Elementary School Curriculum and Teaching: Science, Arts and Other Topics

Ed 101b Spring 2018

Elementary School Curriculum and Teaching: Science, Arts and Other Topics

ProfessorRachel Kramer Theodorou

Course Schedule (see below: Tuesdays/Wednesdays 4-6:30 ASAC 209 & January Sessions 9-11 ASAC 212)

Office Hours by Appointment Only

Overview

The“plan, teach, reflect” cycle (assumes various iterations and names) is a well-researched and widely used practice by reflective teachers. Research shows that while working through each phase of cycle, teachers improve their daily instruction and their overall ability to speak about these improvements. Mentor teachers have internalized use of the inquiry cycle as it grounds every planning and teaching decision. In each investigation you will also reflect on the science and art of your teaching. You will also practice a subset of pedagogy and develop a reliable method for journaling your teaching experiences.

Learning Goals: (SWBAT)
Apply an inquiry cycle to all planning and teaching.
Design and implement formative and summative assessments.
Strengthen lesson planning from reference to standards all the way through post teaching reflection.
Design differentiated instructional sequences.
Use a Criteria for Success and feedback format for assessment of students’ academics and classroom behavior and in designing future teaching, i.e. “next steps”.
Co-develop a rubric for an assessment with students.
Create and teach to language objectives and target language for lessons.
Plan and teach a lesson in your unit that is designed for “authentic engagement”.
Practice and reflect upon teacher language of instruction and classroom management.
Plan and teach lessons for social justice, inclusion and/or multicultural instruction.
Design, teach and reflect upon a full unit of study.

Brandeis Teacher Education Program Learning Targets as a whole are pasted in below. Each course may touch upon on all of these targets in some way, however, this course focuses primarily on the targets highlighted in the list.

Upon graduation, student-teaching Interns will demonstrate the abilityto:

Plan, Sequence, and Scaffold Instruction and Assessment in ways that . . .

emphasize enduring understanding, transferrable skills, and authentic experience.
meet the needs of a diverse student population.
challenge students intellectually and facilitate students’ independence and mastery.
engage students’ prior knowledge, experience, culture, and stage of development.
give students the support they need to meet high expectations.

Create a Safe Learning Environment for Intellectual and Emotional Development:

give students ownership over the intellectual work
maintain rituals, routines, and responses that support learning
empower students to act upon issues of equity and social justice
integrate students’ identity and experience

Engage in Reflective Practice:

approach their own and others’ teaching from an inquiry stance
integrate theory and practice
seek out, engage with, and integrate feedback
analyze observation and assessment data to inform teaching practice

Enter a Professional Culture:

engage professionally with others in their school context.
locate themselves and their teaching in the broader culture of schools and schooling

MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Candidate Assessment of Performance Criteriaembedded in this course are:

Standard / Element / Proficient Descriptor*
1 Curriculum, Planning and Assessment / 1.A.4: Well-Structured Lessons / Develops well-structured lessons with challenging, measurable objectives and appropriate student engagement strategies, pacing, sequence, activities, materials, resources, technologies, and grouping.
1.B.2: Adjustment to Practice / Organizes and analyzes results from a variety of assessments to determine progress toward intended outcomes and uses these findings to adjust practice and identify and/or implement appropriate differentiated interventions and enhancements for students.
2 Teaching All Students / 2.A.3: Meeting Diverse Needs / Uses appropriate practices, including tiered instruction and scaffolds, to accommodate differences in learning styles, needs, interests, and levels of readiness, including those of students with disabilities and English language learners.
2.B.1: Safe Learning Environment / Uses rituals, routines, and appropriate responses that create and maintain a safe physical and intellectual environment where students take academic risks and most behaviors that interfere with learning are prevented.
2.D.2: High Expectations / Effectively models and reinforces ways that students can master challenging material through effective effort, rather than having to depend on innate ability.
4 Professional Culture / 4.A.1: Reflective Practice / Regularly reflects on the effectiveness of lessons, units, and interactions with students, both individually and with colleagues, and uses insights gained to improve practice and student learning.

