Jessica Oliver

 

Fall 2011

                 

                    Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners

 

Instructor:  Maria Selena Protacio

The outline for this course was organized around five main topics:  Teaching English as a second language, finding motivations that drive literacy learning, understanding students with language and learning problems, adapting to a variety of learning styles, and identifying the core components of literacy instruction.  The final project, a case study required an application of all course content with a particular student.  This encouraged me to dig deeper into the struggles that can deter and prevent students from making reading progress.  Ultimately, I learned to understand my readers and writers as individuals and respond to their needs in order to ensure literacy achievement.  

 

 

Spring 2012

 

                    Concepts in Educational Inquiry

 

Instructor:  Dr. Steven Weiland

Serving as a foundational platform, this self-paced course aimed to answer questions surrounding educational inquiry.  Through the use of hypermedia we learned about inquiry, philosophy, theory, history, and the future of education.  This course required a lot of thinking and discovery through a variety of viewpoints (learner, teacher, administrator, and leader).  The challenging and insightful nature of this course helped me to see and experience new communications and technologies and how they impact the classroom.  It also pushed me to learn more about technology and to use it more with my students to help them grow as learners and digital users.

 

 

Summer 2012

 

                    Classroom Management in Inclusive Classrooms

 

Instructor:  Dr. Troy Mariage

This course was centered on how to build a successful learning community for both general education students and those with special needs.  Throughout the semester we explored a variety of topics that encourage and maintain school wide positive behavior intervention and support (SPBIS).  We began with identifying invisible disabilities and moved on to strategies for teaching things like self control, discipline, motivation, and social skills.  Overall, this course taught teachers how to make content accessible to ALL students in an exciting and engaging way!  All of the knowledge gained in this course continues to be valuable and I continue to utilize it on a daily basis in my classroom and my school.

 

                    Children's Literature in Film

 

Instructor:  Dr. Laura Apol

This course was centered on classic children's literature and the films that were created as a result of them.  We learned the language of books and film, while also comparing their storylines and effectiveness. We also examined the intentions and outcomes of the decisions made by the writers and filmmakers.  Although there was a lot of reading involved, it was engaging and reminiscent; It included stories such as Charlotte's Web, The Wizard of Oz, and Jumangi, just to name a few.  As a result, many of these books have become staples of my classroom.  It was enlightening to watch, analyze, and enjoy the films from new perspectives; and it is now exciting to share these same perspectives with my students!

 

                    Writing Assessment and Instruction

 

Instructor:  Lisa Hawkins

This self-paced course was twofold in that we learned how to improve our students' writing habits while, in the process, improving our own.  Research and strategies surrounding writing pedagogy, along with time to explore our own writing talents, were at the heart of this course.  Furthermore, we were given the opportunity to choose a topic of interest that, for me, became a new addition to my classroom (and continues to be used with each new group of students).  I, personally, gained a lot of insight into myself as a writer.  I also developed instructional strategies to implement and enhance writing within my classroom.   

 

 

Summer 2013

 

                    Teaching and Learning Across the Curriculum

 

Instructor:  Dr. Rand Spiro

In this course we were asked early on to think about our vision for learning with technology.  As the course progressed we explored the role of digital media and technology in the classroom.  It also aimed to answer how to facilitate learning using strategies outside of traditional approach.  All of these components were designed to prepare for our final project, The Instructional Dream, in which we laid out goals and future plans for incorporating technology and enhancing the overall classroom.  This dream became a launch of ideas that are still growing and evolving within my teaching.

 

 

Fall 2013

 

                    Developing Positive Attitudes Toward Learning

 

instructor:  Dr. Evelyn Oka

The purpose of this course was to focus on the big ideas behind motivation in the classroom.  Throughout the course of the semester we explored areas like the TARGET model (acronym for Task, Authority, Rewards, Grouping, Evaluation, and Time), behavioral and cognitive approaches, and intrinsic and extrinsic motivations.  A series of short activities along the way became the foundation for the final design project.  This final project allowed the opportunity to apply course material to a particular student and increase his daily motivation in the classroom.  From this I learned strategies that have helped to improve the overall learning and engagement of all of my students.

 

 

Fall 2014

 

                    Creativity in Teaching and Learning

 

Instructor:  Dr. Punya Mishra

Creativity is the focus of this course.  After choosing a relevant topic, we utilized the different realms of creativity to improve upon the instruction and activities of it's content.  Areas of exploration included perceiving, patterning, abstracting, embodied thinking, and modeling.  The idea of seeing a topic from different angles and experiencing it in a variety of ways was what this course set out to do.  It required innovation and creativity that I didn't even realize I had!

 

 

Spring 2015

 

                    Learning Technology Through Design

 

Instructor:  Dr. Danah Henricksen

What constitutes effective design and how do you get there?  These are the questions that this course is based on. We are exploring the design process and what elements make for an effective or ineffective product.  Centered on a problem of practice, we are looking for solutions using the modes of design thinking.  These modes include empathizing, defining, and ideating prototyping, and testing; all of which lead to amazing insights and innovations!  This course took what originally seemed like two very different fields, design and education, and merged them together.

 

                    Capstone Portfolio 

 

Instructor:  Dr. Matthew Koehler

As the final course in my program, this class is a synthesis and reflection of all the work I have done thus far.  It is giving me the opportunity to look back on my accomplishments and piece together all of the growth that has occurred.  Like many of the preceding courses, it revolves around technology and utilizing digital media to present and share information.  Through the creation of an online portfolio I am able to showcase my work in the MAED program, as well as my work in the classroom.