Winter 2007
TU TH 6-7:45pm / Location: Merril 102
Instructor: Kip Téllez, Ph.D.,
UCSC Education Department
Social Science I Room 253
(831) 459-2208
ktellez@ucsc.edu
http://education.ucsc.edu/faculty/ktellez/

Office Hours: TU TH 1-3 and by appointment most days.

Teaching Assistants




Office hours by appt.

Note: Instructor/TA mailboxes are located in SSI 218

Teaching, like art, is born of a schema.

Susan Ohanian

Education is a process of living and not a preparation for future living. 

John Dewey

When I try to teach, as I do sometimes, I am appalled by the results, which seem a little more inconsequential, because sometimes the teaching appears to succeed.

Carl Rogers

Course Description
This course encourages students to think about education from the viewpoint of the teacher. Participants are invited to explore their own educational experiences, observe teaching from a professional's point of view, learn about the teaching/learning process, as well as understand more about K-12 learners.  Finally, the course explores how we could have a different kind of school, one that might better meet the needs of democratic life.  May be taken concurrently with courses 92A, 92B, or 92C. A practicum in the schools of 30 hours/quarter is required. Among the questions we will consider:

• Is teaching an art, a science, a craft, or some combination of all three? 
• Why do people want to teach?
• Children and youth differ from adults in many ways. How can we understand more about them?
• How does our ethnic heritage play a role in teaching and learning? 
• What should be taught and what choices do teachers have?
• How do teachers conduct their daily work? 
• What lesson designs do teachers use and why?
• What are the larger aims of education in a democracy?
• How can we know if teaching has been successful? 

Required Textbooks

Ayers, W.(2001).To teach: The journey of a teacher (2nd Edition). New York, NY: Teachers College.

Readings available on the web site.

Course Schedule and Attendance Requirements
Life events arise which prevent us from meeting routine obligations, such as going to class.  In many university courses, missing a class simply means picking up notes from a friend or turning in a paper to an instructor's box.  This class is a bit different.  Because we routinely discuss your placement, explain assignments, and work in groups, your attendance is essential.  If you miss class-sometimes unavoidable we understand-you must have another student represent you and your interests.  If you will miss a group meeting of any kind, you must contact your section leader to plan for your absence.  Most importantly, if you can't make a placement day, you must call your observation teacher at least 24 hours in advance of your absence.  Failure to give your observation teacher notice of your absence may result in being dropped from the course. 

Sections
Sections are led by one of the teaching assistants.  We meet as sections to discuss school placements/readings, share our lessons, and complete the Literature circle project. 

Section times:

Carrie
TU 4-5:10 Crown 201
WE 9:30-10:40 Cowell 216

Dena
TH 8-9:10pm Merrill 002
FR 9:15-10:25 Soc Sci I 261

 

Course Schedule (Subject to change)

Date	Topic	Readings (read before each class session)	Notes
TH Jan 4	Welcome; course organization; requirements; placement forms
TU Jan 9	Who are the teachers? What myths do we hold about teaching? Kip	Ayers, Chapter 1, TT
TH Jan 11	Relationships in, between, and among. Kip, Carrie, Dena	Ayers, Chapter 2, TT	Letter to a former teacher due at section meeting First e-Journal Posting due by FR, 6pm
TU Jan 16	How do teachers understand students? What should we know about our students?	Balaban-Seeing...
TH Jan 18	Watching teachers and learning from them, or “What should I be writing in my journal?”	Nieto-What Keeps Teachers Going UCSC Continuum
TU Jan 23	Topic and Reading TBA	Characteristics of Effective Teachers
TH Jan 25	How do teachers create learning opportunities? What should we teach? Who chooses what we teach?	Ayers, Chapter 3, TT Ayers, Chapter 5, TT McDaniels-The Teacher's 10 Commandments...
TU Jan 30	What choices do teachers have? How do teachers manage controversial curricula?	Hess-Controversies in Democratic...
TH Feb 1	How do we learn? Kip's general introduction to a teaching/learning theory.	Teaching Facts, Skills, Concepts and Morals-Kip	Interview with your placement teacher due
TU Feb 6	How do we teach? Using a general lesson design with example. Kip, Carrie, Dena
TH Feb 8	What about the diversity of California's students? How does this diversity affect teachers?	Ayers Chapter 4, TT Delpit-I just... Additional Readings/Notes
TU Feb 13	Teaching as a profession: Pay and advancement.  Kip	Zirkel-Signing Bonuses
TH Feb 15	What are the limitations of teaching with a plan? Can teaching be conducted otherwise? Thinking about a “dialogic pedagogy.”	Frankenstein-Critical Mathematics...	Lesson Development Plan and Reflections due (This will vary by section).
TU Feb 20	Guest Speaker(s)- TBN
TH Feb 22	Lit circle preparation-No Lecture
TU Feb 27	Teacher Evaluation: Special Guest Speaker-David Herrera	Ancillai-Please Hire Me...	Teachers or Teaching Article Analysis due
TH Mar 1	Assessment in the classroom and wider world: How do we know what we have done?  Or, are schools merely great sorting machines?	Ayers-10 Alternatives Vogler & Kennedy-Standards, Testing...	Literature Circle Presentations in sections
TU Mar 6	Reforming Teaching An analysis by a noted conservative	Hess-Teacher Quality, Teacher Pay
TH Mar 8	The significance of teaching.  Will I ever make a difference?	Ayers, Chapter 6, TT Dewey, J. "My Pedagogic Creed"
TU Mar 13	What should I do now to prepare for a career in education?  Wrapping up.
Finals Week Mar 19-23	No Final-No class		Observation Log due to Section Leader's box by Mar 22, 5:00pm

