Regular Class Format: Homework + Seminar + Workshop
Our class meets twice a week for 75 minutes. Our “regular class” meetings will be divided into 3 parts --
1) Pre-class homework discussion: Each class date will have a corresponding reading/viewing assignment and CANVAS submission that is due before class begins. Class will begin with a discussion about the topic, your impressions, questions, concerns, and insights. Most homework assignments will have two parts:
a) CANVAS Submission, or “CS”: a series of a few short response questions about the readings, submitted directly into CANVAS.
b) Workshop Presentation or “WP”: a short 10-15 minute student-created mini-lesson based on the material, and submitted to Dr. Klein’s Lesson Plan Database (more information below).
2) Seminar: Dr. Klein will briefly teach a few things about the day’s topic and model it in a short lesson/activity.
3) Workshop: Students will present their "WP” by teaching the rest of the class the 10-15 minute mini-lesson that they prepared in their homework for the day’s topic. Other students will fill out a “peer feedback” form to give constructive feedback. (Bring a pen/pencil every day)
***Due to time constraints not all students will present every class. Dr. Klein will randomly assign presentations on the spot. Come prepared to teach every day - what better way to simulate the life of a teacher (!)(?)
Irregular Class Format
4 of our 14 weeks together will consist of “irregular class” meetings. For these classes time has been allotted for you to complete PLP key assignments required by the State for your progress towards licensure. Specifically, students will create full standards-based lesson plans that meet PLP competency requirements. Additionally, in lieu of a final exam, students will create a “Curriculum Map” for their final project. This will familiarize them with the skill of course-planning on CANVAS. More information on these assignments can be found below.
Graded Assignments
CANVAS submissions (“CS”) – 30% of grade
Before each class there is an assigned reading and/or viewing as well as an accompanying short-response CANVAS assignment to complete. (Late penalties will be enforced in grading). These can be found in the course schedule below, or (more conveniently and more up-to-date) on our CANVAS course webpage. Everything will be run through the “modules” tab, where material, assignments, submission buttons, and dates are easily accessible.
Workshop Presentations (“WP”) – 30% of grade
Come prepared each class to be randomly called upon to present what you submitted into CANVAS before class. These WPs should be given as if we were your students in junior high or high school. In that sense, they are a kind of “roll-play” exercise. Dr. Klein will make sure each student is called upon roughly the same amount of times as other students over the course of the semester.
3 Full Lesson Plans – 30% of grade
3 different weeks of the semester will be dedicated to creating 3 full lesson plans. The topic for these lesson plans will be based off the student’s preferred subject -- Utah history, American history, World history, Economics, Psychology, Government and Politics, Sociology, Anthropology, or Geography -- and will need to come from 3 different chapters/units of a textbook source. Students will have choice in selecting their topics but will need to align their lessons with state of Utah approved Core Standards.
Each of our lesson plans will:
- Use SUU Education Department’s lesson plan rubric (can be found on CANVAS)
- Be based on official state of Utah Core Standards (can be found on CANVAS)
- Include an assignment for students to complete in class or as homework that incorporates thematic material from a chosen textbook or OER source (and create a rubric for grading this assignment)
- Utilize at least one primary source (either from the textbook or an OER source)
- Involve at least one teaching skill learned in one of our class workshops up until this point
&
Gradually incorporate the following PLP competencies (Professional Learning Plan for licensure). Each lesson plan will incorporate a few of these such that all have been covered by the end of the semester:
- IC1 - demonstrate an understanding of Utah Core Standards
- IC2 and IC3 - include objectives/learning intentions at the beginning of the lesson which are aligned to Utah Core Standards as well as experiences in the lesson designed to meet those
- IC4 – incorporate scaffolding
- IC5 – provide opportunities for students to track, reflect on, and set goals for their learning
- IC6 – allow students multiple opportunities and means for demonstration of competency
- IC7 – design a variety of strategies to engage students and promote active learning and participation
- LL4 and IP1 – identify adaptations made to benefit learners of varied backgrounds with differentiation strategies
- LL6 and IP2 – apply real world connections and strategies to promote students’ critical thinking and/or problem solving
- IP8 – select tools and technology that promote active student technology use
For these 3 weeks there will be no assigned “WPs” and the “CSs” will either not be assigned or will be smaller in size. Instead, the key assignment for that week is to complete and submit the full lesson plan by Saturday at the end of the week. In class we will work together to learn about lesson-planning and even brainstorm ideas to get started. These lesson plans will be added to your PLP portfolio for licensure.
Curriculum Map (Unit Plan) -- 10% of grade
To best prepare you for classroom teaching, you will need to develop a curriculum map for your prospective course. This curriculum map should cover an ENTIRE Academic year and is constructed in the "modules" tab of a fake CANVAS course that you will create. It must do the following: It must be a CANVAS course that identifies what units you are teaching and when.
