Kristie Howart's
Professional Portfolio
The Advancement of a
21st Century Teacher
Kristie Howart's Synthesis Essay
Education has always been a significant part of my life. My family comes from a long line of teachers, including my grandmother with whom I am lucky to share teaching stories today. I grew up knowing that I wanted to be in a classroom thanks to the stories that my family members would share and the fantastic teachers that I had the opportunity to have as a student. My friends and I would take turns playing school and I always fought the hardest to get to play the role of the teacher. Around the age of twelve, I
When it was time to choose a college to attend in order to earn my Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education, I decided on Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU) for a few simple reasons. First, it was close to my home and I would be able to commute to school rather than pay to live on campus. Second, my best friend and I had both gotten in and were excited to begin our college journey together. Lastly, SVSU is known for their excellent education programs. It seems silly to me now that my first two reasons played a larger role in my choice than the final reason, but at that stage in my life, my perspective was a bit different. I
I always knew that my quest in seeking formal education would not end after earning my bachelor’s degree. Learning and teaching are one and the same and, as an educator, I can’t imagine not wanting to consistently acquire knowledge to better yourself both as a professional and an individual. When I first began reviewing Graduate Degree Programs, my viewpoint was no longer centered primarily on convenience. My main mission was to attend an establishment that would both challenge me and provide an exemplary learning experience. After moving to the East Lansing area for a long-term substitute teaching
position and my boyfriend, now husband, I had the opportunity to see firsthand the camaraderie shared between Michigan State fans. I reviewed information about Michigan State University (MSU) and thought it would be a fantastic place to earn my masters. I did not have a full-time teaching job yet, so I was a little concerned with committing to the program in case I would have to move in the coming months or even years. When I discovered the online Master of Arts in Education (MAED) program at MSU, I knew that I was meant to become a Spartan.
At the start of the program, I was required to select two concentration areas in which I would acquire the majority of my graduate credits. After reviewing the list of potential concentration areas, I chose literacy and technology. Literacy has always been a personal interest of mine. My love of reading and writing has transferred to a love of teaching reading and writing over the years and I was excited to continue to improve my teaching in these areas. Technology was not really on my radar as an undergraduate at SVSU. Hence, I was thrilled to learn about how to effectively incorporate it into my instruction as a graduate student.
Classroom management has always been a huge interest of mine. In the Summer semester of 2012, I registered for CEP883: Psychology of Classroom Discipline with Dr. Vasiliki Mousouli and Dr. Evelyn Oka in order to fulfil the MAED program’s requirement of
psychology behind discipline issues strengthened my ability to react appropriately to issues that arise in my classroom. I enjoyed learning how to incorporate more effective behavior related strategies into my teaching, so all of my students have the opportunity to be successful learners.
three credits in electives. I knew that I would probably love this course thanks to its topic and I was not disappointed! The course exposed me to Randy Sprick’s book CHAMPS: A Proactive and Positive Approach to Classroom Management. This book should be required reading material for all educators enrolled in a teacher prep or certification program. It offers so much useful information that can be directly incorporated into teaching without a lot of additional training or preparation by the educator. My school district began implementing CHAMPS training with the use of this book the school year after I took this course and I was so excited to have the chance to review Sprick’s material with my colleagues. CEP883 also focused on why some students choose to misbehave in order to help educators readjust their mindset on behavior problems. Learning the ins and outs of the
two literacy related courses, so I was excited to take TE849: Methods and Materials for Teaching Children’s and Adolescent Literature with Dr. Laura Apol. I learned a lot about literature in general in this course, as well as how to approach a story when it is told in the form of different genres. We spent time reviewing picture books from across the ages and grew to love a little girl named Coraline while reviewing the novel, graphic novel, and film Coraline. The course assignments encouraged me to reflect on reading
In the Spring semester of 2013, I registered for the third and final literacy course needed to fulfill the nine credit literacy concentration area requirement. I had enjoyed my previous
and writing in a way that I had never been taught before. Due to this eye-opening experience, TE849 ended up being my favorite literacy course. To this day, I periodically incorporate a unit on reviewing picture books and always teach about how to review a story across different genres through the use of Coraline with my sixth grade literature extension students. Each of the three MSU literacy courses that I had the opportunity to take taught me how to be a better educator in regards to reading and/or writing, but TE849 impacted my day-to-day teaching the most and I am so thankful that I chose it as my final literacy course experience.
