Meighan Quinn

Final Growth for the Graduate Program

Due: December 11th 2014
Looking back at the whole graduate program, I have some such a long way as a
professional as well as a person. I started out the graduate program while I was still an
undergrad. All I had to worry about was school, it was my only job. Once I graduated
undergrad I was offered a position as a general education 5th grade teacher in the
school that I student taught in. I was apprehensive to take the position because I knew
then I would never get the experience in a special education classroom. Since teaching
special education is my passion I was hoping one day I would be placed in that setting.
In the beginning of grad school one class that I will never forget was beginning to
write my thesis. I have never been a good writer and I was terrified to have to write such
a major paper. I learned so much from taking that course. Writing my thesis has been
one of the most challenging papers of my entire career. I am still in the process of
finishing it but if it was not for the amazing teachers I had I would have never been this
far along. My thesis combined two things I feel very strong about: teaching special
education and music. Growing up, I learned everything I struggled with through music
and educational music videos. It seemed perfect to write my thesis about something I
felt so passionate about and had personal experiences with. I am looking forward to the
final data and what it shows.

The first graduate class I took was MST. I remember thinking at the beginning of
the semester, I was not sure how to feel about the course. I had never taken grad
courses before and I did not know what the work load was going to be like or really
anything about the course as a whole. At the end, I was so glad I chose it. It was
separated into three sections which were math, science and technology. The math
section of this course was so helpful. It was very useful that we were given two copies
of everything incase we want to use it with our class or with our future class. The
science section of this course was also interesting. I loved doing hands on science
experiments and all the ones that we did in class were so entertaining and educational
and could be used in a future classroom. One of the most beneficial portions of this
class for me was making the website. I have used Weebly before in my other education
class to make resumes and final projects, but I never thought of making a classroom
website with it. I am now in the process of making a Weebly for my current classroom.
It is hard to remember all of the courses that I took in this program but some of
them specifically stick out to me. One of my favorite classes was when we learned how
to create an IEP. Learning how to write and IEP was the most beneficial part of this
course for me. Before this course I had no idea how to write goals for an IEP. I
struggled at the beginning when I started writing the goals. I know how important the
goals are based on the students I have in my class. I have made personal goals with
them that are related to their IEP so that they can feel they achieved something if they

cant finish a task. Currently I am a third grade ICT teacher and I have already had to
write IEPs for my students. Luckily, Ms. Bernstien is the school psychologist in my
school so I have her assistance whenever I need but without that course I would have
been lost!
Another class that I felt was very important was when we learned all about the
CCLS. Before I started the course, I was still very confused about the common core
standards. I had no idea that they had to do with collage and career readiness and
what that even meant. I had learned about what the standards were in one of my other
classes but I was still not sure how to implement them into a lesson plan, the only thing I
knew how to do was look them up and paste them into a lesson plan. I am grateful that
I was able to integrate common core into lessons and learn how to make them
challenging enough for students to be able to grapple with. Looking back, it was crucial
for me to learn this. The CCLS drives every single lesson I teach.
The last course I took was nature and needs. Although this was a very difficult
course, I learned so much that I did not already know! In the beginning of the course I
thought that I would know a lot that was going to be taught. Since I am a special
educator, I have many students in my class that have learning disabilities. I have first
hand experience on many of the disabilities we learned about. One disability I have no
experience in was physical disabilities. At the school I work at there are no handicap
entrances. I never realized this until I took the course. Every entry door in my building

requires stairs to get to the main floor. There are only two entrances that put you into
the basement where the kindergarden classes are. I have no idea how my building
would accommodate to a person in a wheel chair. It made me realize how difficult it
must be to be physically disabled. I cant imagine not being able to walk or move
around without a wheel chair. I have never encountered a physically handicapped
student in my classes but I am sure I will one day. I am glad that we learned so much
about it.
Overall I am so glad that I chose Manhattan for my graduate degree. I learned so
much about my self as a professional but also as a person. The multicultural course I
took over the summer allowed me to learn about my past and ancestors. It was so
interesting to look back and see how many educators were in my family tree. The
graduate program has allowed me to enhance my learning in lessons and instruction,
become a master in differentiation and use many modalities in the classroom as well as
include multiple intelligences. I am so lucky I had amazing professors throughout the
program that have cared enough about me as a student to push me to my potential. I
hope to become teachers like they are one day and I will always remember how they
impacted me.