BETHANY HUMPHREYS
SHOWCASE OF GRADUATE WORK
On this page of my portfolio, you will find a showcase of work I have completed during my time at Michigan State University pursuing my Master of Arts in Educational Technology (MAET). Here you will find samples of my work that show the skills and strategies I have learned throughout the program and how this wide range of diversity in my technology skills have helped me grow into an innovative, enthusiastic, leader, in cutting edge technology.
I have separated the page into three sections. In the first section you will find samples that display innovative ways technology can be used in education. In the second section you will see lessons and collaborative projects created with other colleagues from my program. The final part of this page highlights some of the important research I have done through this program.
Please click on the titles of each piece to get a more in-depth description and information of these works.
Thank you for exploring, enjoy!
This is a quick, fun video of myself and my husband utilizing my Makey Makey kit while playing "Nailing Those Syllables," a game I created for early elementary students to help further their syllable recognition development in words through a fun and innovative game. This highlights just one of the many fun projects I had the opportunity to experience throughout the MAET at Michigan State University.
This is a Kindergarten reading course I designed for parents and their children to learn and practice strategies to help their child learn to read. This online course is a hybrid course which went along with daily instruction in the classroom. Through the creation of my reading website, I was able to master my crafts in: creating YouTube videos, website design, screen casting, Google forms and assessments, embedding files and videos, creating collaborative online games, and so much more.
This post and 3D image represents my redesigning experiences. I redesigned a kindergarten learning space through the use of Sketchup, a 3D modeling computer program used for architectural, interior design, and video game design application. Through this process I gained the knowledge of design application through the use of this online tool to create a customized and individualized learning environment. I did this through careful consideration and planning for optimal use and comfort for the designed user of the space.
Within this project, I worked with like minded individuals brought together by our common inquiries and interests of exploring personalized learning within the school setting. Personalized learning is considered a very wicked problem in education. A wicked problem is a problem that does not have one clear solution, only a best bad solution.Solving this wicked problem took four individuals with unique perspectives, serious collaboration and drive, with a common goal in mind. I hope you find our presentation inspiring!
In this lesson, I used the new and innovative learning from my Makey Makey kit with syllables to create a complete three day lesson for kindergarten students which any educator could clearly follow and implement in their classroom. In this lesson students will work to manipulate their Makey Makey kit to learn, count, and produce the syllables in words. This lesson follows Common Core Standards for kindergarten students, includes a clear sequence of events, assessments, extensions, and an easy to follow and consise “how to” for both teachers and students with visual supports.
This lesson showcases my use of 21st century lesson planning with the use of fundamental literacy practices as well as the integration of digital technology tools for powerful and interactive student learning. I created a lesson in which students would focus on the core competency of creating and used specfic technology tools to showcase this learning: Seesaw and Kahoot. The purpose of this lesson is for students to experience forming an opinion about different stories and present their opinion through creating a piece through Seesaw that exhibits their opinion through the combination of writing, drawing, and voicing their opinion.
The research highlighted in the essay listed to the left, focused on two main questions: How do the learning processes of experts and novices differ, and what teaching methods support learning? My essay provides you with personal teaching experiences reflecting on those two topics along with how we must differentiate our instruction with expert and novice learners, as well as the important role we, as educators, play to create a community of learners within our classroom.
I began research into this question after reading, “A more beautiful question,” written by Warren Berger. The writing I have shared with you digs into the fact that children stop questioning after preschool. My research and conclusions dive into the possible conclusions as to why this is happening with our preschool students and what actions we can take as educators and innovative thinkers to stop this from continuing with our youth. I illustrate thinking routines I have adopted in my own classroom to harness student thinking in a powerful and meaningful way.
