Policy Briefs
History Book Lesson Plans

Classroom Management Research

Teaching for Social Justice Documentary

IL 2723: Practicum in Social Studies Education I (1 credit)

IL 2728: Practicum in Social Studies Education II (2 credits)

Thursday, 4:30 – 6:30 pm

4301 Posvar Hall

Section A:

Instructor:Ashley N. Woodson

E-mail:

Phone:(412) 648-7329

Office Hours:Thursdays 3:30 – 4:30 pm, and by appointment

Section B:

Instructor: Chalis Sledge

E-mail:

Phone:252-915-2683

Office Hours: Thursdays 3:30-4:30 p.m., and by appointment, WWPH 5529

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Our discussion-based course is intended to compliment the fieldwork experience by helping you to explore:

  1. the ways in which social and community forces influence teaching and learning,
  2. the role of teacher beliefs about culture and behavior in determining curricular and classroom outcomes, and
  3. strategies for managing and leading within your classroom.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

IL 2723:

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

1.compare and contrast various conceptions of identity, culture, and curriculum.

2.identify, describe, evaluate, and employ different kinds of resources for learning about or engaging with socio-cultural groups different than your own, and

3.discuss the implications of the growing cultural and linguistic diversity in schools and in the wider U.S. society, for the work of educators.

IL 2728:

Upon completion of this section of the course, you will be able to

  1. reflect on theoretical and practical aspects of classroom management.
  2. reflect on your own management practices and those of others, with the goal of understanding how to create equitable outcomes through effective classroom management.
  3. demonstrate understanding of the foundations of equitable classroom management.

REQUIRED READING & OTHER MATERIALS
  • Lemov, Doug. (2010). Teach Like a Champion: 49 Techniques that Put Students on the Path to College. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
  • Additional required readings are available through Courseweb().
  • One pack of highlighters with a least four different colored highlighters.

The syllabus is a living document. Wereserve the right to modify the class syllabus to meet class needs.

BASIS FOR GRADING

A grade of “H” indicates that you have fully completed all assignments with exceptional diligence and depth of innovation in the implementation and skills learned throughout the course. The assignments are excellent examples of focus, clarity of thought, organization and significant reflection. For participation, an “H” signifies not only being prepared for class at all times, but also shows significant, thoughtful engagement in all discussions and activities. All written objectives for an assignment must be met in order to earn an H on the assignment.

A grade of “S” indicates that the work has met the full requirements of the assignment but lacks some of the aspects of the “H” criteria. “S” assignments might lack (but are not limited to) focus, clarity of thought, organization and/or significant reflection. For participation, an “S” signifies preparedness for class but without full and significantly thoughtful engagement with the material in discussion and/or activities.

A grade of “U” indicates that you completed the assignments of the course, but your assignments were poorly constructed and/or did not show significant growth in the above criteria throughout the course. A “U” may also mean that you participated at a superficial or minimal level in class.

Assignments are due at the start of class in the requested format (uploaded to Course Web or hard copy). Late work is not accepted without prior arrangement.

H = 87 - 100%S = 73 - 86%U = 72 % or less

IL 2723

Discussion, Participation & Course Activities - 50%

State of the Field Paper – 25%

Teaching for Social Justice Parts I and II - 25%

IL 2728

Discussion, Participation & Course Activities – 30%

Teaching for Social Justice Part III – 20%

Critical Historiography Artifact – 20%

Lesson Plan – 30%

Please note: It is expected that you will perform satisfactorily in your field placement(s). Receiving an Unsatisfactory from your Field Supervisor may be grounds for failing Practicum I and/or II.

OUR CLASS POLICIES

Failure to meet the general expectations outlined here or the University of Pittsburgh Code of Student Conduct will negatively impact your grade.

Attendance, Punctuality and Participation

We expect you to attend all class meetings. For this class, attendance is defined as punctual arrival and meaningful participation throughout our scheduled course time. If you are unable to attend class because of extenuating circumstances, you should contact an instructor prior to the beginning of class by phone or email.Each student is allowed one excused absence during the semester, irrespective of the reason. More than one absence lowers your overall grade by 6.5%, the rough equivalent of a letter grade in this course. You are responsible for work that may be due and for information covered during the absence. Please ask your classmates to take notes for you and brief you on missed material.

