Matthew Daly (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
matthewdaly) wrote2012-08-28 01:43 am
matthewdaly) wrote2012-08-28 01:43 am
Statement of Purpose
I promised myself that I would use this thing for my personal reflections during my summer course, but never quite got around to it. Let's see what we can do about it during the full semester.
So, to catch everyone up, I am on my second semester seeking a Masters of Education from The College at Brockport. To be specific, I am in the Alternative Adolescence Mathematics Inclusive Education program. It's Alternate because I already have a full math education and just need education classes, and it's Inclusive because I'm learning to work with students with disabilities. (This is not to say that I will focus on special education; the modern reality is that American classrooms strive to place students in the least restrictive environment in which they can learn effectively. As a result, the general education setting contains students with a diverse array of gifts and needs and a large part of a teacher's energy is spent on identifying how education can be tailored to meet the needs of all students and particularly those that need accommodations.)
Anyways, this semester I have four courses on deck. That's overloading in Brockport's eyes, but I got a 4.0 under the same load last semester and my advisor doesn't seem to mind. The first is Inclusive Teaching Middle School Mathematics, which is the first of my field studies which looks to be dealing with lesson plans and common standards and all that paperwork as it intersects with the reality of effective teaching. The second is Teaching Language Skills in Middle and High School Content Areas II (can you guess that I love being in an environment where administrators won't use two words if eleven will do?), which is about literacy and comprehension strategies and differentiating instruction and many things that will probably be far more engaging that the way the course catalog makes it sound. (I adored the prequel class, although I have heard rumors that this class ramps up the scholarly rigor.) My third class is on Assessment for Special Education, which I think means diagnosing education-related disabilities rather than accommodating students with disabilties on general education standardized tests, but I'll know more on Thursday. The fourth class doesn't start for another few months, and it's on drug awareness and public health and such. Sounds like a bunch of boring seminars, but it's a critical certificate for schoolteachers so into the breach I go.
So, to catch everyone up, I am on my second semester seeking a Masters of Education from The College at Brockport. To be specific, I am in the Alternative Adolescence Mathematics Inclusive Education program. It's Alternate because I already have a full math education and just need education classes, and it's Inclusive because I'm learning to work with students with disabilities. (This is not to say that I will focus on special education; the modern reality is that American classrooms strive to place students in the least restrictive environment in which they can learn effectively. As a result, the general education setting contains students with a diverse array of gifts and needs and a large part of a teacher's energy is spent on identifying how education can be tailored to meet the needs of all students and particularly those that need accommodations.)
Anyways, this semester I have four courses on deck. That's overloading in Brockport's eyes, but I got a 4.0 under the same load last semester and my advisor doesn't seem to mind. The first is Inclusive Teaching Middle School Mathematics, which is the first of my field studies which looks to be dealing with lesson plans and common standards and all that paperwork as it intersects with the reality of effective teaching. The second is Teaching Language Skills in Middle and High School Content Areas II (can you guess that I love being in an environment where administrators won't use two words if eleven will do?), which is about literacy and comprehension strategies and differentiating instruction and many things that will probably be far more engaging that the way the course catalog makes it sound. (I adored the prequel class, although I have heard rumors that this class ramps up the scholarly rigor.) My third class is on Assessment for Special Education, which I think means diagnosing education-related disabilities rather than accommodating students with disabilties on general education standardized tests, but I'll know more on Thursday. The fourth class doesn't start for another few months, and it's on drug awareness and public health and such. Sounds like a bunch of boring seminars, but it's a critical certificate for schoolteachers so into the breach I go.