Emily Cullen-Dunn is currently a special education teacher in a second grade integrated co-teaching class at The Brookside Elementary School in Yorktown, New York. She graduated with a dual Bachelor of Arts Degree in Early Childhood Education and Special Education with a concentration in English and Human Development from the University of Vermont. She also received her Master’s in Childhood Special Education: Learning Disabilities from Hunter College. She taught in early childhood classrooms at a small pre-school in Manhattan before transitioning to work at a Title 1 public school teaching grades Kindergarten through second grade in Harlem. She has presented on Emotionally Responsive Practices, Trauma Informed Teaching and Project-based learning. Emily is passionate about creating inclusive class communities that foster creativity, problem solving, and critical thinking. She believes that schools should be a place to ignite curiosity and use authentic experiences to construct knowledge.
Graduate Courses 2022-2023
MSEd Art of Teaching
Children With Special Needs
Graduate Seminar—Fall
All children in early-childhood settings and the elementary grades have strengths and weaknesses. All children have areas in which they excel and areas in which they feel insecure. All children have times when academic learning is difficult for them while, at the same time, all children have the capacity to learn. Understanding the individual differences of an entire class of students is a challenge; and in order to meet the needs of our students, we must observe their differences and individual patterns of behavior. This course will explore the concepts of inclusion; special-needs diagnostic categories; curriculum design that is responsive to children; and curriculum differentiation that supports skill development, keeping in mind that each child is unique. The goals of the course are: to integrate our perspectives of children’s individual needs while planning classroom inquiry; to explore ways of working with parents of children who require special support; to understand how to access support and feedback for children that require additional assistance; and to consider implications for teaching in an inclusive classroom and school.
Faculty
Practicum Seminar
Graduate Seminar—Year
The Practicum Seminar is a yearlong course that supports early-childhood and childhood student-teaching experiences and provides opportunities to draw together the ideas, processes, and approaches in early-childhood and childhood teaching practice, curriculum development, and instructional planning across content disciplines in prekindergarten through grade-two settings and in grades one-through-six classrooms. Issues and questions that arise in student teaching and continue to be present in classrooms and schools will be explored, including: the role of observation and documentation as they inform assessments of children’s learning and of teaching itself; the creation of learning environments for children from birth through grade two and in grades one through six, inclusive of all children across racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and learning differences; the development of approaches that enable continuity for children between home and school and in their school lives; the development of classrooms as communities of learners; and the exploration of the teacher’s role and approaches to classroom organization and structure that relate to very young and elementary-age children. Other topics of importance in the course are the creation of opportunities and processes for collaboration among teachers, parents, and administrators and the development of strategies to reflect on, renew, and revise teaching with an emphasis on the importance of professional development. The Practicum Seminar also supports students in their continued efforts to understand the political nature of teaching, placing emphasis on educating for a democratic society. The roles of the family, school, and community in educating children are explored, as well as current philosophies and the climate regarding home, school, and community relationships. Practicum Seminar students will keep a reflective journal of their field placement and student-teaching experiences, including observation and documentation of children, classrooms, activities, curriculum planning and facilitation, materials, and media. Students will also begin to develop, refine, and share their thinking regarding their master’s project topics.
Faculty
Previous Courses
MSEd Art of Teaching
Children With Special Needs
Graduate Seminar—Fall
All children in early-childhood settings and the elementary grades have strengths and weaknesses. All children have areas in which they excel and areas in which they feel insecure. All children have times when academic learning is difficult for them while, at the same time, all children have the capacity to learn. Understanding the individual differences of an entire class of students is a challenge; and in order to meet the needs of our students, we must observe their differences and individual patterns of behavior. This course will explore the concepts of inclusion; special-needs diagnostic categories; curriculum design that is responsive to children; and curriculum differentiation that supports skill development, keeping in mind that each child is unique. The goals of the course are: to integrate our perspectives of children’s individual needs while planning classroom inquiry; to explore ways of working with parents of children who require special support; to understand how to access support and feedback for children that require additional assistance; and to consider implications for teaching in an inclusive classroom and school.
Faculty
Practicum Seminar
Graduate Seminar—Year
The Practicum Seminar is a yearlong course that supports early-childhood and childhood student-teaching experiences and provides opportunities to draw together the ideas, processes, and approaches in early-childhood and childhood teaching practice, curriculum development, and instructional planning across content disciplines in prekindergarten through grade-two settings and in grades one-through-six classrooms. Issues and questions that arise in student teaching and continue to be present in classrooms and schools will be explored, including: the role of observation and documentation as they inform assessments of children’s learning and of teaching itself; the creation of learning environments for children from birth through grade two and in grades one through six, inclusive of all children across racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and learning differences; the development of approaches that enable continuity for children between home and school and in their school lives; the development of classrooms as communities of learners; and the exploration of the teacher’s role and approaches to classroom organization and structure that relate to very young and elementary-age children. Other topics of importance in the course are the creation of opportunities and processes for collaboration among teachers, parents, and administrators and the development of strategies to reflect on, renew, and revise teaching with an emphasis on the importance of professional development. The Practicum Seminar also supports students in their continued efforts to understand the political nature of teaching, placing emphasis on educating for a democratic society. The roles of the family, school, and community in educating children are explored, as well as current philosophies and the climate regarding home, school, and community relationships. Practicum Seminar students will keep a reflective journal of their field placement and student-teaching experiences, including observation and documentation of children, classrooms, activities, curriculum planning and facilitation, materials, and media. Students will also begin to develop, refine, and share their thinking regarding their master’s project topics.