Introduction to Middle Childhood: Education 241
Matthew Broda
Office: Morgan 228
Office Hours: T TH 9-11am, anytime by appointment
Phone: 330-466-5428
Email: mbroda1@kent.edu

» Academic Catalogue Description

Class Schedule:

Jan. 17, 24, 31, Feb. 7 (Wednesdays) – 9:00-10:30 on campus

Weeks of Feb. 12, 19, 26, Mar. 5 – Field placement

• Gina – M-TH 10-11:45
• Hanna – MW10-11:45, TTH 7:30-915
• All – F 9:00-10:30 on campus

Spring Recess March 9 – 25

Weeks of Mar. 26, Apr. 2, 9, 16 – Field placement

• Gina – M-TH 10-11:45
• Hanna – MW10-11:45, TTH 7:30-915
• All – F 9:00-10:30 on campus

April 25, May 2, 9 (Wednesdays) – 9:00 – 10:30 on campus

Welcome to Introduction to Middle Childhood Education.   This course is designed to introduce students to knowledge and pedagogy in middle childhood settings.  Emphasis will be placed on the following: the nature of early adolescence, the needs of early adolescents, middle school philosophy and organization, the ways in which a young adolescent fits into the school context.  In addition, field experiences appropriate to middle childhood will be an integral part of the course.

These are some of the objectives of this course:

The Education 241 student will:

1. Demonstrate knowledge of unique developmental characteristics of adolescents and the impact of diversity on the classroom.
2. Develop a personal philosophy of education that will effectively provide for success.
3. Demonstrate understanding of middle level organizational structures.
4. Pose essential questions, research answers and report on significant middle level issues.
5. Explore the knowledge, skills and attitudes that are needed to work effectively in a diverse setting.
6. Demonstrate the essential components of an effective lesson.
7. Demonstrate and understanding of basic concepts and current best practices related to multiple intelligences, learning differences, classroom management, cooperative learning, advisory groups, behavior change, teaming, scheduling and parent involvement.
8. Demonstrate an understanding of professionalism both in the academic classroom and the field experience site.

Required Reading Materials:

1. Powell, S.D. (2005). Introduction to middle school.  Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Prentice Hall.
2. National Middle School. (2003). This we believe: Successful schools for young adolescents. Westerville, OH: NMSA. (This will be provided for students)
3. Various articles assigned during class.

Team Requirements:

Though we are a small class, as a member of this team you will be expected to perform at your best at all times.  Some team behaviors which must be evidenced are: active listening with teammates; offering suggestions; taking suggestions; meeting out of class as appropriate; and, completing all team work as arranged.

Other Requirements:

Work submitted past due date may not be accepted.  While this may not be the policy I suggest you use with middle school students, but I feel it mirrors the professional practices required of middle school teachers.

Attendance and Participation:

Attendance for this course is required.  The success of our course will depend upon the active participation of all individuals.  If you must miss a class, Department policy requires that you notify the instructor beforehand or it will be counted as an unexcused absence, and you are responsible to catch up on news and assignments you have missed.  Please note: Ad hoc assignments may be given in class, and these can usually not be made up.  Otherwise, major assignment due dates are given in the course schedule, and it is your responsibility to be aware of this schedule and complete your work in accordance with these dates.  Class sessions are designed around the assumption that students have completed the assignments. It is the Department of Education’s policy that students are permitted no more than two unexcused absences within any given course.   After this point, students will receive a reduction of one percentage point of the final grade for each unexcused absence. Excessive excused absences may also be reflected in the final grade and will result in formal communication with the Dean of Faculty in the form of an interim report.

Professionalism

As you embark on the journey of your professional career, it is important to begin to make the transition from being a student to being a professional.  Professionalism is as much an attitude as it is a mode of dress and behavior.  Those with a professional attitude respect the right and opinions of all colleagues, display a willingness to collaborate and communicate, and approach their work with energy.  A professional attitude is expected both in your field experience school and in our class.  Academically, students must follow the Code of Academic Integrity as published in Scot’s Key.

Dress

Professional dress and demeanor is expected at all times.  If you have any questions, it is best to ask.  Students who do not dress professionally will be asked to leave the school and department faculty will determine if student may return.

Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities will be provided reasonable accommodations to ensure their equal access to course content. If you have a documented disability and require accommodations, please contact the instructor and Pam Rose, Director of the Learning Center (ext. 2595), at the beginning of the semester to make arrangements for necessary classroom adjustments.

