Boston University
SED DS502: Introduction to Adolescent Development
Spring 2015, Thursdays, 4-7 PM
1/22, 1/29, 2/5, 2/12, 2/19, 2/26, 3/5,
Prof. Scott Seider
seider@bu.edu
SED Room 237
Why Study Adolescent Development?
Effective secondary teachers need to be able to do three different things well (Lieber, 2009):
1. Deliver high quality instruction in their content area that results in challenging,
meaningful and engaging learning
2. Engage in effective classroom management, discipline and relationship-building
3. Foster the mindsets, skillsets, character strengths, and identity development that
adolescents need to grow into healthy and high-performing adults
Required Texts
Nakkula, M. & Toshalis, E. (2010). Understanding youth: Adolescent development for
educators. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
Tatum, B. (2003). Why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria? New York: Basic
Books.
Attendance & Make-up Work
We have fewer than 25 hours of class time. Only a genuine emergency or highly contagious
disease should prevent you from attending class. In such cases, please contact me ASAP and in
advance of the class you will miss.
Power point presentations for each class will be available on the course blackboard site. If you
miss a class, choose the 20 slides from the class presentation that you believe to be the most
interesting, engaging or provocative and reflect upon each in a well thought out paragraph (i.e.
20 paragraphs in total). Or, if a single slide has a substantial amount of information on it, you can
write several paragraphs about that slide. These paragraphs should synthesize the content on the
slides with the assigned readings for the week, and they should be emailed as an attachment to
the instructor prior to the next class meeting. If you are tardy to class (or need to leave early),
please follow this same procedure for the slides presented in your absence.
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Class Discussion Board
Weekly Posting #1: By Thursday at noon before each class session, please post on the DS502
discussion board one comment (2-5 sentences) or one question (1-2 sentences) about some
aspect of the assigned readings that caught your attention.
Assignments
Assignment
Points
Warm Ups/Quizzes/Exit Tickets
Discussion Posting #1
4 points (each)
2 points (each)
Micro-Teaching + Reflection
Philosophy of Teaching
40 points
60 points
Daily Assessments
Other Assessments
Grading
 Course grade = Total points earned/Total points possible
 Unapproved late assignments will be penalized 10% per day
 Uncompleted make-up assignments will reduce course grade by 1/7
Syllabus at a Glance
For each class session, please bring the assigned readings for that session to class
Class
#
1/22
1/29
2/5
2/12
Topic
Readings
What is adolescent
development?
Steinberg, Chap 4
Nakkula & Toshalis,
Chaps 1-3
How does belonging
impact adolescent
development?
How does mindset
impact adolescent
development?
Steele Chaps 1-3, 6, 9
Savitz-Romer Chap 3
Carter
Dweck Chaps 1-3 or
Dweck White Paper
AND
Hong & Lin
Seider Chap 4
Steinberg Chap 6
Fine or RQI or
Yeager et al.
How do character
strengths impact
adolescent
development?
Implications for
Pedagogical Move/
Classroom
Assignment Due
Whole-Class
Socratic Seminar
Relationship Building
Wise Feedback &
Leaderless
Cohesive Community Discussion
Growth Mindset
Jigsaw
MC-II
Micro-Teaching
2
2/19
How does racial
identity impact
adolescent
development?
2/26
How does gender
identity impact
adolescent
development?
3/5
3/12
How does sexual
orientation identity
impact adolescent
development?
Philosophy of
Teaching
Tatum Chaps 1,2,4
AND
Tatum-6 or Gallegos &
Ferdman or Kim or
McCarty & Lee
Nakkula & Toshalis-6
Quenqua
Sadowski Chap 4
Antiracist Teaching
Carousel Activity
Mid-Course Evals
Individual
Micro-Teaching
Relationship Building Reflection due
Small Group
Discussion
Rosin
Sadowski Chap 6
Bazelon
Collaborative
Problem Solving
(Greene PDK)
Small Group
Discussion
P.O.T due
Supplementary Assigned Readings (Posted on Blackboard Site)
Bazelon, E. (2013). Sticks and stones: Defeating the culture of bullying and rediscovering the
power of character and empathy. New York: Random House.
