With Great Anticipation

Hello everyone,

My name is Shenika Hankerson and this is my first graduate seminar at Michigan State University. I am enrolled as a Lifelong Education student.

My educational background revolves around composition, rhetoric, pedagogy and technology. I received a Master of Arts degree from Eastern Michigan University in 2002. My master’s program was very beneficial, as I received an immense amount of training in the above realm. In particular, I learned how to:

• Develop engaging writing assignments (composition and rhetoric)
• Develop effective instructional methods (pedagogy)
• Develop course-related content for electronic transmittal (technology)

I love teaching! I have been teaching college level courses for ten years. I instruct developmental, basic and introductory English courses (theme-based). I also instruct literature courses (novels). My classroom practices reflect what I learned at EMU. However, I try to integrate current practices as well. Thus I often experiment with innovative practices learned from current academic articles, conferences, research, etc.

I try to ensure that my students remain engaged in my courses (and in education as a whole) by using current electronic components. I currently use Facebook, Twitter and PbWorks in the classroom. I have also experimented with Second Life and Diipo.

Technology has offered numerous personal and professional capabilities. Thus I believe it’s an important part of learning. I am interested in technology and literacy. My specialized interest lies in digitizing literacy themed courses for educational purposes. I would like to develop a multi-technological course that helps students learn via diverse electronic components. My hope is to build a strong reading, writing, learning and technological proficiency foundation.

The title (With Great Anticipation) reflects my current disposition. I am eagerly anticipating learning innovative content and implementing it into my courses.