Attendance, Participation, and Professionalism

Please read the Academic and Coursework Policies and Professionalism sections of the Teacher Education Handbook for further details.

Attendance is required for every class and students are expected to be ready to begin class at 4 pm. Repeated tardiness or missed classes reduces the success for the individual and the group and therefore will resultin a reduced final grade. Please inform me of illness, significant personal emergency, via email prior to the start of class. In the event of an excused absence, the student will be responsible for getting notes from a peer, contacting me for review of class content, and for completing all class activities.

In this class, a high priority is placed on active and informed participation, as we believe that our discussions are a vital tool for your learning and the learning of others. Criteria for participation include: actively listening to others, asking probing and challenging questions, articulating your own ideas, and exploring dispositions/attitudes that are exhibited by teaching moves. In this class we honor varying learning styles and thus will vary the formats of “participation”, i.e. including small group work, individual reflections, class discussions, and a host of modeling/dramatic/artistic endeavors. I hope that students will find comfortable and productive ways to participate and I welcome any feedback on this topic. Please discuss with me any particular learning needs.

Technology can be a tool and a distractor. While you are required to bring laptops and/or other note-taking devices to seminar, be cautious that the technology does not distract yourself or others in seminar. Unless for explicit and transparent course purposes, no email or social media should be used during seminar. Cell phones should be muted or turned off and texting must wait until break or the end of class.

Disability Resources at Brandeis
At Brandeis University, a diverse body of people come together to form a cohesive community. Brandeis welcomes all qualified individuals into the University community as students, faculty, or staff members. Brandeis is committed to providing “reasonable accommodation/s” to individuals with appropriately documented physical, learning, and psychological disabilities.
A “reasonable accommodation” is defined as any change in the work or educational environment or the way thing are customarily done which will allow an individual with a known documented disability to perform the essential functions of a position or let an otherwise qualified student receive a reasonable modification or adjustment for his/her documented disability. All accommodations are made on a case-by-case basis. Students, faculty, and staff must follow well-established procedures to obtain accommodations.
If you are a student who needs academic accommodations because of a documented disability you should contact me at the beginning of the semester, and present your letter of accommodation, as soon as possible. If you have questions about documenting a disability or requesting academic accommodations, you should contact the Assistant Director for Financial Aid and Student Services. Letters of accommodations should be presented at the start of the semester to ensure provision of accommodations. Accommodations cannot be granted retroactively.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is central to the mission of educational excellence at Brandeis University. Each student is expected to turn in work completed independently, except when assignments specifically authorize collaborative effort. It is not acceptable to use the words or ideas of another person be it a world-class philosopher or your lab partner without proper acknowledgment of the source. This means that you must use footnotes and quotation marks to indicate the source of any phrases, sentences, paragraphs, or ideas in published volumes, on the Internet, or created by another student. Violations of University policies on academic integrity, described in Section 3 of Rights and Responsibilities, may result in failure in the course or on the assignment, and could end in suspension from the University. If you are in doubt about the instructions for any assignment in this course, you must ask for clarification.
Also see

Brandeis Credit-Hour Statement: Success in thisfour- credit course is based on the expectation that students will spend a minimum of 9 hours of study time per week in preparation for class (readings, papers, discussion sections, etc.).

Grading

Class Participation, Attendance, Readiness for Weekly Sessions: 25%

Series Lessons: 50%

Unit Plan: 25%

First steps and general guidelines:

Plan with your MT to teach 5lesson series (2+ lessons min.) as this fits with your ramp of responsibilities BY THE END OF FEBRUARY.
Review specifics & due dates* of each type of assignment with your MT then create a schedule for teaching.
Identify what unit you will teach (from ED 101a or other) and when. Please email Rachel to let her know which unit, when you will teach it and/or if you have questions/concerns about it.
Complete and upload your work on Google Docs** and share with Rachel, MT, and FI.

*I am flexible with due dates to accommodate individual needs and with respect to the kind of ramp each student teacher will pursue. Please see me with questions ASAP before due dates so that we can make alternate plans.

**Please note that artifacts from all investigations MAY BE USED for any aspect of CAP (i.e. goals, observations, measures of student learning, etc.).