Carter, D. (2008). On spotlighting and ignoring certain racial group members in the classroom.
In M. Pollock (Ed.), Everyday antiracism. New York, NY: New Press.
Duckworth, A. L., Kirby, T., Gollwitzer, A., & Oettingen, G. (in press). From fantasy to action:
Mental contrasting with implementation intentions (MCII) improves academic performance in
children. Social Psychological and Personality Science.
Duckworth, A. L., Grant, H., Loew, B., Oettingen, G., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2011). Selfregulation strategies improve self-discipline in adolescents: Benefits of mental contrasting and
implementation intentions. Educational Psychology: An International Journal of Experimental
Educational Psychology, 31(1), 17-26.
Dweck, C. & Walton, G. & Cohen, G. (2012). Academic tenacity: Mindsets and skills that
promote long-term learning. Paper presented for the Gates Foundation. Retrieved on March 16,
2014 from www.gatesfoundation.org.
Fine, S. (2014). ‘A slow revolution’: Toward a theory of intellectual playfulness in high school
classrooms. Harvard Educational Review, 84(1), 1-24.
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Gallegos, P., & Ferdman, B. (2012). Latina and Latino ethnoracial identity orientations: A
dynamic and developmental perspective. In C. Wijeyesinghe & B. Jackson (Eds.), New
perspectives on racial identity development (pp. 51-81), New York: New York University Press.
Hong, H. & Lin, X. (2012). How learning about scientists’ struggles influences students’ interest
and learning in physics. Journal of Educational Psychology, 104(2), 469-484.
Kim, J. (2012). Asian American racial identity development theory. In C. Wijeyesinghe & B.
Jackson (Eds.), New perspectives on racial identity development (pp. 138-161). New York: New
York University Press.
McCarty, T. & Lee, T. (2014). Critical culturally sustaining/revitalizing pedagogy and
indigenous education sovereignty. Harvard Educational Review, 84(1), 101-136.
Quenqua, D. (2014 August 3). Tell me what you see, even if it hurts me. New York Times, ST1.
Ritchhart, R. (2002). Intellectual character. New York, NY: Jossey Bass.
Savitz-Romer, M. & Bouffard, S. (2008). Ready, willing and able: A developmental approach to
college access and success. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
Steele, C. (2010). Whistling Vivaldi: How stereotypes affect us and what we can do. New York:
W.W. Norton.
Shakespear, E. (1999) “What I’d Tell A White Gal: What My Black Male Students Taught Me
About Race and Schooling.” In S. Freedman & E. Simons (Eds), Inside City Schools:
Investigating Literacy in Multicultural Classrooms, pp. 76-88.
Tough, P. (2014 May 18). Who gets to graduate? New York Times Magazine, pp. 1-15.
Walton, G. & Cohen, G. (2011). A brief social belonging intervention improves academic and
health outcomes of minority students. Science, 331 (1447-1451).
Yeager, D.S., Henderson, M., Paunesku, D., Walton, G., Spitzer, B.,* D’, Mello, & Duckworth,
A. (under review). It’s boring but it matters: A beyond-the-self purpose for learning raises level
of construal and promotes academic self-regulation.
Supplementary In-Class Readings
Canter, L. (2010). Assertive discipline: Positive behavior management for today’s classroom.
Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
Greene, R. (2008). Kids do well if they can. Phi Delta Kappan, 90(3), 160-167.
Match Teacher Residency (2012). Relationships & development. Boston, MA: Match Education.
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Lemov, D. (2015). Teach like a champion 2.0. New York, NY: Jossey-Bass.
Lieber, C. (2009). Getting classroom management right: Guided discipline and personalized
support in secondary schools. Cambridge, MA: Educators for Social Responsibility.
Lieber, C. (2009). Making learning real: Reaching and engaging all learners in secondary
classrooms. Cambridge, MA: Educators for Social Responsibility.
STATEMENT ON STUDENTS WITH DISABLITIES:
The School of Education at Boston University is committed to equal access for students with
disabilities. If you have a specific disability and require accommodations in this class, please let
me know early in the semester so that appropriate accommodations can be made. You must
provide me with a letter of needed accommodations prepared by the Office of Disability
Services. Contact information for that office is as follows: (617)353-3658 V/TTY
or access@bu.edu. All discussions and written materials will be kept confidential.
STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:
The pursuit of knowledge can proceed only when scholars take responsibility and receive credit
for their work. Recognition of individual contributions to knowledge and of the intellectual
property of others builds trust within the University and encourages the sharing of ideas that is
essential to scholarship. Plagiarism, that is, failure to properly acknowledge sources, written or
electronic, used for verbatim quotations or ideas, is a violation of academic integrity. Each
student is responsible for learning and using proper methods of paraphrasing and footnoting,
quotation, and other forms of citation, to ensure that the original author, speaker, illustrator, or
source of the material used is clearly acknowledged.
MICRO-TEACHING & REFLECTION ASSIGNMENT
Micro-teaching typically runs 10 minutes in length. The 10 minutes will constitute a portion of a
lesson rather than an entire lesson.
Each person takes his or her turn as teacher while everyone else plays the role of students. It is
the job of these ‘pupils’ to ask and answer questions realistically. It is not the job of the
‘pupils’ to pose classroom management challenges (that’s for CT534!)
When finished, the student conducting the class has a moment or two to react to his/her own
teaching. Then everyone else joins in to discuss what they saw that they especially liked. Finally,
the group may mention just a few things that the practice teacher might try doing differently in
the future.
The focus of this particular micro-teaching assignment is on incorporating into a traditional
lesson in your field 1-3 practices designed to foster the development in students of positive
mindsets, character strengths or identities.
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Because many of you are at the start of your teacher education coursework, you will NOT be
assessed on the quality of your lesson planning. In fact, you may use a website such as
www.betterlesson.com or www.sharemylesson.com to find an existing lesson plan that you then
modify for the purposes of this assignment.
Rubric for Micro-Teaching (The Lesson)
Components
Practices
utilized to
facilitate
learning
1 pt
Unclear which
pedagogical
practices or
strategies being
utilized
2.5 pts
Evident pedagogical
practices/strategies being
employed
5 pts
Evident pedagogical practices/strategies
being employed
And
Evidence that practices effectively
facilitate student learning of content
Rubric for Micro-Teaching Reflection
Recommended Length: 4-6 typed, double-space pages, 12 point font
Components
Description
of
pedagogical
practices
Employed
1 pts
Vague or
incomplete
description of
pedagogical
practices
employed
4 pts
Clear description of
pedagogical practices
employed
And
And
Effective citations from
assigned readings to explain
rationale for learning
practices
OR
What went
well
Vague or
incomplete
description of
positive aspects
of microteaching
7 pts
Detailed description of pedagogical
practices integrated into lesson
Evidence effectively cited
from video or lesson plan to
support description
Clear description of positive
aspects of micro-teaching
Effective citations from assigned
readings to explain rationale for
learning practices
And
Evidence effectively cited from
video or lesson plan to support
description
Detailed description and analysis of
positive aspects of micro-teaching
And
Evidence effectively cited from
video or lesson plan to support
description
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And
What was
challenging
Vague or
incomplete
description of
opportunities
for
improvement
Clear description of negative
aspects of micro-teaching
Effective citations from assigned
readings to support description
Detailed description and analysis of
negative aspects of micro-teaching
And
Evidence effectively cited from
video or lesson plan to support
description
And
Effective citations from assigned
readings to support description
Implications
for teaching
Mechanics
Vague or
incomplete
description of
implications for
teaching
Distracting
grammar, usage
or spelling or
errors
Clear description of plans for
‘next time’
2-4 grammar, usage or
spelling errors
Detailed and thoughtful analysis of
takeaways for ‘next time’
Reflection effectively proof-read and
virtually error-free
______________ / 40 pts
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PHILOSOPHY OF TEACHING ASSIGNMENT
A philosophy of teaching— which many prospective employers will ask you to submit as part of
your job applications— asks educators to articulate the dimensions of teaching, learning and
positive adolescent development that are most important to them.
Now recall the three elements of effective secondary teaching: 1) high quality instruction; 2)
effective classroom management; and 3) fostering students’ development of positive mindsets,
character strengths and self-knowledge.
