My name is Miss Marisa Tasky! I am a current first grade teacher at a private Catholic school, Our Lady of Sorrows, in Farmington Hills, MI. I currently live in Clawson, MI. I grew up in Farmington Hills, MI, and attended elementary and middle school at Our Lady of Sorrows School. Later, I attended Mercy High School in Farmington Hills. After, I moved to East Lansing, MI, where I attended Michigan State University, and I received my bachelor of Arts in Education. Currently, I am working on my Masters of Arts in Education (MAED) from Michigan State University. Go Green!
My hobbies include reading, kayaking, travelling, cross-stitching, skiing, golfing, playing softball, and enjoying life with friends and family. I am still a huge fan of Michigan State sports, particularly men's basketball and football, and I enjoy grabbing drinks with family and friends to watch every game! I also enjoy spending my summers with my family up north in a small town called Onekama, MI. During the school year, I tutor students during after school hours.
I have been lucky enough to work alongside some of my best friends - ones I have met on the job and ones I have known prior to my job. My current school provides 8th graders a chance to go to Washington D.C. during their final days of middle school. One of my friends, who is an amazing 8th grade history teacher, organized this trip. I was able to experience this trip for the first time since I was a student, alongside some of the greatest coworkers in May 2022!
Annotated Transcript
Welcome to my annotated transcript! Here you will find information about the courses I took during my Master of Arts in Education through Michigan State University.
TE = Teacher Education
CEP = Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Special Education
ED = Education
Fall 2019
TE 802 - Reflection and Inquiry in Teaching Practice 1
MSU - Detroit Campus
Tracy Weippert
I began TE 802 during the fall semester of my undergraduate teaching certification program through Michigan State University. This course was taken in conjunction with my student teaching in Southfield Public Schools. During this course I learned about teaching writing and reading, incorporating read-alouds into lesson plans, and reflected on modern teaching techniques. I applied my knowledge and practice with my students in my 2nd grade classroom, and reflected on the outcomes of my lessons with my fellow classmates.
Spring 2020
TE 803 - Professional Roles and Teaching Practice II
MSU - Detroit Campus
Andrew Masarik
TE 803 was another course taken through my undergraduate teaching certification program through Michigan State University. The primary focus of this course was to create meaningful social studies lesson plans that help students think critically about the world around them. I was able to collaborate with my peers to generate ideas, analyze data, and reflect on my unit outcome. This class prepared me for my first teaching job by giving me the tools to create effective, meaningful lesson plans for my classroom.
TE 804 - Reflection and Inquiry in Teaching Practice II
MSU - Detroit Campus
Martha Bietner-Miller
Similar to TE 802 and TE 803, I took this course during my student teaching year in Southfield Public Schools in a diverse second grade classroom. This course primarily focused on teaching science using a variety of current teaching practices. The practice I primarily focused on during this course was the BSCS 5E Instructional Model, which includes learning science topics through engagement, exploration, explanation, elaboration, and evaluation. I learned the importance of teaching the sciences in a way that students can analyze and explore to prepare them for jobs in the twenty-first century.
Summer 2021
CEP 841 - Classroom & Behavior Management in the Inclusive Classroom
MSU - Online
Troy Mariage
CEP 841 was a course designed for educators to learn how to manage a classroom in a way that maximizes student growth. I learned how to organize a classroom promotes student growth intellectually, while ensuring they are comfortable in their environment. I researched current, impactful practices to manage behavior and promote a positive learning environment in the classroom. I reflected with peers about how to instruct positive relationships, modify the classroom environment, differentiated instruction, understand individual student behavior, teach social skills, apply positive reinforcement, create fair and predictable consequences, collaborative teamwork, and how to create individual behavior support plans.
TE 842 - Elementary Reading Assessment and Instruction
MSU - Online
Laura Tortorelli
TE 842 was the first class I completed that was taken for my literacy education concentration area. This course focused on assessing student data, creating goals for instruction, generating a variety of instructional strategies, an analyzing instructional data from assessments. I also took part in an extensive book study with my peers. The book I analyzed, "Letter Lessons and First Words: Phonics Foundations that Work" by Heidi Anne Mesmer, includes helpful reading strategies to use with students to improve a variety of aspects of reading, such as word recognition, phonics instruction, and reading fluency. I was able to incorporate these strategies into my own classroom.
TE 846 - Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners
MSU - Online
Raven Jones
TE 846 was the second class I completed that was taken for my literacy education concentration area. This course focused on differentiated instruction using a variety of techniques that include grouping strategies, learning strategies, and instilling growth-mindsets into our students. To study this further, I practiced these skills with a student of mine, where I extensively studied her background, formulated lesson plans to target an area of growth, reflected on the assessments given, and created a summary of results. During this process, I incorporated a variety of assessments, differentiated activities, and positive reinforcement to target her area of growth: reading fluently.
Fall 2021
ED 800 - Concepts of Educational Inquiry
MSU - Online
Steven Weiland
ED 800 is a beginning course with the MAED program that allowed me to learn and reflect on many aspects of education. These aspects include the history of education, theories of education, and outside factors that influence education today. I learned about primary influencers of education and their different practices. I reflected on how these practices affect my classroom today, and how it will affect classrooms in the future.
Spring 2022
TE 836 - Awards and Classics
of Children's Literature
MSU - Online
Alecia Beymer
TE 836 was the third and final class I completed for my literacy education concentration area. Throughout this course, I learned and studied about popular children's literature awards, such as the Caldecott and Newberry awards, and their selection processes. I learned to critically analyze popular, classic children's books, such as Peter Pan, and how to teach my students to analyze these books as well. I analyzed timeless classic children literature, and children's literature that could now be problematic, but worth discussing. I then practiced creating lesson plans that include classic children's literature that analyzes these books in an age-appropriate manner.
Summer 2022
TE 831 - Teaching School Subject Matter with Technology
MSU - Online
Douglas Hartman
TE 831 was one of my final courses taken in my MAED program, and was an elective of my choosing. This course focused on incorporating technology in the classroom. I was able to practice creating useful PowerPoint slides, create videos that I can use to teach students in-person or online, research helpful online resources for my classroom, and research new and upcoming technology practices for classrooms today. I also discussed with my peers the importance of incorporating technology in my classroom, to prepare students for the 21st century, the importance of teaching technology safety, and creating lesson plans that incorporates technology.
ED 870 - Capstone Seminar
MSU - Online
Matthew Koehler
ED 870 was the final course in my Masters of Arts in Education program. Throughout this course, I had the opportunity to create this online portfolio, which showcases much of my work I completed, my reflections on my growth, my future aspirations, and my work in my classroom. Throughout this course, I collaborated with my classmates and instructors to receive feedback and suggest ideas to further improve my website. I will continue to use this website for communication purposes with current and future employers, parents, and anyone who is interested in my background.