About this site

This product of learning was created for partial fulfillment of the Master's Degree in Reading Education at Appalachian State University, under the direction of Dr. Woodrow Trathen. These artifacts serve to demonstrate knowledge gained while in this program of study. All artifacts are directly aligned with North Carolina DPI Teaching Standards.

Reading Education Graduate Program of Study and Reflection

Personal Statement and Synthesis Reflection

Teaching is a profession that takes hard work and dedication.  Teachers take on the responsibility of educating students who will impact the future and I believe that is an important job.  I started the Masters Reading program when I was in my fourth year of teaching.  Although, I felt  I learned a lot in earning my undergrad degree, I knew there was so much more to learn about reading and writing especially with struggling readers.  I knew that in my classroom I was not reaching all of my struggling readers.  I heard about the reading program through Appalachian State University and I realized that was  next step in becoming a life long learner. 

Reflecting back on all the courses I have taken at Appalachian, I learned that no two learners are alike.  Understanding the developmental stages of reading was the foundation of Teaching Beginning Reading and Writing and Psychological Bases of Reading.  I found that it is important to know the learning process in order to help each student in my classroom.  Understanding how readers learn and the areas in which they  struggle, taught me to take a new approach in my teaching.

 The ability to identify where and why readers might struggle helped me to provide support for students who need it. Reading Assessment and Correction taught me how to administer an IRI while assessing students reading ability and interpreting the data that was provided by the assisted in identifying students instructional reading levels .  I was not always consistent in my leveling the readers in my classroom.  I know each students instructional reading levels should drive  instruction for each individual learner. 

 I never understood the importance of fluency.  I thought as long as a students could read what was in front of them, including the pace inregard to reading/decoding the words, they were doing fine.  After completing Reading Assessment and Correction and Psychological Bases of Reading and even Teacher as Researcher (through fellow students’ action research projects), I found that fluency is very important.  A student having automaticy while reading improves their reading skills and comprehension.  When the reader is able to automatically identify words they are reading, they are able to use other reading skills efficiently. 

An area of weakness in my teaching was using nonfiction books.  Advance Study of Children’s Literature, Teaching the Language Arts, and Reading and Writing Instruction for Intermediate and Advance Learners gave me strategies to use in my classroom for using different types of genres, including nonfiction.  Along with using a variety of literary text/genres, Teaching the Languages Arts allowed me to explore using multiple genres (i.e. technology, brochures, etc.)  Learning more about how to adapt technology in my lessons made the lessons more interesting and the students are able to participate in hands on learning.  Also by using technology in my lessons, allowed my students to become 21st Century Learners.   

 Reflecting back upon the classes I have taken in the Reading Master’s program, I have seen the large amount of work that was accomplished.  I am able to use what I learned and the projects I created in my classroom to advance students reading and writing skills.  I am able to demonstrate leadership by  sharing what I learned with my grade level.  Completing this program shows my willingness to learn.  I feel like I have learned to become a reading specialist and qualified and equipped to meet the needs of my students.