Field Experience Policies and Procedures for ED 241 Students

Dates and Times

The field placement for ED 241 will begin on February 12, 2007 and end the week of April 16, 2007.  To ensure the most effective use of field time, the proposed schedule for this experience is noted on the front page of this sylabus.  Every Friday during the Field Experience we will meet on campus to debrief the week from 9-10:30 am.

Professional Conduct and Appearance

Students are expected to conform to standards of professional conduct as specified by the school’s teacher handbook or by the administrator.  In addition, student appearance is expected to conform to the standards set by the school and not to detract from the learning environment.  If you have any questions, it is best to ask.  Students who do not dress professionally in the field experience will be asked to leave the school and department faculty will determine if students may return.   Please note: You are a visitor and must respect school policies.

Attendance

Prompt arrival and regular attendance are important in the teaching profession.  Students are expected to arrive on time, prepared and ready to work during the assigned hours.  Students will follow the school calendar and are not to miss class or field experience except in an emergency (personal illness or illness of immediate family member, death in the immediate family, religious holiday).  Leaving school during the day except for emergencies is the same as an absence.  Students will notify mentor in advance when possible in the event of an absence. It is the Department of Education’s policy that students are permitted no more than two unexcused absences within any given course.   After this point, students will receive a reduction of one percentage point of the final grade for each unexcused absence. Excessive excused absences may also be reflected in the final grade and will result in formal communication with the Dean of Faculty in the form of an interim report.

Sign In

COW students will sign both the school and COW sign-in sheets upon arrival and departure. You are to remain in the school during the entire day (you may purchase lunch or bring a brown bag lunch).  COW students will wear the appropriate Middle Childhood name badge at all times when in a school setting.

Copy Machine

COW students have been granted access to the school copy machine for field experience related copying (no personal use for any reasons). COW students will be respectful that the school faculty and staff will have priority use of the machine at all times.     

Parking

COW students will park in the designated area and always allow parents and school staff to have parking spaces closest to the school. For Carpooling, students need to have a transportation background check completed by the department before they can drive. You may do this by giving Mary Spencer, the administrative coordinator, a copy of your insurance papers and driver’s license. She’ll process the paperwork. Students can’t drive someone else until they have passed this check, but they can drive themselves.

IEP Access and Parent-Teacher Conferences

COW students will have access to student IEP (Individual Education Plans) only with permission from school faculty. COW students will respectfully accept that some schools do not provide access and will discuss with mentor teachers what areas they need to focus on when working with individual students. Participation in Parent-Teacher Conferences requires permission from the mentor teacher and in many cases, from the parent(s) as well.

Standard 1:  Middle level teacher candidates understand the major concepts, principles, theories, and research related to young adolescent development, and they provide opportunities that support student development and learning.

Standard 2:  Middle level teacher candidates understand the major concepts, principles, theories, and research underlying the philosophical foundations of developmentally responsive middle level programs and schools, and they work successfully within these organizational components.

Standard 3:  Middle level teacher candidates understand the major concepts, principles, theories, standards, and research related to middle level curriculum and assessment, and they use this knowledge in their practice.

Standard 4:  Middle level teacher candidates understand and use the central concepts, tools of inquiry, standards, and structures of content in their chosen teaching fields, and they create meaningful learning experiences that develop all young adolescents’ competence in subject matter and skills.

Standard 5:  Middle level teacher candidates understand and use the major concepts, principles, theories, and research related to effective instruction and assessment, and they employ a variety of strategies for a developmentally appropriate climate to meet the varying abilities and learning styles of all young adolescents.

Standard 6:  Middle level teacher candidates understand the major concepts, principles, theories, and research related to working collaboratively with family and community members, and they use that knowledge to maximize the learning of all young adolescents.

Standard 7:  Middle level teacher candidates understand the complexity of teaching young adolescents, and they engage in practices and behaviors that develop their competence as professionals.

Course Outline:

The Hook and Intro (Due February 7^th)

The hook is the opening, attention-getting, method used to capture the interest of the classroom audience.  Why do the students want or need to know what you are about to teach them?  Given a chapter topic/learning objectives from the COW instructor, you will individually prepare and present an effective (10 minutes; hook should be 1-2 minutes) introduction to a lesson for your colleagues.

Mentor Teacher Interview (Due February 16^th)

The purpose of the interview is to:

• Learn about your mentor’s professional background and let them know about who you are;
• Gather information about the students, curriculum, textbooks, assessment, and classroom policies that will be important to your teaching.

Procedure Lesson Plan

A procedure lesson plan breaks down knowledge or skills into clearly outlined steps. A procedure lesson is generally more effective when a demonstration for completing the assigned learning skill is included. Procedure lessons are especially effective to answer How questions with students.  For example:  How do I join a listserve?  How do I map sentences? How do I find the average temperature in March? How do I play a major scale?

