Assignments & Grading

ASSIGNMENTS & GRADING

Syllabus	Assignments	Interaction	Readings	Standards

crathbone

jmorris

Resources

Handouts

Confidentiality Note

Much of your work involves children. I want us to get used to NOT using the actual names of your children either in class or in our writings. Use substitute names in our EdEl 188 class. In writings, use "girl 1, girl 2" or another substitute such as initials. Vermont is a very small place. Just assume, everyone knows.

Please make sure "girl 1" in the Classroom Structures assignment is the same "girl 1" in the Complex Instruction assignment. The best way of doing this is to take a class list and assign numbers next to the names and just use this as your reference point for identifying children in your work across the semester.

Thanks, Charlie & Joyce

Charles Rathbone & Joyce Morris Course Instructors
Fall 2007

Assignments

Weekly Assignments, classwork and Webct discussion	25%
Classroom Structures due 10/1-10/8	25%
Classroom Video Observation not required,	0%
Complex Instruction	25%
Preparation of Professional Portfolio	25%


Overview of course assignments. To find specific instructions and examples click on the link to each assignment
each week	Weekly Assignments This course endeavors to teach you a group of skill sets that will amplify your capacity to work successfully with an range of management challenges. Our range of activity will extend your knowledge about working with student strengths, identifying why children misbehave and doing something about it, designing curriculum that can be surprisingly inclusive, understanding how the social and academic structures work in your classroom to impact certain children for good and for bad, and working towards implementing effective and empowering groupwork. Each week you will have something to do for our next class. Sometimes it will be an assignment to carry out in the classroom, sometimes it will be an entry on the webct discussion board, sometimes both. It is expected this work will be competed as part of your responsibilities for this course syllabus and your student teaching.
10/1	Classroom Structures Assignment In the classroom structures assignment you will assess and analyze the interaction of the social and academic structures on the learning of certain students - how do they impact each other?- how does their impact influence the Social Darwinism of your classroom? - embed sociometric analysis questions in an interest questionnaire to determine the status order of children in your classroom - show where you can manipulate your academic structures to affect the impact of the social structure on your children's academic progress - determine which instructional levers are your strength - give examples of how you might highten achievement in your classroom for children of concern by creating learning situations of more equal status
10/22	Classroom Video Reflection Assignment This assignment will help you "see" what your students are doing when you are teaching by direct instruction. Using a video camera, you will be able to capture how the children in the class are behaving during your lesson because it is natural for you to initally focus more on your own delivery. It will serve as an extra pair of "eyes" that can help you you reflect upon your students reactions to your lesson. By collaborating with a "critical friend" you may gain greater insight into how you might have done things differently to engage and manage the class.
12/1	Complex Instruction Assignment Create a situation of readiness for a complex instruction rotation by establishing collaborative norms in your classroom, conducting 4-6 skillbuilders, teach children how to perform basic group processing roles, teach several cooperative skills - design at least three rich learning tasks identifying the necessary multiple abilities to carry out the task - run the tasks simultaneously, assign competence, conduct and analyze pre/post measures of content acquisition - track academic content acquisition of four identified children institute collaborative norms teach group process roles build collaborative skills design at least three rich learning tasks around a big content idea follow the orientation, learning activity, wrap-up format teach the rich multiple learning tasks simultaneously in rotation format identify of multiple abilities needed for rich tasks assign competence to a variety of children, but especially to "identified" children carry out a pre/post assessment of content acquisition embed in interdisciplinary unit if possible/useful/necessary ample coverage of program, NCATE, and State of Vermont competency requirements
	Professional Portfolio Assignment Since this website was first designed, the form of the Professional Portfolio has shifted from a large three ring binder to an web-based document. The faculty of the Elementary Education Program have worked with the TaskStream (TS) to provide this opportunity. All the portfolio work we will do in this course will occur in the taskstream environment, once you have registered as a TS user. Keep in mind, the best portfolios are the ones that are able to connect what you know to what you are able to do as a practicing professional. One of our tasks in the course will be to teach you have to write a good caption, and urge you to keep thinking about the theoretical grounding of your everyday classroom practice. This is probably the most challenging multi-tasking you'll be doing this semester and it will be the most rewarding.