Hello Everyone!

Now that midterms are behind us we will push forward full steam ahead.  The semester will wrap up before you know it, so make sure that you are on top of your readings and your work.  If you have outstanding work I need it this week.  I also need to have at least up to LP #4 by Friday and revised LP’s need to be turned in either on Tuesday (10/23) or Friday (10/26) of next week.  I do not want you to wait until the end of the semester to revise them because the feedback will prove useful for the LP’s that you are writing now.  Next Friday (10/26) your website analysis project is due.  I have sent the assignment description via email.  Keep up with the readings on the syllabus- Wineburg & Martin article for this Friday (10/19), Brewster & Fager article for Tuesday (10/23), and Heikkinen article for next Friday (10/26).  Highlight, take notes, and be prepared to discuss in class.  I will likely collect your highlighted / note taken articles as homework.  Be sure that you are updating your blog.  Do not be surprised if I share your blogs with some of local teachers.   

The week after next we will fiddle around with podcasts- some of you might want to create a podcast to incorporate into your Smart Board lesson.  Each SB group should be establishing a timeline to teach in the schools.  Be sure that you have given me a flawless LP from the group so that I can review it before it is executed.  Reminder: tonight there is a Smart Board training from 5:30-7:30 in Ackley 102.  Try to get at least one person from your group to attend.    

Blog Post Ideas-

1. Do some research and put forth each presidential candidate’s proposal for education.  How will each agenda affect you as a college student and / or the children that you will teach in the classroom in a few years?
2. Respond to the assigned text for this past week- Chapters 4 & 6 in the Parker text.
3. Respond to the articles that you are reading for this week and next.
4. If you have been teaching or assisting in a local school write about your experiences.  Maintain confidentiality ALWAYS.
5. If you attended the conference on Killington on Memory recently write about what you learned and how the content of the presentation pertains to education specifically.
6. Below is an excerpt from a book manuscript that I am currently working on.  Read the text and then respond to the question below.  

The Calling

Teaching is an organic process for some people that is intertwined with who they are and where they have been; the drive to teach is a calling rather than a career choice.  Some people, I believe, are born with an innate gift to teach others.  For me, the seed of becoming a teacher was implanted in me even before I was born.  It was never a choice; it was my destiny, and it seems that the many peaks and valleys of my life have formed who I am as an educator, as a learner, and as a person of this planet.  It was with the tough experiences that I learned patience, empathy, and the importance of being an advocate for those who are not able to advocate for themselves.  It was with the highlights that I gained a renewed sense of enthusiasm for what could be possible.  I take each day in appreciation and I understand that the ups and downs are all positive contributors to who I am and who I am becoming.  Positive thinking is a conscious choice in how I have decided to live my life.  Life is too short to dwell in the depths of despair over events that have happened in the past.  There is a time for mourning, but there is more often a time for celebration.  Everything that happens happens for a reason even if at first we do not understand these reasons.

Describe the “calling” that you feel to become a teacher.  What is it that has drawn you to education?  Be candid. 

This Coming Week

Social Studies Methods:

I recently was given information on an alternative school located in Albany, New York.  For Tuesday, September 18th I would like for you to visit the school's website.  Read through the description of the school and the history of how the school was started.  It is a very interesting place and I am thinking of bringing you folks for a visit.  The website address is:  http://www.albanyfreeschool.org/about.  You folks know that I am a strong supporter of explicit instruction for literacy (at least), so it is important for me to balance my own biases toward alternative schools and consider what each offers in order to see what kinds of benefits such institutions offer for children.  In other words, I don't want to cram my philosophy of education onto you and that is why I think I should expose you to this school.  ;) Also for Tuesday, read Parker chapter 3.  Your first unit lesson plan is due for Tuesday as well.  If you have questions, concerns, or need help on the lesson plan you can come to see me during my office hours this Thursday from 11:00-2:15 or by appointment.  It probably is best for you to try to connect with Casey McGill (the Ed tutor in the LC) before coming to me, but regardless, you know that my door is always open.  Do not try to get help from Casey outside of her LC hours. As a side note, your lesson plan should be 100% free of spelling and grammatical errors!!!! 