Create a 20-minute procedure lesson to teach a small group of COW colleagues in class:

1.        Select a topic. Consider teaching a skill that: a) you are confident in presenting,

b) requires simple, inexpensive, transportable materials, and c) connects with the interests of your colleagues.

2.        Create your written lesson plan by thoroughly completing the lesson plan template provided by your instructor (Due February 16^th).

3.        Teach the revised lesson to a small group of cohort colleagues on February 23^rd.

4.        After teaching the lesson, work in pairs to complete the reflective questions in the written lesson plan.

Two Journal Entries (Due March 2^nd and April 13^th)

Keep a written journal of field experiences.  The journal is a way for you to document the required number of field experience hours for this class.  It also gives you the opportunity to reflect on your field experiences to show what you are learning about teaching early adolescents. Written entries are 1-2 pages.  Organize each written journal entry as follows and label each section:

Heading:

Name:

Date: Each entry should describe only one field day and should be written as near the completion of that day as possible.

Elaboration of one or two significant or critical episodes: An episode is an event or sequence of events complete in itself but forming part of a larger one.  Select one episode that is significant to you because it bothers you, causes you to rethink your initial ideas, or convinces you that your initial ideas were valid.  Whether the episode reflects your success or failure is unimportant.  What is important is that it provides an opportunity to learn.  Once you have selected the episode:

1. Describe in detail by trying to relive your feelings, your perceptions of how others responded to your actions and words, and who or what contributed significantly to shaping the events.
2. Analyze by discussing why this episode was significant to you.  Why did you choose to write about this episode?

Case Study Essay (Due March 9^th)

To develop a case study, consult with your mentor and select a student to tutor for at least three weeks (and longer if it is mutually agreeable to do so). As a tutor, you might take on roles of clarifier, monitor/motivator, progress coach, or taskmaster.  If the student has an IEP, inquire if you can have access to it. Write an essay describing what you are learning about: 1) your student’s development (intellectual, physical, emotional/psychological, social, moral/ethical; 2) learning style; 3) cultural/gender/SES/language differences; 4) disability/giftedness (if present); 5) what you are learning about teaching through tutoring this particular student. Essays will be assessed on content as well as grammatical structure, spelling, cohesiveness, and so forth.

Rubric (Due March 30^th)

Create a rubric to assess student work in your mentor’s classroom (e.g. writing assignment, oral presentation, and group activity).  Select work samples from three students for a lesson taught by either you or your mentor; use the rubric you developed and assign a grade.  Bring student work samples, notes, completed rubrics, grades, and a clean rubric along with a one to two page reflection to class.

Whole Class Solo Teaching -- COW and Mentor Lesson Evaluation

There will be at least one formal COW instructor evaluation of your solo teaching this semester. 

Establish with your mentor teacher a dates for solo-teaching dates before April 19. There are a variety of ways for you to teach the whole class. Look for opportunities to teach solo and invite your COW instructor to observe you teach. Provide a thoroughly complete lesson plan using the lesson plan template given in class at least FIVE days in advance. You may Email the lesson plan as an attachment. You may not teach the lesson nor will you receive credit if the lesson plan is not available five days prior to teaching date.

Solo teaching can take two forms: 1) Watch your mentor teach a lesson in one class and repeat the lesson by yourself in another class.  2) Develop your own lesson for the whole class. Which ever form it takes, collaborate on developing the lesson plan that encourages active student engagement through higher-level questions and through student-directed activities. The Powell text provides many ideas for teaching the whole class.

Professional Activity (Due for Final Presentation)

Attend any two of the following events and write a 1.5 page paper that (1) summarizes the event; (2) Share your reflection on what occurred and why it was significant for your students.

• Parent/Teacher Conference (mentor and parent permission in many cases)
• School Board Meeting (include meeting agenda)
• Visit Community (where your students live)
• PTA meeting (include meeting agenda)
• Student Activity (include agenda, program, etc.)
• Grade Level/Teacher’s Meeting (include meeting notes)
• Faculty meeting (include meeting notes)
• Student sport event (include sports program)

ED 241 Assessment

Grading

Assessment will be provided using a variety of methods. A rubric will be distributed providing detailed criteria for each assignment. The following percentages can be used as a guide to determine letter grades:

95-100% A

90-94% A-

87-89% B+                    

83-86% B

80-82% B-

77-79% C+

73-76% C

70-72% C-

60-69% D

59% and below F