Nevada Teaching in the 21st Century Differentiated Classroom
SESSION 6
Course: Teaching Diverse Learners
Instructor: TUN/KDS
Address
Email:
Telephone:
Materials: Internet Connection, printer
Course: Teaching Diverse Learners
Course Start Dates: Course Begin Date:
Location: Touro University
Prerequisites: Bachelor Degree
Number of credits: 3
Course Overview
Success in the classroom is not just a matter of knowing your subject; it is a matter of
knowing your students. Having a working knowledge of the human development of
students in regard to mental, physical, social, and emotional development can be critical
to the success of the teaching and learning experience.
Early practitioners believed that students came to the classroom as a blank slate ready to
be filled by the all-knowing teacher. Today’s educators know that students come to the
classroom with a variety of experiences and prerequisite skills for learning, and that the
teacher is more coach and mentor than imparter of all knowledge.
This course will provide teachers of any grade level and discipline with realistic
information, strategies, and practices related to teaching students today. Participants will
look at the factors that make students diverse and the instructional implications for
teaching to diverse populations. Information on building resiliency, fostering a sense of
community within the classroom, the importance of teaching to student modalities and
the effects of poverty on student learning are included. Emphasis is placed on working
with English Language Learners, students from poverty, urban learners.
Instruction is focused on providing participants with information and practice that will
lead to self-awareness and classroom implementation of effective strategies for working
with English Language Learners, students from poverty and urban learners from poverty.
Learner Outcomes:
The student will be able to:
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Identify areas of bias in the classroom, in the curriculum, and within themselves.
Choose appropriate tactics for removing bias.
Gain an understanding of the special needs of students from diverse backgrounds
and with language deficits.
Understand that all students come to the classroom with a set of beliefs based, in
part, on their past experiences.
Incorporate ideas for reaching all students in the classroom.
Create lessons in which students’ differences are acknowledged.
Build and foster a sense of community within the classroom.
Instructor:
Online Self-Paced Instruction
Knowledge Delivery Systems maintains a online platform that automatically grades their
pre and post assessments, monitors their participation in the lecture, and awards them
credit when they complete the program. KDS also employs a team of educators to
monitor the progress and quality of work students provide.
Face-to-Face live instruction
Description will be included upon selection of instructor
Weekly Online Lecture Assignments:
Week 1
- The Vocabulary of Diversity
- Diversity and Education
Week 2
- The different modalities of Learning
- Six Types of Bias
Week 3
- Generational Poverty
- Poverty and Learning
Week 4
- Building Relationships
- Setting Goals and Following through
Discussion Board:
Students must submit one unique comment each week that must be at least 3 sentences in
length.
Students must submit one reply to a fellow classmate’s comment that must be at least 2
sentences in length.
Methods of instruction:
Credit
Methods of instruction will include:
Percentage of Course
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8 individual sections (15 hours)
8 pre assessments
8 graded post assessments
8 Video Lectures
Polling questions
8, 60-100 pages Study guides
Handouts
Midterm Project
Final Project
Discussion Board interaction ( 2 submissions weekly)
5%
10%
30%
part of videos
Materials Included
part of videos
20%
20%
15%
Grading criteria/system and evaluation activities:
A course administrator will be reviewing students’ answers and providing
feedback. Students will be evaluated on their creativity and ability to
incorporate techniques from the lecture into the discussion board, research
papers, examples and lesson plans.
University Grading Criteria
Grade
Equivalent
97-100%
93-96%
90-92%
87-89%
83-86%
80-82%
77-79%
73-76%
70-72%
69% or below
A+
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CU
Attendance/Participation
Student must meet all necessary deadlines to have full attendance and participation
credit.
Due dates of major assignments, projects, and examinations:
Midterm Due Dates: Due 15 days into the Course
Final Due Dates: Due on the last day of class
Discussion Board Interaction: One unique comment and one response to a students
comment by Sunday of each week.
