Kelli Strange (Siebers)
Graduate Work Showcase
This showcase is an accumulation of projects I completed while acquiring my Master of Arts in Education (MAED). These works highlight several aspects of my personal educational journey that have helped mold me into the educator I am today. With my MAED concentration being literacy, the first section details my knowledge of literacy instruction and use of data to create differentiated instruction so that I can meet each of my student's individual needs. The second section contains classroom and behavior management techniques that I have employed to create effective learning environments within my classroom for all students. The final section contains examples of mathematics, social studies and science lesson plans that were created during my internship year. My hope is that these works will give you a better understanding of the knowledge and skills I have gained during my time at Michigan State University and my first several years of teaching.
Literacy Instruction and Differentiation
Although research-based curricula can provide a good starting point, the ultimate goal of instruction is to meet objectives that will help students move towards mastering new skills. By modifying ten scripted phonological awareness lessons to include more movement and visual cues, I was able to make these lesson more accessible to all students. These modifications led to an increase in my students' engagement and participation. Assessment results also showed all students made progress towards mastering the standard after participating in these lessons.
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Learning more about supporting English Language Learners (ELLs) is essential when you teach in Phoenix, Arizona. After receiving my Structured English Immersion (SEI) certification, I continued to study language diversity and literacy instruction through interviewing and observing an experienced ELL teacher. Seeing how to effectively use movements, visuals, modeling, and cooperative learning structures with ELL students was eye-opening. After reflecting on these experiences, I applied what I learned to my own lesson plans in order to more effectively meet my current ELL students' needs.
Analyzing student data is an important step in determining students' current areas of strengths and needs. After analyzing data from two struggling readers, I was able to identify the areas in which each student needed additional support. I then created learning goals and recommended instructional strategies that could be used to address both students' instructional needs.
All About Words is a book geared towards increasing vocabulary in early elementary school students. Through the study of this text, I gained knowledge about why vocabulary instruction is important, how to pick meaningful vocabulary words, and effective strategies to use when teaching vocabulary words.
Classroom and Behavior Management
Managing an effective classroom environment where learning can occur begins by creating an environment that meets each student's basic needs. This project details several essential aspects of my classroom management plan. The arrangement of the physical classroom environment can be used to promote learning. In addition, setting behavior standards and behavior expectations is key. Student success can also be fostered through forming positive, professional teacher-student relationships. Finally, I use a problem-solving approach to help students make positive changes in their own behavior as needed. Please view my classroom management powerpoint for a brief overview of these aspects, or read my essay for more details.
When general classroom management strategies are not enough for an individual student a behavior support plan is needed. After identifying a student who was not responding to general classroom management techniques, I systematically collected data on a student's off-task behaviors. Analyzing my data allowed me to pinpoint the timing and likely motivation behind these behaviors. I then developed and implemented a research-based behavior plan to address these behaviors. Finally, I evaluated the effectiveness of this plan by collecting post-intervention data. Please view my behavior plan presentation for a brief overview or view the complete details of this plan in the essay below.
Lesson Plans
The following ten lessons focused on developing students' understanding of number relationships. Through the use of data I planned, implemented, reflected and made changes to these lessons in order to increase their effectiveness. Planning for these lessons not only involved whole group instruction with a variety of talk moves but also included differentiated center work for students to continue building upon the skills they learned during each lesson.
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Becoming Safe, Responsible and Respectful Kindergarteners was a ten lesson unit that integrated social studies and language arts. The purpose of this unit was to help my students better comprehend and follow school-wide behavior expectations. During this unit students learned about being a citizen in a community, identified rules and consequences that apply to different communities, and practiced using social skills to get along with each other.
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