EDUC+510+Syllabus

// Bridges to the Future // Education 510: //Reflective Seminar in Teaching (2 credits)// Fall 2011 Tuesdays, 4-6:30 Instructor of Record: Ruth-Ellen Verock-O’Loughlin Guest Lecturer: Erik Sussbauer office (413) 545-1565 cell (978) 660-0145email: ruth-ellen@educ.umass.edu = = // Reflective Seminar in Teaching // is designed specifically for //Bridges to the Future// teachers. **The student teaching experience itself is the text of the course.** Each class involves a substantial amount of time discussing issues important to the //Bridges// teachers and their current classroom environments. Classroom management, relationships among teachers and students, and licensure documentation are significant components of the course. There is flexibility in the design of the course, allowing for student teacher input regarding general and specific concerns and issues related to the student teaching experience.
 * __ Course Overview: __**

Education 510 is designed to The course is designed to demonstrate commitment to the following elements stated in the School of Education’s Conceptual Framework. These are:
 * __ Course Objectives: __**
 * Provide pedagogical guidance to students during their student teaching experience
 * Facilitate the students’ professional growth as teachers in areas such as planning, instruction and assessment, classroom community, and culturally responsive teaching
 * Develop skills in the design and implementation of lessons that address issues of differentiated instruction and student engagement
 * Help students cultivate professional collegiality within their classrooms, schools, and the larger community
 * Guide students in the development of thoughtful, reflective, comprehensive, evidence-based student teaching that meets both Subject Professional Association standards, Massachusetts Preservice Professional Standards as demonstrated through their Teacher Performance Assessment and the Teacher Performance Assessment (TPA) reflective practice process.
 * __ Conceptual Framework: __**
 * Collaboration ** -- Educators recognize the imperative of collaboration - that we cannot achieve our vision for student learning as independent actors working in isolation. Educators exhibit attitudes, dispositions, and behaviors consistent with a collaborative approach to professional practice, as opposed to an individualistic or competitive approach to professional practice.


 * Reflective Practice ** -- Educators recognize the imperative of reflective practice – that to transform the status quo we must be willing to consistently examine and transform assumptions about professional practice. Educators exhibit attitudes, dispositions, and behaviors consistent with a reflective approach to professional practice that allows them to adapt practices based on considered reflection.


 * Multiple Ways of Knowing ** -- Educators recognize the imperative of multiple ways of knowing – that to create communities of practice, we must respect the perspectives of different stakeholders. In a spirit of inquiry, educators reflect on and challenge their own perspectives and beliefs and maintain a professional awareness of the influences that their perspectives may have in educational settings.


 * Access, Equity and Fairness ** -- Educators recognize the imperative of access, equity, and fairness – that we cannot achieve our vision of access to and success in education for all students without knowledge of and attention to the student’s social, cultural, developmental, and personal context. Educators exhibit attitudes, dispositions, and behaviors consistent with promoting equity that allow them to adopt practices that create and advance equitable conditions in which all students can learn.


 * Evidence-Based Practice ** -- Educators recognize the imperative of evidence-based practices that promote student engagement, achievement and performance. In so doing the candidate be able to: 1) gather and/or examine multiple sources of evidence, 2) determine the credibility, reliability and validity of the evidence, 3) synthesize and draw conclusions from evidence, and 4) use the evidence to modify professional practices that result in increased PK12 student learning outcomes.