Participation includes arriving to class prepared; contributing readily to and advancing our conversations; showing interest in and respect for others’ views; and participating actively in small groups. Lack of participation may constitute an absence.

Commitment to Social Justice, Equality and Expression

This course is centered on discussion and exchange of ideas, and all students are responsible for contributing to both their own learning experience and the learning experience of others. Because the contribution of ideas from each student is critical to the learning process, unwelcomed or insensitive behavior or comments that makes other students feel unnecessarily uncomfortable will not be tolerated. This includes interrupting others while they are talking, carrying on conversations separate from the class discussion, or making insensitive or derogatory comments about gender, sexual orientation, religion, non-religion, race, ethnicity, nationality, or disability. Please make every effort to maintain an academic atmosphere in which everyone feels comfortable sharing and responding to ideas.

Professionalism

We expect you to be honesty, respectful and constructive in all aspects of our learning experience. This includes professionalism in demeanor, attire and language use throughout our time together.

Cell Phones/Laptops

We expect that personal communication or entertainment devices will not be used and kept on silent during class time.Laptops and notebooks may be used for class purposes only, during designated times.

Confidentiality

We expect you to respect the confidentiality of your teaching, co-teaching and collegial relationships, and to handle conflicts that arise in a professional manner. Access to K-12 students is predicated on a disposition of care, respect and a generous interpretation of their actions. You assume the trust and obligation to insure the full protection of information acquired about students/children, teachers, families, and other school personnel, both educational and personal, during all field experiences and course time. Confidential information should only be disclosed to serve a compelling professional purpose is served or when required by law. Remember:

  • Do not share information about K-12 students in any setting beyond the confines of this course.
  • Do not refer to K-12 students in ways that would identify them outside of this course, including digital forums/social media, including but not limited to Facebook or Twitter.
  • Do not share images of K-12 students or their work for any purposes outside of this course. This includes videotaped or audiotaped recordings, anecdotal notes, written work, assessments, and photographs.

Email Policy

Unless one of the course instructors initiates an email conversation with you, we will only respond to emails a) requesting an excused absence, or b) requesting an in-person meeting. In person meetings will usually be scheduled during office hours. Please allow up to 48 hours to receive a response.

CLASS SCHEDULE
Session / Activities / Assignment Due
Thursday, September 11 / Course Introduction
  • Labaree, D. (1989). The American (high) school has failed its missions. MSU Alumni Bulletin, 7(1), 15-17.
  • Johnson, A. G. (2006). How systems of privilege work. In Privilege, power, and difference, 2nded(pp. 90-107). Boston: McGraw-Hill.
/
  • Practicum Promise

Thursday, September 18 / Foundations: Central Concepts
  • Banks, J. A. (2004). Teaching for social justice, diversity, and citizenship in a global world. In The educational forum (Vol. 68, No. 4, pp. 296-305).
  • Gregory, Anne, Russell J. Skiba, and Pedro A. Noguera. "The Achievement Gap and the Discipline Gap Two Sides of the Same Coin?." Educational Researcher 39.1 (2010): 59-68.
/
  • Lesson Plan Day 1

Thursday, September 25 / Foundations: Systems of Oppression
  • Pincus, F. L. (2000). Discrimination comes in many forms: Individual, institutional, and structural. In Adams et al. (Eds.). Readings for diversity and social justice (pp. 31-35). New York: Routledge.
  • Young, I. M. (2000). Five faces of oppression. In Adams et al. (Eds.). Readings for diversity and social justice (pp. 35-49). New York: Routledge.
  • Gregory, Anne, Russell J. Skiba, and Pedro A. Noguera. "The Achievement Gap and the Discipline Gap Two Sides of the Same Coin?." Educational Researcher 39.1 (2010): 59-68.

