Ashley Liedel's Literacy and Special Education Showcase
This showcase of my master's coursework demonstrates the work I am most proud of and my most important learning in the areas of literacy and special education. As a kindergarten teacher I feel literacy is always an area of needed continuous improvement as it is the main curricular focus in the early elementary grades. I also wanted to learn more about the field of special education. Although I didn't want to teach special education, I will always have students who are either receiving services and are part of my inclusive classroom or who are in need of services and need a teacher who is aware of their needs and can help advocate for them. In addition, these special education courses helped to solidify ideas in how to differentiate my instruction and promote a classroom environment which promotes all students ability to be successful. It is my hope that these assignments are a good representation of my learning in these areas.
To view a pdf version of each assignment, just click on the assignment title.
This showcase of my master's coursework demonstrates the work I am most proud of and my most important learning in the areas of literacy and special education. As a kindergarten teacher I feel literacy is always an area of needed continuous improvement as it is the main curricular focus in the early elementary grades. I also wanted to learn more about the field of special education. Although I didn't want to teach special education, I will always have students who are either receiving services and are part of my inclusive classroom or who are in need of services and need a teacher who is aware of their needs and can help advocate for them. In addition, these special education courses helped to solidify ideas in how to differentiate my instruction and promote a classroom environment which promotes all students ability to be successful. It is my hope that these assignments are a good representation of my learning in these areas.
To view a pdf version of each assignment, just click on the assignment title.
Literacy showcase
The following two literacy assignments showcase my ability to reflect on how my choices as a teacher impact my students. The Awards and Classics as Cultural Constructs Essay depicts my reflection about how books I read to my students and have available to them for their own reading impact each of their literary histories as well as impact how they view reading books about diverse topics. In addition to choosing books for students reading and listening enjoyment, my Literacy Case Study shows that I am able to choose literature for a specific instructional purpose. The Literacy Case Study also showcases my ability to create a literacy lesson in order to meet a student's individual literacy needs based on assessment data.
Awards and Classics as Cultural Constructs Essay
This paper summarizes my learning throughout TE 836 - Awards and Classics of Children's Literature. I wrote about how my choices as well as the choices of my parents, teachers, etc. led to my own literary history. The award winning and "classic" literature that I was exposed to by others and that I read myself were due to the choices that I and those who read to me made. As a teacher, I learned that it is important to read a variety of literature to my students some that is award-winning literature, some considered children's "classics", and many other books and not just those books that impacted me as a child as it is important that each child be able to make their own choices about their "best" books.
Literacy Case Study
This assignment was done for TE 846 - Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners. I worked with a first grade student to assess her literacy abilities and find an area of needed improvement. I determined that she needed help with the decoding strategy called chunking. I created two lessons to teach this strategy and then reassessed to determine if progress had been made. This paper summarizes my lessons, pre and post assessment data, reflections on my lessons, and my recommendations to her teacher and parents based on my work with her. This assignment depicts how I can utilize data to impact my instruction.
This paper summarizes my learning throughout TE 836 - Awards and Classics of Children's Literature. I wrote about how my choices as well as the choices of my parents, teachers, etc. led to my own literary history. The award winning and "classic" literature that I was exposed to by others and that I read myself were due to the choices that I and those who read to me made. As a teacher, I learned that it is important to read a variety of literature to my students some that is award-winning literature, some considered children's "classics", and many other books and not just those books that impacted me as a child as it is important that each child be able to make their own choices about their "best" books.
Literacy Case Study
This assignment was done for TE 846 - Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners. I worked with a first grade student to assess her literacy abilities and find an area of needed improvement. I determined that she needed help with the decoding strategy called chunking. I created two lessons to teach this strategy and then reassessed to determine if progress had been made. This paper summarizes my lessons, pre and post assessment data, reflections on my lessons, and my recommendations to her teacher and parents based on my work with her. This assignment depicts how I can utilize data to impact my instruction.
