Program Rationale for the Course
The Student Teaching Seminar course is part
of the culmination of the professional sequence for all undergraduate
education students. In this course, students will meet on Mondays during
the 16 weeks of student teaching at the student teaching center to
discuss, analyze and reflect on their field experiences, and extend their
understanding of classroom management issues, contemporary issues in the
curriculum, legal and ethical issues, assessment/evaluation, working
effectively with children, parents and other professionals. Students will
integrate these topics into their field experience as they interact with
experienced teachers, families, administrators and the community. They
will demonstrate a reflective stance through writings suitable for
inclusion in a professional portfolio. In addition to these topics the
Seminar will touch on topics including but not limited to child abuse,
Educational Issues gangs, conflict management, career education, trauma
issues and management strategies.
Knowledge Base
This course is based upon the rationale
that pre-service teachers benefit from a discussion-driven classroom
atmosphere at the student teaching center in which they examine current
literature addressing the course topics, while focusing on the students’
own experiences and knowledge gained at the university with what they
observe in school settings.
Course Goals
Emphasis will be placed on the importance
of practical course topics, an understanding of which is crucial to all
new teachers. Content will address information specific to elementary/
Middle and High school pedagogy and information specific to the new
teacher’s professional growth and development.
Course Objectives
At the end of this
course, the student should be able to:
1. Create learning environments
that promote critical and higher order thinking (C)
2. Demonstrate the ability to help students
access and use information technology and other media to enhance learning
(C, LEA)
3. Demonstrate an understanding of teaching as an art
(C)
4. Integrate and transfer knowledge across subject
areas (C, LEA)
5. Engage students in meaningful learning activities
(C, LEA)
6. Use a variety of teaching methodologies, e.g.,
lectures, demonstration, group discussions, cooperative learning, and
stories. (C, LEA)
7. Demonstrate the ability to choose
appropriately among assessment tools according to evaluation goals (C,
R)
8. Plan and use different cognitive, affective
and psychomotor strategies to maximize learning and to accommodate
differences in
backgrounds, learning
styles, aptitudes interests, level of maturity of students (C, LEA)
9. Demonstrate an understanding of legal and ethical
issues related to teaching, e.g., student retention, corporal punishment,
truancy,
child abuse, managing conflict,
first aid, health and communicable diseases, CPR (C, LEA)
10. Maximize the sue of instructional time by engaging
students in meaningful learning experiences (LEA)
11. Accept teaching as a life long learning process (C, R)
12. Define and value diversity in the classroom and the
school (LEA)
13. Demonstrate an ability to work effectively with parents
to maximize opportunities for student achievement (LEA)
14. Engage in reflective practice (R) |
|
Methods of
Instruction:
Guest speaker/ lecture, discussion, role playing, case studies, video
lesson critique, individual/groups discussions, presentations stories,
games. |
|
Course
Requirements and Expectations
This course is designed to provide you with opportunities to
connect your field experiences with your undergraduate preparation and
theoretical underpinnings of your methods courses. Through a combination
of practical inquiry, through personal field experience, reflective
journal writing, discussions and lectures you will engage in projects
based on course topics.
1. Attendance
and Class Participation:
The seminar is a 3
hour credit course. Attendance and Participation are mandatory, and
they are counted in the final
grade. Participation will be evaluated on the basis of your punctuality
and contribution to class through
small group discussions. It is
an opportunity for you to share and reflect about personal experiences,
issues, ideas, and questions that
make your student teaching a
learning experience conducive to your professional and personal growth.
If you must be absent from
class, or school, it is your
responsibility to contact and inform the university coordinator and the
school,
prior to your absence.
Failure to comply with this
expectation is sign of unprofessional behavior in the teaching profession.
2.
Professional meetings: You are
required to attend professional meetings in your school and district. If
you need to miss one
seminar because of a
professional development in your school, be prepared to present to the
class what you have learned from your
professional development. Pick
up some handouts for the class.
3. Lesson
/Unit Plans:
You are expected to write detailed lesson
plans every time you are scheduled to teach. Someone else should
be able to use your lesson and
teach your class should you be absent. Your lesson plans should be guided
by questions such as:
Why (give a rationale for
selecting and teaching this topic)
How (list methods you will use and why)
When you are scheduled to be
observed, give your university supervisor:
a.
a copy of the lesson plan you have taught prior to the observation
b.
a copy of the lesson plan you are going to teach
Keep all of your lesson plans
in a binder and have them available for your university supervisor on each
visit. It helps to follow your
progress and professional
growth in planning.
4.
Reflective Journal: This
assignment is based on the belief that reflection is at the heart of good
practice. A reflective journal
is not a log of your
daily activities; it is about your issues, ideas, questions, that you have
as you are engaging in student teaching, and
reflecting upon them.
Keep a daily journal entry about issues in your teaching situation to
discuss and submit every week at
Seminar meeting. Please
type your work.
5.
Observation:
You are required to make 3 different
observations at different grade levels including your preferred grade.
Choose one aspect of
teaching you are interested in and observe such as
Teaching style
Classroom organization and discipline
management techniques,
Assessment and grading principles
Lesson plans,
Classroom environment,
Integrating
Technology into classroom
Diversity.
Take notes of what you observe. Find out the theoretical or research
stance that supports the practice in this class. Describe what
you have
observed and discuss the strengths and limitations of what you observed.
Why would you use the same method in your
classroom and why not?
6. Professionalism: Demonstrate
evidence of collaborating with others. Find out about your classroom/
school: How many people
your school employs? How is faculty members
evaluated? What opportunities exist in your school or district for
teachers’
professional growth? How do the insights gained from the
experience help prepare you for your future role as a teacher? Why
would
you recommend another placement in that school?
7. Service
Learning Project: Service learning is making teaching and learning
at every grade level, active and meaningful to the
students within and
outside the classroom. You are required to develop and involve your
students in a service learning project
that is appropriate to the grade
level, and the subject that you teach. Someone who was not present in
your classroom should be
able to tell exactly what you did, why you did
it, what the students learned and what you learned.
Your service
learning Project should include:
Rationale:
Explain what area you chose and Why you chose it?
Objective: What
did you want to accomplish with your students? How do you want to
accomplish your objectives?
Description of
the project: write about what you did
Assessment of
your accomplishment: Did you or did you not meet your objectives?
To what extend
did your project impact your students learning? Which assessment tools
have you used to check the impact
Why will you
recommend this to other student teachers?
Prepare a
presentation to last 10 minutes in order to share your experience with
others in class.
8. Midterm self reflection
After completing 8
weeks of student teaching, revisit your teaching philosophy and your
journal entries.
Identify areas of growth and areas needing attention and
reflect on your plan of action for improvement.
9.
Final self
reflection
After completing the
16 week, revisit your midterm self reflection to highlight areas of growth
and
improvement and your readiness to teach.
In lieu
of a final, you will submit paper that connects your field experience with
your preparation at CMU. Identify and briefly describe specific courses
that have been the most helpful during your field experience. Which
classes would you recommend to a prospective student teacher what role did
the seminar class play in
your professional and
personal growth?
|