ED 267b Fundamentals of Teaching B

R. Kramer Theodorou (Spring 2018)

Elementary UG Spring 2018 Schedule

*ED 111e Reflective Seminarmeets weekly on Thursdays from 3:30-6:20 unless otherwise indicated below.

**TBA – One Wed. we will have an Occupational Therapist present on sensory processing and integration.

***ED 101b Class meets 4-6:30 for all Tues. & Wed. indicated below.

****Moderate Disabilities class meets from 3:30-6:20 on Mondays indicated below.

Date / Class/Topic/Instructor
1/10
Wed.
9-11 / ED 101b – Teacher Language Part 1 (Theodorou)
1/11
Thurs. 3-7 / CAP Training and Feedback Session
1/12
Fri.
9-11 / Creative Drama for the Elementary Level (Robbins Mohr)
1/16 Tues.
9-11 / ED 101b – Teacher Language Part 2 (Theodorou)
1/16
Tues. pm / ED 101b – Teaching for Social Justice & Authentic Engagement (Theodorou)
1/17
Wed.
9-11 / ED 101b – Differentiation, Objectives & Assessment Part 1 (Theodorou)
1/22
Mon. / Moderate Disabilities (Phillips)
1/23
Tues.
9-11 / ED 101b – Differentiation, Objectives & Assessment Part 2 (Theodorou)
1/23
Tues. pm / ED 101b – Teaching for Social Justice & Authentic Engagement (Theodorou)
1/26
Fri. / Creative Drama for the Elementary Level (Robbins Mohr)
2/1
Thurs. / Resume & Cover Letter Workshop
2/6
Tues. / ED 101b – Teaching Series Lessons with a Focus on Language (Theodorou)
2/13
Tues. / ED 101b – Teaching Series Lessons with a Focus on Unit Planning (Theodorou)
2/27
Tues. / Inquiry Based Science (Polte)
3/1
Thurs. / Interview Workshop
Choice of Date
BEFORE end of March / 1-1 Meeting with Rachel (check in regarding internship, coursework, job search)
3/4
Sun. / Mandel Teacher Forum (TBA)
3/6
Tues. / Inquiry Based Science (Polte)
3/12
Mon. / Moderate Disabilities (Phillips)
3/13
Tues. / Inquiry Based Science (Polte)
3/20
Tues. / Inquiry Based Science (Polte)
3/21
Wed. / ED 101b – Teaching with Technology (Theodorou & Elizabeth Homan, Administrator of Educational Technology Integration Waltham PS)
3/27
Tues. / Inquiry Based Science (Polte)
4/2
Mon. / Moderate Disabilities (Phillips)
4/3
Tues. / Inquiry Based Science (Polte)
4/4
WED. / Inquiry Based Science (Polte)
4/10
Tues. / Inquiry Based Science (Polte)
4/11
Wed. / ED 101b – Working with Families (Theodorou, Emma Herzog, Principal Whittemore School, Waltham)
4/19
10-3
(opt) / MERC Job Fair – Boston University
Choice of Date by 2nd week in May / 1-1 Meeting with Rachel (check in regarding internship, coursework, job search)
4/24
4-6:30 / Citizen Science (Polte, Theodorou, Hitchcock)
5/1
Tues. / ED 101b – Teaching with the Arts, PE, and Health/Wellness, Speakers TBA
May Date TBA / ED 101b/ED 111e/ED 112e “Works In Progress” Presentation & Celebration (Final)

ED 101b Elementary School Curriculum and Teaching: Science, Arts and Other Topics

R. Kramer Theodorou (Spring 2018)

Course Assignments

For our MORNING SESSIONS, you will bring in items listed below. The writing you do for these items should be: in your student teaching journal, 1-2pp maximum and brought to class for Rachel to check and for students to use as fodder for discussion. You will NOT hand in these items.

1/10Bring in 2 e.g. of each: teacher language you appreciate or wonder about for both academic and classroom management AND questions you have about lesson plans, ramp, planning, and organizing materials/journal for spring semester.