Special Education Showcase
The following six assignments help to showcase the knowledge I have gained about the diverse needs of students in the inclusive classroom environment. First, I recognize in my ABC Project that challenging behaviors are exhibited by some students and these behaviors can be problematic in the classroom environment, can impact student learning, and can require teacher data collection and interventions. Second, my Positive Behavioral Support and Intervention (PBIS) Presentation informs viewers about what the PBIS program is and how it can help meet the needs of students displaying challenging behaviors. Third, The Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) Project showcases my ability to write an IEP for a student where I create goals to meet their learning needs as well as make a plan to address any challenging behaviors that may also be impacting the student's educational progress. Fourth, the Autism Spectrum Disorder Case Study displays my knowledge of Autism Spectrum Disorders and my observations of a student with an IEP designated under ASD including what qualified the student under ASD, what interventions the student needs, and whether or not I feel the interventions are effective in addressing that particular student's needs. Fifth, my Language Research Presentation depicts research I did in order to present on how challenging behaviors, social skills, and communication deficits all play a role in impacting a student with ASD's instructional and behavioral needs. Lastly, the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Presentation shows my knowledge of the symptoms of ADHD, current research about the disorder, and how to best meet the needs of a student with ADHD in the classroom setting. Overall, these special education course assignments show the knowledge I have gained about different disorders, challenging behaviors, and diverse student needs and that I have the skills to meet these differing student needs in my classroom.
ABC Project
This project was done for CEP 832 - Educating Students with Challenging Behaviors. For this assignment, I chose a student from my classroom who exhibited challenging behaviors on a frequent basis. I recorded my observations about his challenging behaviors, chose a strategy to target a specific challenging behavior, tracked data regarding the frequency and time of day/activities in which the challenging behavior occurred, and made conclusions. This assignment was very refreshing as I could first be completely honest about how I was feeling when dealing with this student's challenging behaviors and get advice and strategies from my colleagues in the course. By writing about my observations and collecting data, my focus was turned away from the negative emotions and frustrations I felt to a focus on productivity and decision making about a strategy that could impact this student's behavior. This coursework has stuck with me in the year since by keeping my focus on strategy implementation and data collection regarding challenging student behaviors rather than complaining.
Positive Behavioral Support and Intervention (PBIS) Presentation
This PowerPoint presentation was done for CEP 841 - Classroom and Behavior Management in the Inclusive Classroom. It is a representation of all I learned about PBIS and is meant to be a resource in the future to either promote my school's implementation of PBIS school-wide and/or to inform parents about PBIS (although for this purpose I would remove slides about how it is implemented. My school district has already implemented PBIS district-wide, but as a teacher I plan to use this presentation to give my students' parents background knowledge on PBIS and what it looks like in the elementary school environment as well as its benefits. This is important as I teach Kindergarten and most parents do not know about the program when they have students just entering the school district. It is also beneficial for parents to view a resource such as this in order to learn about how PBIS differs from traditional management as that was most likely what was in place in the schools they attended themselves as children.
Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) Project
This project was done for CEP 840 - Policies, Practices, and Perspectives in Special Education. For this project, I worked with a partner on writing an IEP for an imaginary student. This was eye-opening project as I did not realize how much work and time goes into writing an IEP for one individual student. As a general education teacher, I have been a part of IEP meetings for a few students but had not taken part in the IEP writing process. As part of writing the IEP, I learned how students can qualify for an IEP and how to write goals that are attainable and measurable. What I have learned by completing this assignment will benefit me when I am in IEP meetings with parents as well as when I am asked to help carry out a student's IEP goals.
Autism Spectrum Disorder Case Study
This case study was done for CEP 843 - Autism Spectrum Disorders: Characteristics and Educational Implications. I had the opportunity to observe the ASD classroom in my school district, which has K-5 students diagnosed with an ASD (in differing areas of the spectrum). I chose a Kindergarten student with ASD to focus my observation on and recorded information about his family, academic, and medical background as well as observations about his behavior and how he meets the ASD criteria. In addition, I had conversations with his teacher and recorded any relevant information as well as the interventions being used in the classroom to benefit his learning. This was very interesting as I had never had the opportunity to observe students in anything other than the general education setting. This assignment helped me to work with a special education teacher for the benefit of a student and learn ways that I can make my classroom environment more suitable for students with ASD.
Language Research Presentation
This PowerPoint presentation was done for CEP 843 - Autism Spectrum Disorders: Characteristics and Educational Implications. I researched the effects of challenging behaviors and communication deficits on students' social skills. Challenging behaviors, communication deficits, and social skills deficits are common in students with ASD so I wanted to read some research on the effect that challenging behaviors and communication deficits can have on a student's overall social skills. I found that their is a codependent relationship amongst the three. As a kindergarten teacher, this research not only increased my knowledge of ASD itself but also encouraged me to use visuals in my classroom to promote communication and positive behavior choices for all students. In addition, this research reminded me of the importance of providing lots of oral language practice through share times and partner activities as well as exposing students to lots of new vocabulary and accompanying the vocabulary with visuals.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Presentation
This PowerPoint presentation was done for CEP 841 - Classroom and Behavior Management in the Inclusive Classroom. I had to create a presentation on a topic of choice and I wanted to learn more about ADHD. This presentation shows what I learned about ADHD, such as its symptoms, myths about ADHD, the suspected causes, the debate about medicating students, and more. As a teacher it was important to learn about ADHD as it is most likely that all teachers throughout their career will have at least one student with ADHD and I wanted to learn about what I could do in the classroom to help my students with ADHD as well as collect some resources about this topic for parents.