Thursday, October 2 / Foundations: Social Identity and Inequity
  • Mickelson, R.A., & Smith, S.S. (2004). Can Education eliminate race, class and gender inequality? In P. Hill-Collins (Ed.), Race, class and gender (pp. 361-370). Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadworth.
  • Tatum, B. D. (2000). The Complexity of Identity: ‘Who Am I?’ In M. Adams, W. J. Blumenfeld, R. Castañeda, H. W. Hackman, M. L. Peters, and X. Zuñiga (Eds.). Readings for Diversity and Social Justice (pp. 9-14). New York: Routledge.
/
  • Lesson Day Plan 2

Thursday, October 9 / Exploring Identity: Socioeconomic Status
  • MacLeod, J. (1995) Ain’t no makin’ it: Aspirations and attainment in a low-income neighborhood. 3rd edition (Chapter 2 is the only chapter required for this class.)
  • Massey, Douglas S., & Denton, Nancy A. (1993). American apartheid: Segregation and the making of the underclass.
(Chapter 2 is the only chapter required for this class.) /
  • Lesson Plan Day 3 (A)

Thursday, October 16 / Online Session:
  • Lemov reflections: What is the purpose of discipline, within society and within schools?
/
  • Lesson Plan Day 3 (B)

Thursday, October 23
Official change to Practicum II / Exploring Identity: Religion
  • Ahmad, I., Szpara, M. (2003). Muslim Children in Urban America: The New York City Schools Experience. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs , 23.2. (pp. 295-301).
  • Derek, D. (2000). Kansas Versus Darwin: Examining the History and Future of the Creationism-Evolution Controversy in American Public Schools. Kan. J.L. & Pub. Pol'y 205.
/
  • Teaching for Social Justice (Parts I & II)

Thursday, October 30 / Online Session:
  • Lemov reflectionsSelect and implementtwo strategies from the Lemov reading or lecture. Assess and sharethe effectiveness of each in your context.
/
  • Lesson Plan Day 4

Thursday, November 6 / Exploring Identity: Race & Ethnicity
  • Klug, B. J., and Whitfield, P. T. (2003). A brief history of American Indian education. In Widening the circle: Culturally relevant pedagogy for American Indian children (pp. 29-47). New York: Routledge Farmer.
  • San Miguel Jr., G. (2003). Contested learning: Latino education in the United States from the 1500s to the present. In V. I. Kloosterman (Ed.), Latino students in American schools: Historical and contemporary views (pp. 1-18). Westport, CT: Praeger.

Thursday, November 13 / Exploring Identity: Gender & Sexuality
  • Christensen, L. (2001). Unlearning the myths that bind us: Critiquing fairy tales and films. In B. Bigelow et al (Eds.) Rethinking our classrooms: Teaching for equality and justice (pp. 8-11).
  • Sadker, D., & Zittleman, M. (2001). Gender bias: From colonial America to today’s classrooms. In J. Banks (Ed.), Multicultural education, 4th edition (pp. 125-151). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
/
  • State of the Field Annotated Bibliography

Thursday, November 20 / Online Session:
Lemov reflection: Reflect on a difficult student you are working with this year. Respond to the following:
1. Describe the student behavior that is challenging for you to deal with.
2. What ideas from the reading do you think will be helpful when working with this student in the future? (Anything you should avoid?)
Thursday,
November 27 / No class
Thursday,
December 4 / Exploring Identity: Language and Expression
  • Final presentations
/
  • Critical Historiography Artifact
  • Teaching for Social Justice (Part III)

Thursday, December 11 /
  • Final presentations
/
  • Lesson Plan (All Notes Due)

DISCUSSION, PARTICIPATION & COURSE ACTIVITIES

Your active participation in our discussions and all activities is critical to the success of the course. During our class meetings, we will engage in various assigned readings, theoretical and practical discourses, lesson planning, and reflective and developmental exercises. The depth and breadth of these activities will depend largely on your preparation and participation. We expect you to participate actively by completing readings promptly, taking part in all group and individual writing activities, and contributing to all class discussions.

Discussion & Course Participation Evaluation Scale:

H – Your participation is significant, and meets or exceeds my expectations. You contribute/participate consistently throughout the discussion/activity. You demonstrate original and deep thinking, and engage in focused analysis of appropriate readings/topics. You lead conversation and introduce compelling ideas.

S – Your participation is modest, and meets some, but not all of my expectations. You engage in a marginal analysis of appropriate readings/topics. You continue conversation and/or build on the ideas of others.

U – Your participation is weak/minimal, and meets few if any of my expectations for graduate-level study. You make few, if any, contributions or appear disconnected from discussion/activity, and/or you demonstrate uninformed analysis of readings/topics.

TEACHING FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE

Part I

Select an individually prepared lesson plan that supports (or supported) a 30-minute lesson.

