SHAWN MCMANN
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
Welcome to my pedagogical portfolio
PROMOTING POSITIVE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT THROUGH SPORTKIN 857
Fall 2015 - D. Gould
As sports are interwoven throughout our society, it is imperative to consider the effects it has on the youth. The book Game On offered insightful information by the world's top researchers in youth sports. Through this class, I analyzed how different organizations are using sports as a positive influence for our children. From these numerous examples, I developed my own methods of positive youth development that could be immediately implemented in my school's sports program.
PHYSICAL BASES OF COACHING ATHLETESKIN 856
Summer 2016 - S. Riewald
Through this class, I was able to drastically improve my athletes performances by learning how to provide better analysis of specific body movements athletes perform in the sport. Additionally, I delved into proper nutrition for athletes, eventually developing a guide that I could provide to my athletes in order to increase everyday and competition performance. Furthermore, I created a strength & conditioning program based on the leading research in bio-mechanics and kinesiology.
LEGAL/ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES OF COACHINGKIN 854
Spring 2017 - R. Atkinson
The major concept in this class is the awareness of how to follow the nuances of sport's laws. As sports tend to have individuals in precarious situations, all precautions must be made in order to avoid disaster. This class opened my eyes to how often sports programs unknowingly conduct themselves outside sport law through examples and case studies found in the Introduction to Sport Law text. This prepared me to advise athletic directors, principals, district personnel, and parents on proper preventative steps they can take in order to stay within the law's guidelines.
PSYCHOSOCIAL BASES OF COACHING ATHLETESKIN 855
Fall 2017 - A. Driska
Much as KIN 856 focused on the physical aspects of sports, KIN 855 focused on the mental and social aspects of sports. In this class I analyzed how coaching behaviors and actions affect athletes. This included effective communication with both athletes and parents and the best practices before, during, and after season. One specific study I conducted was productive preseason meetings in a 1-on-1 setting with my athletes. I found significant improvements in my athlete's performances and dedication throughout the season, to which the athletes attributed to the meeting we had before the season started.
COACHING COURSES
Athlete and Coach Education
CREATIVITY IN TEACHING & LEARNINGCEP 818
Fall 2015 - J. Good, P. Mishra, C. Richardson
This class was my introduction to Graduate classes at Michigan State University. Though this class was challenging, it drastically altered my perception of many preconceived notions I had about teaching and learning. We read Sparks of Genius by Michele and Robert Root-Bernstein, which guided us to foster creativity in our own classes by looking at accounts from creative giants like Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein.
CONCEPTS OF EDUCATIONAL INQUIRYED 800
Spring 2016 - S. Weiland
In my second semester, I was once again challenged to alter my perspective of teaching to adapt a more Socratic mentality towards my practice both inside and out of the classroom. I developed more effective and efficient methods of improving my pedagogical craft through inquiry. After several in-depth examples of teacher inquiry from some masters of the trade, I formulated a path of inquiry that would guide me throughout my graduate studies.
LANGUAGE DIVERSITY & LITERACY INSTRUCTION & ASSESSMENT
TE 845
Fall 2016 - D. Ezzo
I enrolled in this class as I followed my teacher inquiry I formulated in the Concepts of Educational Inquiry class. At that time, I worked at a diverse high school in Central Florida, and through my personal inquiry I discovered my knowledge of effective practices for English Language Learners was inadequate. After studying through books like Working with English Language Learners and Teaching Reading in Multilingual Classrooms, I promoted several improvements in Language Arts classrooms across my school.
ACCOMMODATING DIFFERENCESIN LITERACY LEARNERS
TE 846
Fall 2017 - L. Wheatley
This class was a continuation of my teacher inquiry. It was my hope to not only expand on my competent practices with English Language Learners, but also improve my understanding of procedures for assisting in Exceptional Student Education, or students with learning disabilities. My hopes withstanding, I conducted an in-depth study and practice with one of my students using concepts from the Best Practices in Literacy Instruction book in which I recorded detailed developments through continual assessments while I worked 1-on-1 with one of my ELL students. The project can be located by following This link under the caption of "Literacy Learner Project."
SECONDARY READING INSTRUCTION AND ASSESSMENT
TE 843
Spring 2018 - L. Wheatley
Though my teacher inquiry focused on improving areas of my instruction that I saw as needing improvement, I found it advantageous to also build upon my strengths as well. The benefit of this class was throughout the class, I used inquiry not as a means of improving my practice, but as a module of instruction and student engagement as well. We read Best Practices in Adolescent Literacy Instruction and Engaging Readers and Writers with Inquiry, which helped me develop a new unit for my students in analyzing Hamlet through inquiry and thematic study.
EDUCATION COURSES
Focus on Literacy
Several course descriptions reference texts used in that specific class. More information on these books may be found on the "Related Readings" Page under the "Graduate Work" heading,
or simply click HERE