My M.Ed. Work
Below are 5 assignments from my M. Ed. work that I felt especially proud of, worked especially hard on, or most importantly learned the very most from. I tried to include assignments from each module to showcase my work, as well as my growth. If you like what you see, please reach out and contact me! Also, please jump over to the blog I kept as a part of this program, Lingua Frankly, linked here, but also linked in the menu at the top of the page. Thank you for your time!
01
What is language and how is developed?
This was a partial group project. It was our introduction to linguistics in a way. We were required to come together as a group and discuss definitions of language, linguistics, applied linguistics, education. Then we created an (linked here) infographic as an artifact of our discussion. Individually, we then created a vlog (to the left) to record our thoughts on these terms and others, including language, language learning, and language teaching.
02
Refining a Content based Instructional Approach
This was a two-part unit plan assignment. The first part was to create a content-based unit plan. Then we were to peer review each other. Taking on board the comments from our peers, we were given the chance to refine our content-based unit plan. Presented as linked documents, here is my refined content-based unit plan, as well as my reflection on the entire process of creating, reviewing, and refining my content-based unit plan.
03
Understanding Language Learners with Special Needs
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by Keats Kennelly
March 2021
This is probably the most traditional assignment I've completed in my time at Moreland University. For this assignment, the final result of which is linked as a pdf to the left, I completed a literature review looking at the issues of over-identification of ELLs with special needs, under-identification of ELLs with special needs, and the problem of ensuring educational equity for ELLs. It was one of my favorite assignments because I was exposed to a variety of different academic literature covering these issues. I was intrigued by what I found, and my findings really cemented my commitment to become an ESOL Teacher to try to eradicate as what I see as an ever widening gap between what an equal education would be for ELLs and the education they are currently receiving.
04
What is Translanguaging?
In one of my other favorite activities that I've completed, I got to make another video, this time on the topic of translanguaging. The video aims to explain just what translanguaging is. I created the video with my partner, Mindy Houser. I felt it was important to focus on the sociocultural aspects of translanguaging as a theory, and therefore felt it was important to weave in intersectionality to really be able to delve deeply into translanguaging as a theory. I thought it was important to look at intersectionality in relation to language learning, as this theory of translangaging and culturally responsive teaching require us to meet children at their intersections, accommodate and support all intersections, and to destroy the binaries society is essentially built on as we teach. I used data from a local school district that was available online to explore why translanguaging is important. Additionally, I worked into the explanation why cross-linguitistc transfer is so vitally important for students learning new languages. This project was really a culmination of so much of the work that has been done these past few months. I relied on a lot of the research I had already done to gather my ideas and complete this video. Putting the video together may have taken a few hours, but I am really proud of the result!
05
Teaching with Listening Guides
For this assignment we focused on developing listening skills. We were to choose a TED Talk and create a listening guide to go along with it. I chose Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's, "The Dangers of a Single Story," as I had my high school students in mind for this assignment, and I think this is by far the best TED Talk I've ever seen. Adichie does a remarkable job warning us all about the dangers of a single story. With my listening guide, I focused on a before/during/after method. Before the talk, the students would focus on their own stories, how they would tell it and the differences of how others would tell it about them. Then there were specific questions the students were meant to answer during the talk. Lastly, there were questions meant to trigger higher-order thinking that the students would answer after the talk to expand on the points made by Adichie, the themes of the talk, and how it figures in history and their lives. Both the TED Talk and my listening guide are linked to the right.
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TED Talk
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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Listening Guide for "The Dangers of a Single Story"
Created by Keats Kennelly
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