Mary Lou uses the WebCT site in both of the courses she teaches. The courses are seminars for students engaged in work at school sites as part of their preparation to become teachers.
Course Details
Title: Practicum in Teaching
Level: Juniors and Graduate Students
Number of Students: 18
Syllabus
Title: Student Teaching Internship
Level: Seniors and Graduate Students
Number of Students: 14
Syllabus
Course Objectives and Methods
Mary Lou outlines the "expected outcomes" for the Practicum in Teaching course like this:
Your work in this course will provide you with the opportunities to:
1. investigate honestly and ethically the personal choice of becoming a teacher through a broad range of school and community-based experiences.
2. demonstrate understanding of the "whole" school setting and how individuals and groups within the school work to foster learning.
3. demonstrate the ability to plan, implement and evaluate instruction in one-to-one, small group and/or classroom settings
4. demonstrate professional "attributes and disposition" needed to work effectively with colleagues, parents, administrators...toward common goals
5. reflect on the enduring issues and questions of the day including the role of the teacher vis-a-vis physically, emotionally and academically challenged students and children from diverse economic and cultural background
While May Lou doesn't identify specific learning objectives for the internship course, rather making it clear that students work with her to set their own objectives, she does point out the following in the course overview:
"To achieve the benefits of the licensure program (new knowledge and skills, changed attitudes and values, and the potential to become an employed, licensed, school professional) UVM interns will be engaged in a variety of activities designed to fulfill our collective mission of providing training for future teachers in a field based setting."
When it comes to using technology, Mary Lou admits that there are a couple of objectives that she doesn't outline explicitly. One of these is simply getting students to get exposure to technology, something she feels will be critical as they enter work in schools. Another is to simplify many of the administrative processes that come with participating in or facilitating these seminars--by reducing the amount of time she and students spend chasing down paper, Mary Lou gets to increase time spent on teaching and learning.
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