1/16 Bring in 2 e.g. of each: teacher language that is “envisioning” & “open-ended questions”. Also, conduct one conversation with a child (academic or behavioral) whereby you are actively employing “listening” skills as explained in Chapter 4. Jot briefly what you discussed, what was difficult and what came easily in trying to listen as Denton describes its process and purpose. Be ready to discuss some of the questions in Appendix C regarding these skills.

Briefly jot (on an ELABORATED Lesson Plan Template) 1 or 2 lessons you will teach/have taught in the coming week and bring it/them to class. If you are teaching from a manual, copy the pages you will need for an upcoming or past lesson and bring those to class. If your school asks you to use a template they have created for any kind of lessons, bring that.

1/17Bring in 2 e.g. of each: teacher language that is “reinforcing”, “reminding”, and “redirecting”. Be ready to discuss some of the questions in Appendix C regarding these skills.

Read the posted articles on LATTE about DI, objectives and assessment. Jot one thing you know/one you want to know about these teaching skills.

1/23Examples of differentiated lessons for a lesson you observed. Draft one of a differentiated lesson you will teach/have taught. Final draft of this lesson due 1/30. For both of these assignments use the Elaborated Lesson Plan Template.

Read the posted articles on LATTE about DI, objectives and assessment. Jot one thing you know/one you want to know about these teaching skills.

Also bring in your completed MT DI/Assessment Interview/Inventory.

Lesson Series with Criteria for Success

Objectives to Assessment Match(w/ or w/o DI) / “Criteria for Success” & Feedback / Language Demand / Authentic Engagement
(instruction) / Social Justice, Inclusive and/or Multicultural Practices(these may be done within your unit)
Focal Area / Measurable objectives via formative and summative assessment. / “Criteria for Success” analysis of student work, feedback for student work, & next steps for student/teacher efforts. / Analyzing Language Demand of a lesson & integration of SEI Strategies. / Teaching abstract concepts for understanding via concrete, sensory, developmentally appropriate, and interest driven instruction. / See Teaching Tolerance standards.
Criteria for Success / Embedded your plan identify:
Formative/summative assessments that show what teacher and students do/say.
Micro teaching moves to assess student understanding while you teach/during independent work time.
What you are looking for when assessing & how you will probe for meaning.
Specific and measurable objectives. / Embedded in your plan identify:
C for S within lesson sequence said, modeled, and posted.
“Exemplar” image/poster description.
Audiotape or jotted notes and student work samples from conferencing with 2 students which includes:
You identifying which criteria have been met and related feedback.
Which criteria are “not yet” and related feedback (skills specific and not by effort)
‘Next steps’ for your student to move from “not yet” to “yes” OR “beyond yes” for any criteria. / Embedded in your plan identify:
Measurable language objectives, tiered vocabulary, and language to focus on/teach.
1-2 SEI strategies employed in the instructional sequence.
ELLs’ and/or other students’ anticipated language needs/misconceptions specifically noted. / Hook or Intro, closure, and sponge engage the EUs and or EQs of the lesson.
Lesson activities and materials structured to connect to senses, previous experiences, interests and/or parallel developmental phases.
EQ/EU reformulated into student language (with students or by teacher) and integrated into the lesson. / Includes texts and/or other resources that represent students/families in inclusive, genuine formats.
Teaches critical thinking and practices regarding TT Social Justice Standards.
Includes objectives for both content and social justice/multicultural/inclusive learning.
Engages students in self-reflection and application of new skills/mindsets.

All lesson series should:

include a minimum of 2 connected lessons.
be completed on the Streamlined Lesson Plan Template.
Include a reflection after teaching indicating 3 Plusses and One Wish for the focal aspect of your lesson (at minimum).
Include one artifact (samples of student work, worksheets, texts, etc.) to help support what you learned about your teaching practice in doing this series.
Be sent as a Word Doc, PDF, and/or included in a shared Google File to Rachel, MT, and FI.
Be completed by END OF FEBRUARY.

Unit Plan Assignment & Criteria for Success
You will review, augment, teach and reflect upon your unit from ED 101a using all the skills and conceptual framework you have been learning in the Program. This semester we will learn to create activities for sequence lessons in a unit to promote authentic engagement and to teach for social justice and via inclusive and multicultural practices.