The grading breakdown in this course is as follows:
~25% In-class attendance and participation (just participation for online sections)
~25% Reflections on readings, videos, and other resources (to prepare you for in-class or online discussions)
~50% Major course assignments (outlined below)
Course Preparation Reflections (CPRs). To prepare for each class you will be assigned one or more short readings (typically just 1-2 pages) and possibly a video or other digital resource. To be fully prepared you will read (or watch) these resources prior to class and complete the “Course Preparation Reflection” for those resources posted in the weekly module on Canvas. Both F2F and online students will need to complete these reflections by 11:59 the evening prior to the scheduled class session. Grading: ~25% of final grade
Attendance Quizzes (F2F students only). Participation for class is recorded via an “attendance quiz” given either that the end of class (time permitting) or by the end-of-day on days we hold class. You will submit a short quiz that details your attendance, what you learned, and what suggestions you have for future sections of the course. Grading: ~25% of final grade
Lecture Reflections (online students only). Online students will watch a weekly video lecture. These lectures are typically posted on Wednesday after the course preparation reflections have been read and considered by the instructor. Once students have watched the lecture they will complete a weekly “Lecture Reflection” that details what they learned from the lecture and how the new information might impact their future practice. The reflections are due by midnight on Sunday. Grading: ~25% of final grade
Major Course Assignments (MCAs). There are seven total assignments, with one due about every other week throughout the semester. These assignments will help you explore weekly topics in greater depth and get some hands-on experience in education. A summary of each is listed below and more complete, step-by-step instructions can be found in the “assignments” tab in Canvas.
Grading: ~50% of final grade
MAJOR COURSE ASSIGNMENTS
MCA 0: Student Profile Flashcards. Your first assignment is an opportunity to share who you are, your interests and goals, and other information that might help Mr. C. instruct you better. You will download a Student Flashcard template, fill out the information, and include a picture. You will then save the document with your name, class, and section and upload it to Assignment 0 in Canvas.
MCA 1. Show and Tell. Our first classroom assignment is an opportunity to share who you are with the entire class. For Face-to-Face (F2F) students this will be done over the second week of class. Each student will bring in an artifact that helps us get to know you better and has three minutes to present the artifact to the class. Online students will do the same thing by creating a three-minute video and uploading it to a Discussion Board on Canvas.
MCA 2. Annotated Stakeholder Visual. The Annotated Stakeholder Visual will help student develop skills in digital literacy and consist of some sort of visual that portrays the ‘structure’ of public schooling in the United States. This structure will include local community stakeholders within the school, district, community, and extend to larger social and political structures. Students can produce their visual by hand or using electronic tools. The visual must, however, be annotated; the stakeholders and their relationships, collaborations, and/or conflicts should be described on the diagram itself.
MCA 3: Purpose Paper. In this paper, students will be asked to discuss what they see as the purpose, or purposes, of public schooling in society. What role(s) do schools serve? What role(s) should they serve? Students will be instructed in research methods (i.e. Information literacy) and can draw on perspectives discussed in, but the goal for this assignment is for students to begin developing their own critical thinking and perspective on what schools do for our society (as opposed to presenting or synthesizing other people’s perspectives).
MCA 4: Educator Interview. Students will interview 2-3 educators—ideally public school-based educators—to learn more about their work and lives as teachers. Interviews can be conducted in-person, by phone, or online. Students will consider what problems teachers face in improving education and seek solutions to those problems. Students will present what they have learned in a short-written piece.
MCA 5: Utah District Case Study. Drawing on their stakeholder visual, as well as other resources, students will draft a narrative that describes the structure, performance, and community factors impacting a particular Utah school district. In addition to continuing to examine the mechanics of public school districts, this assignment is intended to help students to understand the racial, ethnic, cultural, economic, geographic, and other factors that may shape teachers’ work in school communities.
MCA 6:Lesson Plan. For the final assignments of the semester, students will be asked to create a lesson plan for a short instructional activity. This assignment is not meant to yield lesson planning perfection, but instead to introduce students to some of the basic elements teachers must consider when writing a plan: teaching standards, objectives, action steps, and a rationale for their decisions. Students must use the provided lesson plan template for their activity and will utilize their lesson plans for their final assignment, a teaching demonstration.
MCA 7: Teaching demonstration. Students will demonstrate what they have learned about instruction and engagement through a 4-5 minute teaching demonstration. The topic of your demonstration is whatever you outlined in your instructional activity and the objective is to teach an effective lesson that is mapped to Utah state standards. Face-to-face students will give their teaching demonstration during the next-to-last week of instruction while online students will submit a video lesson during that week.