The organization and substance of this course has again been created based upon a belief in the constuctivist model of self as text and as meaning maker. We draw on our own experiences, beliefs, histories etc. to make meaning of the work of teaching, of being an educator. Be prepared for your ideas, written and spoken, to be the focus of class discussion. 1) ** The Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure must be passed. In order to complete Education 510, you must pass both portions of the MTEL//. Failure to pass results in a grade of Incomplete (INC) in Education 510 until all necessary tests are passed.// ** The University of Massachusetts Amherst will not recommend you for licensure unless or until you have passed the Massachusetts tests for Educator Licensure. 2) Attendance at all seminar sessions is **required** due to the nature of the course. Development of collegiality and professional self-assessment cannot happen in a vacuum. Also required are thoughtful participation in discussions and completion of assignments. **(Collaboration, Reflective Practice, Evidence-Based Practice, Multiple Ways of Knowing, Access, Equity and Fairness)** 5) Case study in classroom management. **(Collaboration, Reflective Practice, Evidence-Based Practice, Multiple Ways of Knowing**, **Access, Equity and Fairness)** 6) Personal Philosophy of Education paper rough-draft begins during the practicum along with a peer and mentor review. **(Evidence-Based Practice**, **Access, Equity and Fairness)** 7) Assigned Suggested Readings to be read in advance of the appropriate class topic.
 * __ Course Requirements: __**
 * 3) ** Development of the TK20 Portfolio is a key component in this class. Students will be expected to submit examples to their TK20 accounts that supply evidence that they have met the Massachusetts Department of Education’s requirements for licensure. This evidence will be organized into an appropriate student teaching portfolio (Field Experience Binder) as a major component of this course. While this need not be fully completed by the end of the University academic semester, it is expected that each student will have a substantial amount of documentation in order to receive a grade for the course.
 * 4) ** Recording and Self-Evaluating the Teaching Event (TPA), in alignment with your Student Teaching Practicum and Seminar (EDUC 500M or S, 510). You will be expected to critically analyze your teaching event with a particular emphasis on content and writing for this class. **(Reflective Practice**, **Evidence-based Practice,** **Collaboration, Multiple Ways of Knowing, Access, Equity, and Fairness)**
 * __ Assignments: __**
 * 1) **// Case study in classroom management //**// - // Write a case study based upon a real or imagined personal challenge in the classroom. The case study should be brief and should focus upon one classroom situation or a particular behavior of a student or a colleague. It should be written as if you were describing an incident to a colleague or administrator. Make sure you (1) identify the challenge; (2) describe clearly the behavior or situation; (3) discuss your response; (4) describe the strategies you took or could take to improve the behavior or situation. Bring five copies of your case study to class.
 * 2) **// Personal Philosophy of Education //** **paper**- You will write a paper outlining your developing personal philosophy of education. The paper should be approximately 2-3 pages in length and should represent your beliefs about teaching and learning in today’s classroom. Include your views on standards-based lesson planning, teaching strategies, assessment, classroom management and climate, accommodating students with special needs, building community, and parental/family involvement. You will submit a draft to your mentor teacher and peers by the end of November and bring a revised paper to your Clinical Teaching Seminar Class in the early spring date: TBAYour final draft will be uploaded into your Tk20 Student Teaching Field Experience Binder. (Remember, your personal philosophy will continue to evolve during the year and you may wish to revise and update it during Clinical Teaching.)
 * 3) **// Teacher Performance Assessment Documentation- //** per your Handbook to be released in November.

The following readings may be part of the class discussion scheme. The topics are aligned with the Conceptual Framework and are planned at intervals that coincide with class topics, readings, and/or assignments. You are expected to have read each selection before the topic is scheduled on the course calendar unless otherwise advised. Please see our TEACH Bridges to the Future Wikispace for more details.
 * __ Suggested Readings __**

In order to achieve a grade of Pass, students must complete all of the course requirements in a timely manner. Because of the intensity of the STEP immersion programs (//180 Days in Springfield, Bridges to the Future//), students may need to request extensions for assignments. These extensions will be granted at the discretion of the course instructor. Students who approach or fail to meet expectations set out in the course assignment rubrics will be asked to redo and resubmit the assignment. When appropriate, rubrics will be given to students along with assignment specifics.
 * __ Grading Policy: __**

Each week, we will try to encourage inquiry, pose relevant problems, structure learning around essential concepts, address misconceptions, and encourage high-level reflection. A conscious attempt will be made to vary the format and style of teaching in an attempt to address a variety of ways of learning.
 * __ Instructional Methodologies/Special Needs: __**

The University of Massachusetts Amherst is committed to providing an equal educational opportunity for all students. If you have a documented physical, psychological, or learning disability on file with Disability Services (DS), Learning Disabilities Support Services (LDSS), or Psychological Disabilities Services (PDS), you may be eligible for reasonable academic accommodations to help you succeed in this course. If you have a documented disability that requires an accommodation, please notify me within the first two weeks of the semester so that we may make appropriate arrangements. Further information about University service for students with special needs is available from Learning Disabilities Support Services at 413-545-6218. **(Multiple Ways of Knowing, Access, Equity, and Fairness)**

The integrity of the academic enterprise of any institution of higher education requires honesty in scholarship and research. Academic honesty is therefore required of all students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Academic dishonesty (cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, facilitating dishonesty) is prohibited in all programs of the University.
 * __ Academic Honesty Statement: __**