Megan Terbrack
Showcase of Master's Work
Special education has always been a passion of mine. I have students with special needs in my classroom every hour, every year. I have also taught several math courses that are specifically created for students with special needs. It was exciting to learn so many new strategies and theories throughout my master's to help me better support my students.
Technology is another important area in my teaching. Students need to be prepared for life and careers after high school, most of which will involve technology. During my master's I developed skills that helped me become more proficient with technology that I can use in my classroom to support my students. Below are snapshots of concepts that I learned and skills that I developed in both of these areas.
(Click images to learn more)
101 Ways to Change
I created this website to share resources and ideas with teachers, administrators, and the learning consultant at my high school. The main focus of the website is how to support students who are on the Autism Spectrum through assistive technologies and behavior supports. I also included step by step plans for implementing a school wide positive behavior support plan and a response to intervention academic support plan. Click the image above for a guided tour of the website.
I teach high school so I reflect on my teaching practice on an hourly basis and I make changes based on my students' needs. The summer allows me extra time to reflect and brainstorm changes that I want to make. This process leaves me feeling inspired and ready for another new school year! During a course on classroom management, I found myself constantly writing down strategies that I could use in my own classroom so I started to organize a list. As the course continued I added my ideas to my "toolbox" and ended up with 101 strategies to try! The strategies range from ideas for overall classroom management, to strategies to use specifically with my class of students who struggle with math. (You will see that noted as "2A" in the document.)
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Literacy Learner Anaylsis
Differentiating Instruction
Website
Toolkit
Case Study
Professional Development Plan
I worked with a few other classmates to create a three day, six session, professional development plan for general education high school teachers. The professional development plan that we created has teachers interacting with each other, using technology to learn more about differentiating instruction, and walking away with a new lesson plan that they created themselves. The main goals of the PD were to learn about different co-teaching and co-planning models, to learn how to differentiate instruction through accommodations and modifications, and finally to learn about assessment strategies to use to monitor student growth.
This case study was with a 10th grade student with special needs. She was reading three years below grade level. I created lessons using literacy strategies that I learned. I also created and adminstered literacy assessments. After analyzing the data that I collected, I reflected on my work and gave recommendations to her teacher and her parents of how to continue to support her to ultimately help her reach grade level. This case study was a challenge for me since it was out of my area of expertise but I am proud of the work that the student and I accomplished together.
Geometry Resource Library
Teaching K-12 Students Online
Website
Hybrid Course
I am the teacher leader for the geometry course for my school. I created this resource library for myself and my colleagues to use throughout the school year. Although specific to geometry, this library has resources for teachers to use to help their students explore a new topic, master a learned skill, and apply concepts that they have learned. The resources are organized by units that we teach throughout the year making it easier for teachers to find exactly what they are looking for. I hope that my colleagues and I continue to add to this resource library each year. Click the image above for a guided tour of my website.
Technology for At-risk Students
Implementation Plan
Evaluating Technology
Tech Tool Eval in Google Docs
There is a lot to consider when choosing an online education tech tool. I created my own evaluation process focusing in 5 categories, learning activity types, mathematical content, the role of technology, the learners, and learning and instructional support. Evaluating a tech tool in these five areas really gives me a comprehensive look at how the technology is going to support my students in their learning. This process helps me decide if a tool is right for my students and sometimes I choose to not use the tool based on my evaluation. The link above is just one example of the many math tech tool evaluations that I have completed.
The socio-economic status of the students at my school varies greatly and we have a population of at-risk students. We have noticed that these students are less likely to find success in school and for some, for reasons beyond their control. I found a cost-effective technology and created a strategic plan to solve this problem. I created an after school program where these students would stay and work on the school computers. The students could work on papers and projects or use the website that comes with their math textbook to get extra practice. This document is a write up of the implementation plan that I would use including a letter to my colleagues to get the program started.
I created a blended learning environment in Haiku (see link above) for a unit on exponential growth and decay. I have not used technology to this extent in my classroom so designing this unit created a mental shift for me about online teachhing and learning . Since it is a blended learning environment, students are expected to spend some days entirely online and some days entirely in the classroom. I used assessment and collaboration strategies to support my students' learning. I plan on implementing this in the fall and I am excited to see how my students respond to it!
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* images thanks to wix.com