If a philosophy of teaching includes 10 total assertions, it is likely that at least five of those
assertions will focus on high quality instruction and two will focus on effective classroom
management.
That leaves room for THREE assertions about your big goals for fostering students’ development
of the positive mindsets, character strengths and self-knowledge necessary for health, highfunctioning young adults.
This assignment has two parts:
First, you will make those three assertions in three total paragraphs of approximately 4-8
sentences apiece (i.e. one paragraph per assertion).
Second, you will expand upon these assertions with three separate annotations (one per assertion)
that explain 1) why each of your big goals for positive youth development are personally
important to you; 2) why existing research or scholarship supports focusing on each goal; and 3)
the pedagogical or curricular approaches you might take to fostering such positive development
in your adolescent students.
Two final points:
1. I am hopeful this assignment will represent a starting point for a piece of writing you are
continually amending over the course of your time at BU.
2. Also, realize that you are not bound to the assertions you author in any permanent way.
You are free to change your mind significantly about something over the course of the
academic year as well as your professional careers. That’s fine. This assignment is
intended as a starting point in that process.
Details
Recommended Total Length: 4-5 double-spaced, typed, 12 point font
Sources: Plan to draw upon multiple readings from DS502 in supporting your statement of
teaching philosophy. You are welcome to draw upon scholarship outside of this course’s
assigned readings, but that is not an expectation for this assignment.
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Citation: Please cite any research or scholarship you reference, but I’m not overly hung up on a
particular method of citation. Just make it clear where the quotation, statistic or idea came from
(e.g. Seider, 2013, p. 4) and include a reference list at the conclusion of the paper.
A Public Document: One of the goals of this assignment is to get you started on a (portion of a)
document that may be part of your eventual job applications, so it is intended from the start to be
a document that will be read by others. Be prepared to share your emerging teaching philosophy
with classmates and ultimately prospective employers.
Rubric for Philosophy of Teaching Statements (and annotations)
Components
Goal #1 for
Positive Youth
Development
Personal and
Empirical
Motivation for
Goal #1
Practices for
Achieving
Goal #1
Goal #2 for
Positive Youth
Development
Personal and
Empirical
Motivation for
Goal #2
Practices for
Achieving
Goal #2
Goal #3 for
Positive Youth
Development
2 pts
Vague or
incomplete
description of
PYD goals
Vague or
incomplete
description of
personal and
empirical
motivation
Vague or
incomplete
description of
practices for
achieving goal
Vague or
incomplete
description of
PYD goals
Vague or
incomplete
description of
personal and
empirical
motivation
Vague or
incomplete
description of
practices for
achieving goal
Vague or
incomplete
description of
4 pts
Clear description of PYD
goals
Clear description of
personal motivation for
Goal #1
Clear description of
practices for achieving goals
Clear description of PYD
goals
Clear description of
personal motivation for
Goal #1
Clear description of
practices for achieving goals
Clear description of PYD
goals
6 pts
Clear description of PYD goals
And
Compelling evidence from research
to support these goals
Clear description of personal
motivation for Goal #1
AND
Research-based rationale for Goal
#1
Clear description of practices for
achieving goal
And
Compelling evidence from research
to support use of practices
Clear description of PYD goals
And
Compelling evidence from research
to support these goals
Clear description of personal
motivation for Goal #1
AND
Research-based rationale for Goal
#1
Clear description of practices for
achieving goal
And
Compelling evidence from research
to support use of practices
Clear description of PYD goals
And
Compelling evidence from research
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Personal and
Empirical
Motivation for
Goal #3
Practices for
Achieving
Goal #3
Mechanics
PYD goals
Vague or
incomplete
description of
personal and
empirical
motivation
Vague or
incomplete
description of
practices for
achieving goal
Distracting
grammar, usage
or spelling or
errors
Clear description of
personal motivation for
Goal #1
Clear description of
practices for achieving goals
2-4 grammar, usage or
spelling errors
to support these goals
Clear description of personal
motivation for Goal #1
AND
Research-based rationale for Goal
#1
Clear description of practices for
achieving goal
And
Compelling evidence from research
to support use of practices
Reflection effectively proof-read
and virtually error-free
______________ / 60 pts
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