EDE 6225--Fall, 2000
Practices in Childhood Education
Dixon, Geiger, Hollinger, Schneider, & Silva

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Overview of the Course

The theme of this graduate level elementary curriculum course is "Engaging Students in Learning through Standards Driven Instruction." We will focus on classroom conditions, curriculum, and instructional strategies that enable students to develop and participate in a learning community and successfully engage in activities that result in learning.

The course is developed to provide support and stimulate reflection during the internship. The readings, activities, and assignments were designed to provide you with useful information about the practices and perspectives of effective teachers and to promote thoughtful critique of classroom practice. In our view, the ultimate proof that a teacher is "good" is that students are learning and developing positive attitudes about learning. Therefore in this course we will not only learn about teaching practice, we will also evaluate the learning of the students in your classrooms. We will ask, "Who is learning?" "What are they learning?" and "How do you know what they’re learning?" and "What have you done to ensure that ALL students are learning?" At the same time we will ask, "What are YOU learning?" In short, during this course you will study student learning and your own learning as you prepare to become effective teachers of all the students in your classroom.

Objectives

  1. Students will present and support with professional readings definitions of key terms: engagement, motivation, learning, inclusion, performance assessment, standards driven instruction
  2. Students will provide specific examples of multiple strategies consistent with current research about the brain that foster student engagement and learning.
  3. Students will provide specific examples of strategies to develop and maintain an inclusive classroom community.
  4. Students will demonstrate the ability to create a lesson with specific educational objectives, performance outcomes, precise directions and structure, and specific assessment strategies.
  5. Students will demonstrate knowledge of a thematic approach to curriculum design
  6. Students will demonstrate the ability to assess student learning using a variety of strategies
  7. Students will demonstrate the ability to develop effective lessons using a variety of lesson structures.
  8. Students will demonstrate the ability to prepare for, organize and present a professional written and oral presentation which summarizes key concepts and instructional strategies from professional readings.

 

Texts

For this course, you are required to purchase the following texts:

Both are available at University Book and Supply

In addition, you are required to purchase at Target Copy Center:

Assignments (See calendar for due dates)

25% Thematic Unit
25% Portfolio of evidence about student learning
5% Unit presentation (semester culminating experience)
20% Summer reading assignment
15% Engagement log assignment
10% Web participation and class attendance and participation

*Attend Career Resource Center meeting and Professional Orientation Seminar

A=92-100 B=82-91 C=72-81 D=62-71

Structure of the course

  • This course has been designed around four key issues important to establishing a productive teaching and learning environment in classrooms:

    1) instructional implications of brain based research

    2) planning engaging curriculum

    3) instructional strategies for enhancing student learning

    4) assessment strategies for enhancing student learning

    To help ease the pressure associated with simultaneous work on University classroom and internship responsibilities, reading about the instructional implications of brain based research has been assigned during the summer prior to your internship. You should arrive on the first day of class with the summer assignment completed. We will draw on this assignment to begin our work on the instructional implications of brain based research and on planning engaging curriculum.

    In addition, we will use class time to help you develop the skills necessary to develop a thematic unit which will engage students in your internship classroom and to assess their learning during the unit.

    Class sessions will involve three key elements:

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