MARY RIGAN
special education teacher
Fall Semester - 2011
CEP 802A Reflection and Inquiry in Teaching Special Education I: Mild Impairment
Instructor: Ashley Shahidullah; Course Supervisor: Troy Mariage
This course focused on gaining a deeper understanding of students with a variety of mild impairments, from learning disabilities to behavior disorders to autism, and how to adapt instruction and assessment to meet the needs of diverse learners. The class had a specific focus on math instruction and the use of research-based strategies to improve student achievement throughout instruction. We also focused on assessments and how truly assess students in a variety of ways to really gain an understanding of what they know and can do. We reflected deeply on our instructional techniques and assessments.
Spring Semester - 2012
CEP 801A: Professional Role in Teaching Special Education I: Collaboration and Consultation
Instructor: Erin Minnema
As the name suggests, we focused on collaboration and consultation with general education teachers, special education teams, co-teachers, instructional assistants, administration, and families. I found this course to be very helpful as it taught the importance of consultation and how collaboration and teamwork can really improve student outcomes. We focused on behavior, positive behavior supports, and family involvement.
CEP 804A: Reflection and Inquiry in Teaching Special Education II: Literacy Instruction
Instructor: Troy Mariage
This was such a beneficial course for me. We learned how to thoroughly assess literacy achievement for students of all grade levels, as well as various interventions and strategies to help improve learning outcomes for students with disabilities. One of my favorite parts of the class was the inquiry project (which you can find on my showcase page). This project required constant collaboration and reflection between my mentor teacher and myself and it resulted in an amazing literacy project for our first graders.
Spring Semester - 2014
TE 818: Curriculum in its Social Context
Instructor: Lynn Fendler
This course gave a history of curriculum and how it was developed as well as the various competing goals of curriculum today. We analyzed a variety of different curriculum and their contexts as well as learned a few different technology tools that can help improve student achievement. We studied the role of the teacher, environment, and students and how that all ties together and impacts what students learn.
CEP 823: Learning Communities and Equity
Instructor: David Davenport
We focused on what a positive, professional, learning community can do for students, families, and teachers in schools. We researched and discussed various practices (such as tracking and inclusion) and the impact that this has on student achievement. I created a mock school website (on my showcase page) as the final project to this course; it was intended to bring together all the aspects I believed a positive learning community would look and feel like after engaging the course readings and discussions.
Summer Semester - 2014
ED 800: Concepts of Educational Inquiry
Instructor: Steven Weiland
For this course, it was a more personal journey that involved reflecting on your own practices as a teacher while learning about various, sometimes unconventional, practices by other teachers throughout history and in present time. We really focused on educators as life long learners and it is crucial that we question, reflect, and research our own practices in order to ensure the best outcomes and practices for students.
EAD 822: Engaging Diverse Learners and Families
Instructor: Muhammad Khalifa
This course was foundational as far as venturing into how social justice and education work together. We looked deeply into issues of privilege and oppression and how that impacts educators, school systems, communities, students, and families. This course really opened my eyes into my own privileges and the responsibilities that I have knowing that and as a teacher. I also learned to look more critically at systems that I am apart of. I am very grateful for this course, it helped put what I was thinking and reflecting on into practice.
Spring Semester - 2015
EAD 830: Issues in Urban Education: The Racial Achievement Gap
Instructor: Christopher Dunbar
The main takeaway that I have from this course is that the "Achievement Gap" is so much more than test scores and numbers. The "Achievement Gap" has much more to do with historical, political, and social factors that leave the impression that minoritized students are falling behind their well resourced, better founded, white peers.
EAD 850: Issues and Strategies in Multicultural Education
Instructor: Riyad Shahjahan
If we are to be successful educators, we must address historical and structural inequalities that have led to inequalities in education today. We must also reflect and analyze our own places in these structures so that we do not intentionally, or unintentionally, continue to replicate these structures in our own classrooms. Deep reflection and understanding of the historical and structural causes of inequalities is necessary in order to move from a "caring" or "white knight" mindset to a true social justice mindset.
Summer Semester - 2015
ED 870: Capstone Portfolio Course
Instructor: Matthew Koehler
The final course in my masters is the "Capstone Course" which has allowed me to reflect on the personal and educational experiences that I've had throughout the years while working towards my Masters in Education. In addition to reflection, we also focused on future learning and professional goals. All this while building an online presence and portfolio to showcase these experiences!
2010 - present
2010 - present