Notes on your School Site placement

Exploring education from the professional's point of view is the first step in understanding the work of a teacher.  You will be given the opportunity to observe and perhaps serve as an assistant in a local school where you will relate the concepts of the course to classroom life and begin to view teaching and schooling anew. Keep in mind that you are representing both yourself and UCSC, so you'll want to make a good impression.

You are required to spend a minimum of 30 hours of observation in your placement classroom; you and your observation teacher will arrange your specific schedule. Although you are not required to perform duties beyond observation, you are encouraged to assist your observation teacher as needed.  You are required to give your observation teacher the letter outlining our observation guidelines.  If you misplace the letter, you can find an extra copy here.  

Your school site placement comes with a responsibility to maintain the confidentiality of the students you observe. Therefore, you must use pseudonyms in all your assignments when referring to individual students. Finally, as a courtesy to your observation teacher, please do not take notes while observing. 

Below is the contact information for Alison De Aratanha, the Department's School Placement Assistant. Please contact her regarding scheduling issues. Professional concerns regarding your placement should be directed to either Kip or your section leader.
Email: alisond@ucsc.edu
Office: Social Sciences I, Second Floor, South Wing
Phone: (831) 459-1261

Assignments

Letter to a former teacher
Write a letter to a former teacher who influenced you in some way. The letter should express your wildest hopes and deepest fears as you consider teaching as profession. Please use pseudonyms if appropriate.Evaluation criteria: thoughtfulness, clarity. Contribution to overall grade/evaluation: 10 pts.

Teachers or Teaching Article Analysis
Each professional field has an academic and research life as well one oriented towards practice. This assignment is designed to introduce you to scholarly/research ideas in the teaching and teaching profession. Please choose a full-length article from a scholarly, referred journal in education that relates to teaching, the work of teachers or their preparation.  The date of the article is up to you.  Your Article Analysis (2-4 pages) will include five sections: (a) Process you used to locate your article (e.g., What index did you use? Did you ask a former instuctor for recommendations? Did you find it by reviewing the index of a book or article you had previously read? (b) Reasons for choosing this particular article. (c) A brief summary of the article, (d) connections to observation classroom/teacher, your own educational experience, or both, and (e) The original article annotated with any questions you may have about the work. Evaluation criteria: Rationale for choice of article, connections to observation assignment or personal experience, summary, comprehension, clarity.  Contribution to overall grade/evaluation: 10 pts.

Lesson Development and Teaching
The art, science, and craft of teaching are embodied in the daily lessons and activities a teacher offers to students. As an introduction to the instructional method, you will be asked to develop and teach a lesson to your class peers, based on a subject of your choice. Please use the lesson plan format provided below. The lesson should be appropriate for an audience of university students.

You will turn in a lesson evaluation form as evidence of your work, signed by each of your "students." Please reflect on your lesson's success as well as the challenges you faced. Append your reflections and any student work to the lesson plan when you turn it in.

Evaluation criteria: application of lesson design, quality of lesson's concept, reflection on successes and possible improvements, quality of materials, clarity.  Contribution to overall grade/evaluation: 20 pts.

Literature Circle Study Project You will be invited to join a literature study group with other students who share your interest in teaching a certain grade level. In addition to participating in discussions regarding the book's themes, each group will be asked to prepare a literature study project. These projects can take nearly any form (e.g., a play, a work of visual art, a dialogue based on the book) but should reflect the themes of the book in a creative and innovative way.  Think of the project as the “anti-book report” book report.  Each group will present their project to their Section near the end of the quarter.

All books are available at Bay Tree. 

Ashton-Warner, S.(1963). Teacher.  .New York, NY: Simon & Schuster

Codell, E. (2001). Educating Esme. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill

Conroy, P.(1972).The water is wide. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Hoffman, M. (1996.). Chasing Hellhounds. Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions

Kidder, T. (1989). Among schoolchildren. Boston: Houghton Mifflin

Laurence, M.  A jest of God.  Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Logan, J. (1999). Teaching stories. New York: Kodansha International.

Michie, G. (1999). Holler if you hear me. NY: Teachers College Press

Paley, V.  (2000).  White teacher.  Cambridge: Harvard University Press. AND   Paley, V.  (1992).  You can't say you can't play.  Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Rose, M. (1989). Lives on the boundary. NY: Penguin

Evaluation criteria: Creativity, comprehension. Contribution to overall grade/evaluation: 10 pts.

