Syllabus ELED 591
Instructors: Jenny Gordon and Renee DeSantis
Location: The art room, Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School
Time: Wednesday, 4:40-7:10
Course Goals
The purpose of this seminar is to improve your teaching practice. It goes hand in hand
with the student teaching practicum and will address shared issues that frequently arise
when new teachers make the move from course work to instruction. There are four
themes for this course:
1)
2)
3)
4)
Curriculum development and planning
Arts integration
Classroom management
Reflective practice
This seminar is designed to support your success in your first student teaching placement
by helping you develop necessary techniques and dispositions required for effective and
positive learning environments.
Required Texts
Lemov, D. (2010). Teach Like a Champion: 49 Techniques that Put Students on the Path to
College. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Recommended Texts
Fay, J. and Funk, D. (1995). Teaching with Love and Logic. Golden, CO: Love and Logic
Press.
Written Assignments
Book of Wonderings/Reflective Practice:
This is a daily log of questions, hypotheses, and theories about your classroom teaching,
your students and their learning, curriculum development, or whatever else interests you
about your teaching context. It is a place for thoughtful reflection as you make your way in
your teaching setting. Spend 15 minutes a day typing up your thoughts. You will submit
your Book of Wonderings for feedback several times over the course of the semester.
(25%)
Student Teaching Binder/Curriculum Development, Planning, and Arts Integration: School
knowledge form and classroom observation checklist (posted on BlackBoard), lesson plans,
unit plans including an arts integration component. Each binder should be well organized
and neatly presented. Tabs should be used to organize your work and make it easily
accessible to your cooperating teacher, your supervisor, your instructors, and, perhaps most
importantly, to you.
Each student should plan and implement at least three lessons that integrate art over the
course of the semester. These lessons need to address New York State Standards for both
art and another area of the curriculum. One of these lessons needs to be taught prior to
the solo week. This lesson needs to be developed using the Binghamton University lesson
plan format. The other two lessons need to be included in the integrated unit that you
plan and deliver during your solo week (Target Date: November 14-18).
During your solo week, you will be responsible for planning and delivering all classroom
instruction and involving your mentor teacher in a support role such as the teaching of
small groups or supporting individual students. During this formative experience you are
expected to develop and deliver an integrated unit that includes the arts and at least two
other content areas. As the primary teacher, you are also expected to develop lessons for
the content areas not included in your integrated unit. The thinking behind the integrated
unit and the additional lessons should be well articulated in the goals and purposes section
that begins your plans and, as always, should address New York State learning standards
for both the arts and the content areas you are integrating. Possible planning formats will
be posted on BlackBoard well before your solo week so you may have some options.
Depending on your performance, your university supervisor and cooperating teacher may
select the planning template for you.
Video Tape, presentation, and reflection: Practicum students also videotape themselves
teaching one lesson and share a 5-minute segment of the videotaped lesson in the
practicum seminar. The lesson and video need not be perfect! You will view the video of
the lesson and write a reflection about your strengths, areas you would like to improve, and
moments that you are left wondering about. You will select a five-minute excerpt to present
to your peers in the seminar. The corresponding lesson plan should be copied for each
member of the practicum seminar. Note: Photo releases must be obtained for students who
appear in videos. The school will likely already have a blanket or specific release that covers
videotaping. Getting signed releases usually takes longer than expected, so practicum
students are encouraged to start the process early. It may also be necessary to schedule use
of school equipment or make personal arrangements, so advance planning will be
necessary. Illness, school closings, and equipment failures are all possibilities and have
occurred when students had planned to videotape, so students are advised to videotape
before the week the video is due. Guidelines are posted on BlackBoard.
Professional Development Plan:
Using the categories on the student teaching evaluation forms (Content Knowledge,
Instructional Methods and Planning, Teaching Skill, and Professionalism), you will
develop a plan to improve your teaching practice. Please consult your Book of
Wonderings, if applicable, as well as the sub-categories on the Practicum Student
Evaluation Form to describe how you will build on the strengths you bring to your work as
a teacher and how you will address the areas identified as challenges to your success in the
classroom. This assignment is designed to help you consolidate some of the ideas you have
expressed in your own reflections with the feedback you have received from your supervisor
and your cooperating teacher so you can target particular areas to focus on in order to
improve your teaching.
Calendar of Classes Student Teaching Seminar
August 31: Course orientation/Reflective Practice/ Classroom Management
Readings: Introduction (pages 1-23), Chapters 2 and 3 (pages 57-109) Lemov, Teach like a
Champion.
September 7: Reflective Practice/Classroom Management/Planning
Lesson Plan and Reflection due
Readings: Chapter 1 (pages 27-56), Chapters 4 and 5 (pages 111-165), Lemov
September 14: (Renee) Curriculum Development and Art integration
School Knowledge Form and Book of Wonderings due/Resubmission of Lesson Plan
and Reflection if required
September 21: Reflective Practice/Classroom Management Video sharing (4 students)
Readings: Chapter 6 (pages 167-202), Lemov
October 5: Reflective Practice/Classroom Management Video sharing (4 students)
Readings: Chapter 7 (pages 203-223), Lemov
October 12: (Renee) Curriculum Development and Art Integration
Book of Wonderings due
October 19: Reflective Practice/Classroom Management Video sharing (4 students)
Readings: Chapter 8 and 9 (pages 223-245), Lemov
October 26: Integrated Unit Planning Work Session
November 2: (Renee) Curriculum Development and Art Integration
Integrated Unit Plan due
November 9: Reflective Practice/Classroom Management Video sharing (4 students)
Additional Lesson Plans for Solo Teaching Week due
November 16: (Renee) Curriculum Development and Art Integration
Target: SOLO Teaching Week November 14-18
November 30: Reflective Practice/Classroom Management
Final paper: Book of Wonderings and Professional development plan
December 7: End of semester celebration