Courtney Eichhorn
Educator - Leader - Learner
Showcase
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As an educator, my passion lies both in learning and in the desire to continuously enhance my educational practice to not only better serve the diverse and individual needs of my students, but to also accomplish my own career goals. This page displays the breadth of knowledge I gained throughout the Master of Arts in Education (MAED) program at Michigan State University. The artifacts showcased represent my application of content in the areas of School Leadership and Special Education; thus, highlighting my transformation into a teacher leader and both advancing and refining my skills in varying areas of special education.
School Leadership
Diverse Families and Students
Today, American schools are more diverse than ever before. With a growing multi-cultural population, it is imperative that school leaders and all educators understand the implications of such on teaching and learning to ensure continued academic and societal progress. In this paper, I discuss the necessity of culturally responsive education and the need for those in influential positions to enact social justice within our educational institutions.
Urban Education
Urban education is often marked by concerns associated with high rates of poverty, unqualified teachers and poor leadership, inadequate school structures, and lack of academic prosperity. "In this modern age, education and what it means have been restructured, redefined, and modified repeatedly to meet the demands of continuously changing student demographics. Despite redesign, the passage of new reforms, and a greater emphasis on school, educational systems in the United States still fail to equally meet the needs of all students as well as provide equivalent learning opportunities for everyone. The phenomenon has resulted in discrepancies in learning between differing groups of students and consequently, unequal trajectories for positive life outcomes. Due to the detrimental effects on society as a whole and the nation’s progress in the global market, concerns with the ever-widening achievement gap have moved to the forefront of pressing educational issues" (Eichhorn, 2015). This essay explores issues in urban education by dissecting the existence of the racial achievement gap in American schools and what can be done in response.
A Learning Society
Traditionally learning was considered an activity completed formally via an educational institution. However, the ever-changing world and increasing technological developments make learning an individual engagement as well as a collective one. The process of gaining knowledge and/or skill not only occurs in different ways, but also serves varying purposes while being cultivated in a wide range of opportunities. Learning is the ultimate goal for community well-being and a productive society.
Educational Inquiry
The methods by which people seek new knowledge are vast and unlimited. Some conduct inquiry through traditional means such as research, while others partake in becoming reflective practitioners evaluating their own understanding. Howard Gardners's book Truth, Beauty, and Goodness Reframed encourages educators to consider, challenge, and view the constructs of educational classrooms and their environments. In this essay, I offer an argument for providing inquiry to students through the instruction of virtues.
Psychoeducational Interventions
Students arrive at school carrying the weight of many external factors. These variables significantly impact students' abilities in learning settings; therefore, school leaders and educators must find ways to diminish the effects and equip pupils with the competencies necessary for success both educationally and personally. Incorporating psychoeducational interventions into classrooms and building initiatives for all students can increase student engagement and thus, overall academic achievement. In this Presentation to the Board, my colleagues and I both explain and propose how psychoeducational interventions target behaviorial, academic, and social skill weaknesses in high school students.
Special Education
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
The incidence of Autism Spectrum Disorder has risen significantly in recent years. As a result, teachers in all settings will likely have a student diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder in their classroom. ASD requires that teachers be educated and cognizant in regard to the nature of the disability, its characteristics, and the most effective instructional techniques to target the needs of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. This presentation provides an in-service/professional development session for administrators and all educators in order to support inclusive education for their students with Autism.
Reading Assessment
Students with disabilities often exhibit weaknesses in reading ability. Consequently, it is vital for teachers to utilize valid testing instruments to accurately assess current levels of performance. Doing so, informs instruction by allowing educators to specifically design lessons to students' individual educational goals and to provide explicit instruction at students' instructional levels in which material remains within their zone of proximal development. In this project, I use a variety of standardized reading assessments to determine placement for one of my students with a learning disability in reading and build instruction to meet his needs.
Literacy Instruction for Mild Disabilities
Literacy is the foundation for all learning. Students with mild disabilities such as a learning disabilities typically find reading and writing activities to be difficult. Their behind-grade-level abilities challenge them in all other academic settings and even in social interactions with peers. These students typically exhibit weaknesses in multiple facets of literacy, including comprehension, fluency, vocabulary, basic reading skills (phonics), speaking, listening, and writing. To target deficits and encourage growth, students must be explicitly taught strategies for improving literacy. Below you will find a website of ideas for literacy instruction that I created as well as an example comprehension strategy lesson plan with student work that I taught to my very own students with mild disabilities.
Inclusion: Accommodating Differences in the Classroom
Within the walls of any classroom, the literacy abilities of students vary, sometimes drastically. The emphasis on inclusion in the general education curriculum for students with disabilities has increased this phenomenon. As a result, it is necessary that teachers understand the differences, differentiate instruction, and accommodate and/or modify appropriately for all students to accomplish learning success. In this case study, I examine the ability of one high school student, analyze the components of her weaknesses, plan lessons to address her literacy needs, and deliver strategy instruction in multiple components of reading and writing. Student work samples from the lessons are also available.
Motivating Students to Learn
Children who find learning overly difficult tend to feel defeated in their efforts. They frequently demonstrate learned helplessness, apathy, and other signs of lacking motivation, particularly after years of hardship and repeated academic failure. These behaviors are often confused with notions of laziness and result in blaming students for their own experience. Changing students' attitudes toward learning proves to be challenging as it not only requires teachers to be empathetic, but to also provide encouragement while implementing evidence-based research strategies for increasing social and academic engagement. Reversing habits of unmotivated students requires time, consistency, and monitoring of progress/change. Usually unmotivated students are behind in an area of academic ability and further require tutoring or intensive instruction in a content area that may explain patterns of failure and poor attitude. In this project, I studied one of my own students who demonstrated apathy toward learning, rationalized his behavior through educational ideas, formulated a plan for intervention based on researched components of motivation, and implemented the plan to promote positive results.