1. Research Paper: College Preparation of Disadvantaged High School Seniors

This paper was written in conjunction with two other MTC members, Juan Phillips and Eric DeSquare. The paper was written for Dr. Melear in our Research Methods in Education course. We wanted to investigate the body of current literature on the topic of how well disadvantaged students are prepared for the academic rigors of the college environment. This paper reviews the available literature and proposes a study for evaluating the degree to which students with specific disadvantages are prepared for higher education. In terms of my professional growth, this activity was a fantastic exercise in scholarly inquiry and publicaiton.

2. Class Newsletter

As the first teacher to teach German 1 and German 2 at Southaven High School in 15 years, I created a newsletter to advertise the course. This newsletter was assigned by Dr. Don Schillinger in our class on Technology in the Classroom. The newsletter may be viewed as an e-file or can also be printed and distributed. This piece is important to my professional knowledge because I have gained experience using online templates to build newsletters.

3. DeSoto County Community Assessment

Of all the coursework completed with the MTC, this assignment required the most research. In fact, the word "research," should be replaced with "digging." Assessing successes and failures of DeSoto County from all angles was a task that was as time consuming as it was comprehensive. I found that DeSoto County lives on retail sales, that the Walmart in Southaven records the largest profits in the nation, and that Southaven residents have one of the highest median income in the state. It is also worth noting that Southaven did not really start to grow until the late 70's, and now it is the fastest growing county in the state. This assignment not only forced me to use new research techniques, but also to become closely acquainted with the community I served.

4. Harris County Schools

This Power Point Presentation is the culmination of the school district that I created called "Harris County Schools." This was my favorite project in our classwork at the University of Mississippi. It required research and creativity in order to construct a believable and balanced school district given a range of criteria. The link above is not the document that thoroughly explains Harris County Schools, but it is the visual used to present the plan to a panel of students and professors.

5. Classroom Management Plan Assessment

Recalling my first year as a teacher is perhaps as humorous as it is painful. This document is an assessment of my classroom management plan as a first year teacher. After nearly a semester in the classroom, I realized that I needed to make adjustments to my plan. Furthermore, that classroom management requires more attention than I was giving it at the time. This piece is a great picture of my progression as a teacher.

6. Learning Styles Inventory

Determining the learning styles of students in a classroom, and then creating lessons specifically designed for these students is a formidable challenge. This paper is a response to a learning styles inventory I administered to my students. It records their responses and makes suggestions as to how one might best prepare and teach a lesson given the results of the inventory. Knowing my students' learning styles was vital to lesson planning and preparation. This knowledge greatly enhanced my ability to meet their needs in the classroom.

*In 2000 1,312,354 people were in federal or state prisons and 621,149 people were in local prisons. Of this number only 18.5% were high school graduates (National Institute for Literacy).