It must satisfy the following requirements:
- Begin with an introduction module that explains the over-arching course objectives
- Be composed of enough units to teach an entire year and complete all Utah Core Standards for a class (you must choose a subject with Utah Core Standards)
- Identify the historical “guiding questions” and time periods for each unit
- Be chronologically sound for an entire semester (with the semester starting at the beginning of September and ending at the end of December). Each unit should identify the weeks and month(s) it is being taught. And the units must be in order.
- Illustrate how you will address ALL of the Utah Core Standards and in which units they will be taught
- One of the units must be completed. That means it includes lesson-by-lesson detail for how the unit will be taught, including at least 3 lesson titles, and including an explanation of an assignment for each lesson title in the unit
Lesson Plan Database
In this class, some of your CANVAS assignments will be submitted in a unique way. Rather than uploading documents, links, and files into CANVAS, you will email them to Dr. Klein following the instructions below -- (CANVAS modules will also include these instructions)
The Lesson Plan Database is a collection of lesson plans for you to keep from me and your fellow students! The lesson plans are divided into two sections: bell-ringers and standards-based lesson plans.
a) Bell-ringers are flexible, short lessons such as our “WPs” that can be used in a variety of social studies classes in secondary and higher education as supplements to official curriculum.
b) Standards-based lesson plans are longer lessons oriented around Utah core standards in Utah social studies curriculum and based on SUU’s lesson plan template.
When we create Bell-ringers or standards-based lesson plans for this class, each student will upload them into this expanding Database. When you hear a lesson that you like, you can use it for yourself in the future during student teaching or your first years as an instructor.
Access: This is a private GoogleDrive folder for current and former students of Dr. Joshua Klein (History, Sociology, and Anthropology Department, Southern Utah University). Dr. Klein will maintain this GoogleDrive folder as the sole editor. Current and former students will be added as “viewers.”
Privacy: To protect privacy and intellectual property, please understand the following rules -
a) Materials in this folder may be downloaded, but they are only to be used by individuals invited to the GoogleDrive. Sharing them further or making them public is prohibited.
b) If you submit a lesson plan for one of Dr. Klein’s assignments, it will be uploaded to this GoogleDrive folder as explained in the assignment instructions. Unless you request otherwise, it will be available to other users of this folder and your name will be attached to it.
How to submit to this GoogleDrive folder --
- When submitting a lesson plan to the OneDrive, please send it to Dr. Klein by email.
2. Identify in your subject line your name and whether your submission is a bell-ringer or a standards-based lesson plan, and the class you are in with Dr. Klein
3. Then, in the text of your email, lease use the following format:
a) Name of submitter:
b) Year created:
c) Type of class originally designed for:
d) Best targeted age group:
e) Link to any videos or public online sources (if applicable):
4. Attach a separate file to the email with your Overview/instructions for how to teach the lesson (in the case of a full lesson plan, this will be your filled-out Lesson Plan template)
5. Attach a separate file to the email with your subject material or Powerpoint slides (unless you used an online link for your material and already provided that above in this email)
6. Attach a separate file to the email with your questions/directions for a student assignment that could be done as homework or as classwork after/during the lesson.
Example of email submission to Lesson Plan Database -- (see image below)
Course Policies:
Email: Throughout the semester, I will be sending important material to your SUU e-mail addresses/via Canvas Announcements. Please make sure that your account is open and that you check it regularly. Please make sure that all email correspondence to me has SOSC 4900 in the subject line.
Attendance: Per SUU Policy: Class Attendance is required.
- Your attendance and participation in this course is your pivotal contribution to the entire class. In fact, this is why the course does not have mid-term or final examinations. You receive points for graded in-class activities. This means I expect you to be in class barring exceptional circumstances.
- Each student is allotted 2 absences, after which make-up work for missed in-class time will be assigned
Grading
I will be using the following number scale and criteria for evaluating your exams and papers. Please note that all numeric averages will be rounded to the nearest whole number (85.5=86 while 85.3 = 85).
A | 93-100 | Excellent work. Assignments are insightful, coherent, analytical, and original.
A- | 90-93 | Excellent work. Assignments are insightful, coherent, analytical, and original.
B+ | 87-89 | Strong work. Assignments are authoritative but conventional; may be lacking in analysis or detail.
B | 84-86 | Strong work. Assignments are authoritative but conventional; may be lacking in analysis or detail.
B- | 80-83 | Strong work. Assignments are authoritative but conventional; may be lacking in analysis or detail.
C+ | 77-79 | Adequate work. Assignments are competent but conventional; they lack specificity, analysis, and cogency.
C | 74-76 | Adequate work. Assignments are competent but conventional; they lack specificity, analysis, and cogency.
C- | 70-73 | Adequate work. Assignments are competent but conventional; they lack specificity, analysis, and cogency.
D+ | 67-69 | Barely passable work. Assignments are incomplete or tangential to crucial issues.
D | 63-66 | Barely passable work. Assignments are incomplete or tangential to crucial issues.
D- | 60-62 | Barely passable work. Assignments are incomplete or tangential to crucial issues.
F | 59 or below | Unacceptable work.