Text and/or required reading list:
Text: (Included in the price of the program)
1. The Vocabulary of Diversity by Donna Walker Tileston 30 pages
2. Diversity and Education by Donna Walker Tileston 35 pages
3. The Different Modalities of Learning by Donna Walker Tileston 25 pages
4. Six Types of Bias by Donna Walker Tileston 30 pages
5. Generational Poverty by Donna Walker Tileston 34 pages
6. Poverty and Learning by Donna Walker Tileston 27 pages
7. Building Relationships by Donna Walker Tileston 23 pages
8. Setting Goals and Following through by Donna Walker Tileston 25 pages
Handouts: (Included in Program)
1. No handouts will be provided
Web readings:
1. 1. School Leadership and Student Motivation: http://www.ericdigests.org/19923/school.htm
2. Leadership Capacity:
http://www.wallacefoundation.org/NR/rdonlyres/6EDB66BA-884F-4E70-93BB3C90485D0238/0/LeadershipMatters.pdf
Cumulative Project:
Activity: Reflective Journal
Potential Total Points:
100 Points
The purpose of this activity is to reflect on issues and topics of interest that
impact Diversity in the development of curricular practices and assessment. For
this purpose you will need to on a weekly basis identify at least one topic or issue
that in your opinion are relevant towards developing a diverse school curricular
and assessment practices.
For each issue or topics selected include a commentary describing: reasons
for your selection, ways in which it impacts learners, teachers, and curricular
policies. Be sure to include the documentation source for each of the issues
selected as per the KDS video presentations.
Submit a summative reflection describing the two main issues and topics that in
your consideration are of greatest importance.
Each Weekly Reflection should be 1-2 pages in length
The Summative Reflection should be 3-4 pages in length
Scoring Criteria for Assignment
Appropriately selects the weekly issues and includes reflections for each issue.
Include the source for each issue (8 issues at 7.5points each = 60):
60 points
Include an summative reflection
30 points
Use of APA guidelines
10 points
Potential Total Points:
100 points
Final Project Part 2
Lesson Planning Activity
The project will consist of constructing, implementing, and evaluating a
lesson plan that incorporates Diversity in the classroom. The teacher should
include strategies and techniques emphasized in the course.
The assignment should contain the following information:
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A description of the classroom environment (e.g. grade level, student/teacher
ratio, race if available, etc.)
The proposed lesson plan, incorporating strategies and techniques emphasized in
the KDS video presentations.
The desired or expected outcome of following the new lesson plan.
An evaluation of the lesson plan and its effect on student learning, attitude, etc.
Did the results match your expected outcome? Why or why not?
The assignment should be a total of 5-7 pages in length and include 3-5 references.
Typing the document, using APA format:
1. Use the standard Cover Page and submit to your course facilitator.
All assignments are done in 12 pt. Times New Roman font and in APA, 5th
Edition format.
2. Add a Reference page that lists items of the authors’ works cited in your
document. Use APA format for the items.
Scoring Criteria for Assignment
Total Value: 100 Points
Content of Paper – Value: 70 points – Copy of your lesson plan, your reflections, and
the peer reviewer’s feedback.
Quality of Writing –Value: 20 points – Written work shows superior graduate quality
in verbal expression, attention to detail, and correct application of the conventions of the
English language. In students’ written work, paragraphing is appropriate with clear thesis
statements and supporting details. Sentences are clear and concise. Students vary
sentence structure making use of subordinate clauses. Transitional words and phrases are
used effectively. Points and ideas are well organized. Word choice is effective. English
language conventions are applied correctly (i.e. spelling, capitalization, punctuation,
agreement, pronoun usage, sentence structure).
Format - Value: 10 points – Cover Page, Reference Page and where applicable,
citations and references are used correctly and consistently, with clear efforts made to
include a wide range of relevant works. For any work requiring citations, students refer to
a wide range of suitable sources. All non original ideas are cited correctly and referenced
in a reference list. All works in the reference list are cited in the text. Students should
follow the Writing Format and Style as required by their institution. Should the student
not have a home institution, they will follow the APA Format and Style Manual, 5th
Edition