Second Language (ESL), I discovered that while there is a significant amount of research that has been conducted, there are still large areas still left to be investigated.
I’ve come to enjoy the process of research a great deal to where I have made the decision to pursue doctoral studies in education in the near future. I know that by being active and asking questions, I am working towards the betterment of my students, community, and the world. I know that I have the ability to succeed in what I do as long as I have a vision so as I set my sights on another challenging puzzle, I look forward to the picture it holds.
References
Bear, D. R., Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S., & Johnston, F. (2011). Words their way: Word study for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Brophy, J. (1996). Teaching problem students. New York: Guilford. ISBN 978-1-57230-956-3 Paper.
McDevitt, T. & Ormrod, J. (2012). Child development and education (5thed. ). New York: Pearson.
McKenna, M.C. & Stahl, K.A.D. (2015). Assessment for reading instruction (3rd ed.). New York: Guilford.
Reynolds, J., & Kiely, B. (2015). All American boys. Simon & Schuster.