This project was done for CEP 832 - Educating Students with Challenging Behaviors. For this assignment, I chose a student from my classroom who exhibited challenging behaviors on a frequent basis. I recorded my observations about his challenging behaviors, chose a strategy to target a specific challenging behavior, tracked data regarding the frequency and time of day/activities in which the challenging behavior occurred, and made conclusions. This assignment was very refreshing as I could first be completely honest about how I was feeling when dealing with this student's challenging behaviors and get advice and strategies from my colleagues in the course. By writing about my observations and collecting data, my focus was turned away from the negative emotions and frustrations I felt to a focus on productivity and decision making about a strategy that could impact this student's behavior. This coursework has stuck with me in the year since by keeping my focus on strategy implementation and data collection regarding challenging student behaviors rather than complaining.
Positive Behavioral Support and Intervention (PBIS) Presentation
This PowerPoint presentation was done for CEP 841 - Classroom and Behavior Management in the Inclusive Classroom. It is a representation of all I learned about PBIS and is meant to be a resource in the future to either promote my school's implementation of PBIS school-wide and/or to inform parents about PBIS (although for this purpose I would remove slides about how it is implemented. My school district has already implemented PBIS district-wide, but as a teacher I plan to use this presentation to give my students' parents background knowledge on PBIS and what it looks like in the elementary school environment as well as its benefits. This is important as I teach Kindergarten and most parents do not know about the program when they have students just entering the school district. It is also beneficial for parents to view a resource such as this in order to learn about how PBIS differs from traditional management as that was most likely what was in place in the schools they attended themselves as children.
Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) Project
This project was done for CEP 840 - Policies, Practices, and Perspectives in Special Education. For this project, I worked with a partner on writing an IEP for an imaginary student. This was eye-opening project as I did not realize how much work and time goes into writing an IEP for one individual student. As a general education teacher, I have been a part of IEP meetings for a few students but had not taken part in the IEP writing process. As part of writing the IEP, I learned how students can qualify for an IEP and how to write goals that are attainable and measurable. What I have learned by completing this assignment will benefit me when I am in IEP meetings with parents as well as when I am asked to help carry out a student's IEP goals.
Autism Spectrum Disorder Case Study
This case study was done for CEP 843 - Autism Spectrum Disorders: Characteristics and Educational Implications. I had the opportunity to observe the ASD classroom in my school district, which has K-5 students diagnosed with an ASD (in differing areas of the spectrum). I chose a Kindergarten student with ASD to focus my observation on and recorded information about his family, academic, and medical background as well as observations about his behavior and how he meets the ASD criteria. In addition, I had conversations with his teacher and recorded any relevant information as well as the interventions being used in the classroom to benefit his learning. This was very interesting as I had never had the opportunity to observe students in anything other than the general education setting. This assignment helped me to work with a special education teacher for the benefit of a student and learn ways that I can make my classroom environment more suitable for students with ASD.
Language Research Presentation
This PowerPoint presentation was done for CEP 843 - Autism Spectrum Disorders: Characteristics and Educational Implications. I researched the effects of challenging behaviors and communication deficits on students' social skills. Challenging behaviors, communication deficits, and social skills deficits are common in students with ASD so I wanted to read some research on the effect that challenging behaviors and communication deficits can have on a student's overall social skills. I found that their is a codependent relationship amongst the three. As a kindergarten teacher, this research not only increased my knowledge of ASD itself but also encouraged me to use visuals in my classroom to promote communication and positive behavior choices for all students. In addition, this research reminded me of the importance of providing lots of oral language practice through share times and partner activities as well as exposing students to lots of new vocabulary and accompanying the vocabulary with visuals.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Presentation
This PowerPoint presentation was done for CEP 841 - Classroom and Behavior Management in the Inclusive Classroom. I had to create a presentation on a topic of choice and I wanted to learn more about ADHD. This presentation shows what I learned about ADHD, such as its symptoms, myths about ADHD, the suspected causes, the debate about medicating students, and more. As a teacher it was important to learn about ADHD as it is most likely that all teachers throughout their career will have at least one student with ADHD and I wanted to learn about what I could do in the classroom to help my students with ADHD as well as collect some resources about this topic for parents.