For next Friday, September 21 (not this Friday): In an effort to ensure accountability for the readings I will be collecting your Parker books to note that you've highlighted, taken notes, etc.  As an alternative option you can turn in an outline of each chapter.  If you haven't read the text (which I sincerely hope that you have), please get on it.  There is way too much information for us to cover in class that you need to have thought through.  You will also have reading materials provided by Praxis Group B (Group B- be prepared to hand out the reading on Tuesday).  Now breathe!  You will get through this semester and this course! 

P.S.  We are booked for the "Memory" conference on Killington for Thursday, September 27th.  If you are attending and will be missing classes that day please notify your proff's NOW.  Tell them that they can send me an email if they have questions. Also, $20 buckeroos when you can.  If it is a hardship please let me know.   

Example of Tracy's Unit Proposal

Tracy Hewitt

Unit Proposal

Citizens of a Democracy: Elections in the United States

This unit will give students an overview of how democracy works in the United States. Students will have opportunities to examine how laws are made and go through a process of creating their own law. Students will also look into ways that changes have been made within the United States, especially based on diversity. They will examine issues that are important to them and that may be controversial within society. They will relate these issues to themselves and their school. The students will conclude the unit by doing a mock election within their classroom.  

Lesson Plans and Standards:

-  How does our Democracy work?

 H&SS5-6:15 Identifying the basic functions, structures and purposes of governments within the United States.

- The Election Process

H&SS5-6:15 Defining criteria for selecting leaders at the school, community, state, national and international levels. i

- Creation of Laws

H&SS5-6:15  Describing how rules and laws are created (e.g., participating in a simulation about creating a new law).

- Society and Ourselves

H&SS5-6:14

Explaining their own point of view on issues that affect themselves and society; being able to explain an opposing point of view (e.g. bullies, victims, witnesses; voting age; smoking; violence on TV). I

- Changes within our Society

H&SS5-6:16

Citing examples, both past and present, of how diversity has led to change (e.g., foods; internment camps; slavery). I

- Mock Election

H&SS5-6:14

Giving examples of ways in which political parties, campaigns, and elections provide opportunities for citizens to participate in the political process. i

Greetings!

Social Studies Methods:

Last week I asked you to read chapter two in the Parker text which is centered on teaching diverse children.  Much can be learned from that chapter and I sincerely hope that your journey in considering and understanding the complexity of the students in your classroom will be one that you are always revisiting.  Please come to class on Tuesday, September 4th with 3-5 questions that you would like to pose to the group that you have identified in connection with chapter two.  Also, if you have an existing blog you should have updated it for today.  Be sure that you have updated it once more by the 14th.  A possible prompt is as follows:  What is meant in saying that "Good teachers walk a sensible path between ignoring diversity and being immobilized by it"?  If you choose to answer this prompt it will probably be helpful for you to include the prompt and the response on your post so that readers know why you have responded in the way that you did.

Cultural Knapsack Paper:
Some of the key concepts that can be identified in the Parker text are: demography, race, social class, ethnicity, culture, religion, language and dialect, gender, sexual orientation, gift and challenges, and multiple intelligences.  Reflect on your own background growing up to the age that you are now.  How have your personal life experiences shaped who you are, how you think, and how you believe you will perceive and interact with your students?  Walk me through a brief journey of your life and how it will influence you as a teacher in decision making and in relating to your students.  This paper should be no more than 3 pages, double spaced, and ABSOLUTELY FREE OF ERRORS.  It is due EITHER on Tuesday, September 11, or Friday, September 14^th. 

Praxis presenters for next Friday- be sure that you have the assigned reading ready to hand out Tuesday.  Set the bar for us with your presentation!   

Readings: Due Tuesday- Armstrong, Gardner, and Wilson articles

We are creating Blogs!!!

Hello Everyone!

I am so thrilled that you are all creating blogs.  Yes, there is a learning curve, and yes, you will have to fiddle around to better understand how things work, but YOU CAN DO IT!  My goal for you is to go home and play with your blog for a while.  Try to make it look presentable, and plan on sharing the blog in a week or so with your classmates.  Good luck and have some fun! 

Rommy