Interview with your placement teacher
Conduct an interview with your placement teacher, guided by the following questions.

What has been your greatest achievement as a teacher?
What has been your greatest disappointment as a teacher?
In your view, what are the greatest challenges facing public education right now?
In what ways are contemporary schools successful?
What advice do you have for someone like me who has chosen (or at least considering) a career in teaching?

Write up a summary report-no need for a transcription-of your interview highlighting the issues common to your observation teacher's concerns, the readings, and class discussions.  Evaluation criteria: Analysis, clarity, connection to readings, lectures.  Contribution to overall grade/evaluation: 10 pts.

Reading Response/Placement Reflection e-Journal (NICENET)
Reflecting on texts is crucial to the development of comprehension, while recording your reactions to your placement is necessary in order to understand your growth as an educator. We ask you to post your reactions to course resources as well as to comments of other class participants.

Here are the guidelines for your e-journal entries, which you will be posting to Nicenet, an electronic classroom forum: 

• You are responsible for a total of 10 postings (one due each week by 6 pm FR), 8 of which are guided by the following instructions:
• The 8 "original" postings must synthesize the ideas presented in at least two of the following class resources.
  • All chapters in To Teach
  • Your placement observations
  • Lectures and section discussions
  • Readings / articles from class, Lit Circle books, and your own reading
    
• For example, one posting may be a synthesis of a guest speaker's comments coupled with one of the articles you have read. Another posting may analyze connections between a chapter in TT and one of your observations. It is expected that you will draw from all 4 of these resources over the course of the quarter. We have no set word count, but your postings must be long enough to fully address the connections you are making. Your section leader may ask you to respond to specific questions in order to deepen your analysis. (We offer a redo option on the first posting if needed.)




• The 2 "reactions" postings are based on the work of another student. Read through the postings made by other students in your section and provide a short reaction to their writing. For instance, you might compare your observation experience, share your common (or diverse) reactions to a reading, or politely disagree with a conclusion. All reaction postings must conform to the UCSC Principles of Community, as well as guidelines for anonymity described below.

Directions for accessing and posting to Nicenet

1.    Go to nicenet.org

2.    In (brown) box on right, click on Students: >>Join a Class

3.    Enter the Class Key: Carrie and Dena will email you the key number.

4.    Click on Join the Class >>Enter personal info. Names need to match our class rosters for assessment purposes. >>Join the Class

5.    Go immediately to Edit User Profile (2/3 down on left) and change your privacy option as desired.

6.    To officially begin your e-journal, begin by clicking on "Conferencing" and go to the Topic labeled "Protocols and Expectations." This explains the netiquette that we will all be following when posting to the Nicenet: appropriate and professional tone and language in all postings, and complete anonymity of the placement site / teacher / students about whom you will be writing. It is important you understand that no identifying features be included in your postings, even if you are making positive comments. It is vital to protect the privacy of the students you are working with.

7.    To begin your postings, find the "Conferencing Topic" for your specific section. You are welcome to browse and read other sections' postings, but please only post to your own section group's conference.

8.    All students have been given the ability to initiate a topic, so if you would like to seek others' input on a burning question you have and/or continue a discussion begun in section times, then be proactive. Another option may be to initiate a conference topic around your Lit Circle book. Make this e-space work for you as an extended internal and external dialogue.

9. To indicate your agreement to adhere to the protocols, please Reply to the message by writing "Agreed"

Evaluation criteria: Each posting, both original and reactions, are scored 0-3. Insight, amount and quality of connections between readings, lectures, and observations, clarity, and quality of reflection.  Contribution to overall grade/evaluation: 30 pts.

Six in class" quick writes"
At six points in the quarter (in either class or section), you will be asked to respond to a question based on the readings or a class discussion. In order to receive any credit for the quick writes, you must satisfactorily complete at least 4of 6. Sorry, no "make-ups" for the quick writes. Evaluation criteria: Comprehension, accuracy, and clarity.  Contribution to overall grade/evaluation: 10 pts.

A signed Observation Log is required for a passing grade in the course. We recommend that you make a photocopy of your observation log before turning in the original. 

Grading Scale: 100 A+; 93-99 A, 90-92 A-; 87-89 B+; 83-86 B; 80-82 B-; 77-79 C+; 73-76 C; and so on.

Note on completing and returning assignments: Please include your, name, email, phone number(s), and the name of your Section leader on all assignments. Please note your vow to confidentiality and use pseudonyms where appropriate.  No need for fancy binders or notebooks, just staple or clip your work. Assignments not claimed by the end of the quarter will be held in Kip's office for three weeks into the beginning of the following quarter.  Check his web site for next quarter's office hours.  All uncollected work will be discarded after this time unless other arrangements have been made.

Other
ED 180 receives many requests to recruit volunteers for various community placements. The following organizations have sent recruitment materials:
TBA
Please see Kip if you have an interest in any of these opportunities.

Students with disabilities are encouraged to speak with Kip for modifications to course structure.
Please contact the UCSC Disabilities Resources Center at 831-459-2089 for general assistance.

Please read and follow the UCSC guidelines for academic integrity