In one page (500 words), provide narrative and appropriate references to demonstrate how your lesson plan was explicitly differentiated to account for student diversity in at least six of the following areas:

  • Race
  • Ethnicity
  • Gender
  • Sex
  • Sexuality
  • Spiritual affiliation
  • Socioeconomic status
  • Age
  • National origin
  • Physical ability
  • Learning ability

Address: Which identities were the easiest to address? What difficulties did you encounter?

Part II

In one page (500 words), provide narrative and appropriate references to demonstrate how your lesson plan reflected the aims and intentions of teaching for social justice.

Part III

In groups of 3-5, produce a short (10-15 minutes) documentary detailing the opportunities and difficulties of teaching for social justice. Your documentary will be viewed in class.

  • Your documentary should include different forms of media, for example: still photos, video clips, music, newspaper clippings, eyewitness accounts, or expert testimonies.
  • Your documentary must be self-contained—no live narration or added exhibits of written or visual material are permitted outside of the documentary. .
  • All production, including narration, voice-overs, and dramatization must be student produced.
  • Your documentary should conclude with bibliography and credits as appropriate.

STATE OF THE FIELD PAPER

This project will take place in small groups of 3-4.

Part I

Independently, find and annotate 5 peer-reviewed articles on one of the following topics:

  1. How gender, sexuality, and sex are discussed in history, or in history and social studies education.
  2. Why students might consider history or social studies boring.
  3. How social studies teachers talk about controversial public issues.

No source may be used twice in one group. Only two groups (across sections) may conduct research on each theme. Individually annotate the sources you selected:

  • Summarize the source in at least 200 words. What is the point of the article? What problem or phenomenon is the author attempting to describe or resolve? What evidence does the author use?
  • Assess the source in about 100 words. Did the author meet the stated intent of the article? Was the argument compelling? Did the evidence support the conclusions?
  • Reflect on the source in at least 100 words. Is this source useful? On what grounds would you recommend or reject it? What audience is it for?

Part II

As a group, compile your findings and give a presentation to the class. You may present your findings however you choose. Answer:

  • What has been done or discussed on this topic?
  • What needs to be done or discussed on this topic?
  • What did you learn about this topic from this project?

CRITICAL HISTORIOGRAPHY ARTIFACT

You will complete a historiography report in IL 2262. This assignment builds on your critical discussion of:

  • the historical presentation;
  • the accuracy and significance of the commemoration;
  • the ‘take-home’ message (your opinion), and
  • how students might perceive the display/history

Find two sources that critically analyze or challenge the story told by the historical artifact that you identified. Based on your findings, what is important to add to the existing narrative in relation to the goals of teaching for social justice? Create a full color artifact detailing your conclusions to accompany your poster presentation.

LESSON PLAN

Over the course of the semester, you will develop and modify a 90-minute lesson plan on either:

  1. A social justice or civil rights movement in the United States
  2. An international conflict involving the United States
  3. The response of a community or nation to colonialism or occupation.

Day 1:Outlineyour idea for your lesson plan, including the major themes or events that you would hope to cover.

  • Why is this topic, period or event important for students to learn?
  • What types of assignments would you use to support a unit on this topic or event?
  • What would be essential to cover in 90 minutes?

Notate your Day 1 work in one of your colors. Create a folder for your lesson plan notes on Box. Snap and load a photo of all work done to your folder on Box.

Day 2: Reference external sources to further develop your lesson plan.At least two should be peer-reviewed.

Note any revisions to your Day 1 work and answers.

  • Why is this topic, period or event important for students to learn?
  • What types of assignments would you use to support a unit on this topic or event?
  • What would be essential to cover in 90 minutes?
  • How did referencing external sources added to, improved, challenged or changed your thinking and planning about the theme or event?

Notate your Day 2 work in one of your colors. Snap and load a photo of all work done to your folder on Box.

Day 3 (A):Receive “speed date” feedback on your lesson plan from at least four peers and an instructor. Note

any revisions to your Day 2 work and answers.

  • Why is this topic, period or event important for students to learn?
  • What types of assignments would you use to support a unit on this topic or event?
  • What would be essential to cover in 90 minutes?
  • How did feedback from colleagues add to, improve, challenge or change your thinking and planning about the theme or event?

Notate your Day 3 work in one of your colors. Snap and load a photo of all work done to your folder on Box.