I registered for CEP813: Electronic Portfolios for Teaching and Learning with Dr. Michelle Schira Hagerman and Sandra Sawaya in the Fall semester of 2014 in order to fulfill the nine credit technology concentration area requirement. Although I learned a lot about using technology in the classroom throughout each of my three technology related courses at MSU, the knowledge that I gained in CEP813 had the most significant influence on how I view the incorporation of technology into my teaching, specifically the assessment of my students. Throughout this course, I had the chance to try out a variety of technological resources that I had never took the time to explore before. For example, I investigated the use of CourseSites by Blackboard Learn, a Content Management System, by creating a sample language arts quiz and experienced the creativity of creating an assessment for students via a video game through the use of Minecraft. I had been a little skeptical of incorporating resources like these into my instruction due to my lack of experience with them, but discovered that they serve as fun, unique ways to assess the learning of students. In addition, I was exposed to blogging on WordPress and witnessed how keeping an electronic portfolio of work can be very useful, especially in today’s technology driven society. CEP813 altered my perspective on assessing students and opened my heart to incorporating new forms of technology into my classroom instruction.
the chance to get comfortable with the platform of my choice, Wix, over the course of a couple weeks before fully diving into the more difficult components of website building. I felt a little more confident after the successful completion of each module and found myself having fun while working on my pages a few weeks into the semester! I enjoyed getting feedback from my peers and professors and felt safe to try out different designs since I knew that I would have the opportunity to change them as the semester progressed. If you would have asked me at the start of the course if I felt like learning about website building would have been worthwhile for me as an educator, I probably would have said not really. Yet, as the semester evolved, I began to view my work as an opportunity to portray the time I spent as a MAED graduate student to the world. I plan on sharing my website in the future with colleagues and other professionals in the field of education. In addition, ED870 gave me the chance to add web design to my list of skills associated with technology! Having this skill opens the door to many new learning opportunities for my future students.
When it came time to register for ED870 in the Spring semester of 2015 with Dr. Matthew Koehler, Spencer Greenhalgh, Brittany Dillman, Sarah Keenan, and Joshua Rosenberg, I could not believe that I was about to take my final course as a MSU graduate student! Although I knew that ED870 was the Capstone Portfolio Course, I didn’t know quite what to expect in regards to the activities that I would be required to complete. As I reviewed the syllabus for the first time, I will admit that I was a bit anxious because I had never created any sort of website before. In fact, I didn’t really have any programming or web design experience at all when I started the course. However, thanks to the course’s user-friendly design, I had
Without a doubt, my time as an MSU graduate student impacted me as a professional educator. I can proudly declare that it also influenced me as a person along the way. I had the opportunity to meet and discuss academic and non-academic topics with individuals living all around the world while in the program. I worked on projects with people from diverse backgrounds, with many different work experiences, and all kinds of personalities entirely via the Internet. Working with someone over a computer is very different from working with someone face-to-face. You have to learn to reflect on how someone may take a written message and adjust your word
choice accordingly. You also have to remember that not everyone has the same schedule as you and they may not be able to immediately respond to a message despite the urgency with which you feel a matter needs to be handled. Hence, I learned to be patient both in regards to working with other people via technology and with using technology. After all, there are times when you can’t make a program or device work exactly how you had planned and a flexible nature is required in order to get a job done!
As our world continues to become more technology driven, it is imperative that we learn how to successfully work with technological resources as a society. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to be exposed to an online learning environment because I witnessed firsthand how intertwined the world can be and the affordances of working together as educators in the field of education. While my journey at MSU has come to an end, my journey as a young professional is truly just beginning. I am excited to set forth with my newly acquired knowledge and
continue to find ways to improve my teaching as a lifelong learner. I will do my best to share my treasured experiences in MSU’s MAED program with others along the way.
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