This was my first course in the program. I was introduced to the legal side of special education, the critical responsibilities of teachers, and the importance of research-based practices in special education. I gained a greater understanding in the mechanics of an IEP by collaborating with others to write and revise IEPs. To accumulate everything I learned throughout this course, I created a resource binder that highlighted what I learned about educating students with disabilities.

In this course, I learned about the behavioral, social, and academic characteristics of children with special needs. I was provided with research-based techniques and strategies to improve behavior and classroom management for all students, including individual interventions. The text provided for this course was Authentic Classroom Management and Teaching Behavior: Managing Classrooms Through Effective Instruction. For my final project, I created a comprehensive presentation on classroom management.

This was the first course I took that was required for my Graduate Certificate in Educational Psychology.  In this course, I learned about the many behavioral differences, individual differences, and the cognitive perspectives that affect student motivation to learn. The provided text for this course was Motivating Students to Learn. The culmination of this course was an individualized motivational intervention plan for one of the students in my class at the time.