Friday, March 20, 2009

Meditations of Two Chapters...

Hello Lynn,
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing list of resources. I have been right out straight all week and have had no time to peruse them, but can see that there are web sites that will be very relevant to our needs. I did take some time to look at the Funbrain site – Wow! I will be using that one often. I will take a closer look at the rest of the sites this next week.
I spent every spare moment this past week doing midterm evaluations. It seems to me that after doing these for so long I would have streamlined the process, but it still takes me longer than I expect to finish them. I hope you are doing well with this process.
I have some items to share with you this week. I put together assignments for chapters 3 and 4, because they are so closely related. What I have here is a first draft of each assignment. I have linked each to one of the Essential Objectives. I wanted to link each assignment to the VELS as well, but haven’t yet done that. I think this will be an important detail to include in the assignments, since students will be learning about the standards.
I have also added my current grading policy. I have used this for many courses, and thought it might be a good place to start our discussion about how we will approach grading.
(Note: I am a huge believer in the value of parent involvement, so I’d like to establish this idea during the first week by using the ideas beginning on page 25. Early in the semester, students can devise a parent survey for gathering information about family routines, interests, and culture. Then subsequent assignments can be linked to information gleaned from these surveys. These two assignments would be tied to that process.)
I am really looking forward to talking with you tomorrow morning!
Suzanne
802.922.0058

Chapter 3: Language and Literacy
Reading Assignment: Pgs. 86-116
Discussion Board by midnight on Friday:
After reading the assignment, plan and create a language activity for young children. Specify which age group this activity is planned for: infants, toddlers, preschoolers, or primary-age children. Use the Activity Plan Worksheet format found on page 77. Be sure to address all of these elements in your plan:

• Children’s age group:
• Number of children in the group (large group, small group, or individual activity):
• Learning center to be used:
• Name of activity and brief description:
• Purpose/objectives of activity:
• Space and materials needed:
• Procedure:
• Guidance:
• Evaluation and follow-up:

Write a letter to parents explaining your activity and inviting them to participate. Give them at least two ideas for expanding this activity at home.

This assignment is relevant to Essential Objective #3: Design a curriculum based on theories and research in child development that is inclusive and based on children's interests, strengths, and needs (e.g., learning style modalities, multiple intelligences, exceptionalities, learning domains, etc.) that incorporates the Vermont Early Childhood Learning Standards.

(Note: I will also link this assignment to the VELS, but ran out of time to accomplish that task this week.)

By midnight on Sunday: Respond to at least 3 of your peer’s posts in a substantial way.

Initial post and 3 substantial post potentially worth 10 points


Chapter 4: Literature
Reading Assignment: Pgs. 117-154
Discussion Board by midnight on Friday:
After reading the chapter, create and annotated bibliography to post to the discussion board. Select an age group and an age- appropriate theme. Select at least three books related to the topic, but from different genres. Use this format for your post:
• Age group:
• Theme:
• Book author, book title, book illustrator, (date of publication), place of publication, publisher.
• In your own words, provide an annotation for each book.
(This assignment is more fun if you use your creativity; add interesting and colorful fonts, and insert book covers and illustrations.)

Write a paragraph for a weekly newsletter to parents in which you tell them about this theme and suggest a related activity to do at home.

By midnight on Sunday: Respond to at least 3 of your peer’s posts in a substantial way.

Initial post and 3 substantial posts potentially worth 10 points


Weekly Journals:
(I have my comp. students keep a weekly journal – at least 3 entries weekly, of at least 100 words each. I have found this to be a very valuable device for processing ideas.)
Using the Reflections for Growing Teachers section of the pamphlet, students will keep a weekly journal for processing the ideas and concepts learned in this course. Among the questions found there are the following:
• I think I need to know more about:
• One new thing I think I will try this week is:
• The highlight of this week was:
• One area where my teaching is changing is:
• One area where my teaching needs to change is:
• I loved my job this week when:
• I hated my job this week when:
• The funniest thing I heard a child say this week was:
• The family member I feel most comfortable with is:
• And I think the reason for that is:
• The family member I feel least comfortable with is:
• And I think the reason for that is:
• What have I done lately to spark the children’s imagination and creativity?
• One quote that I like to keep in mind is:
• My teaching style has been most influenced by:
• If I were going to advise a new teacher, the most helpful piece of advice would be:
• The child who has helped me learn the most is________I learned:
• The best thing I learned by observing is:


This activity is relevant to the Essential Objective #6: Assess the effectiveness of a curriculum and make appropriate changes to increase learning (e.g., using an ongoing cycle of observation, reflection, and response).


Grading Policy

A few words about grading: It is not my favorite part of teaching. However, it is necessary and gives you an idea of how you are doing throughout the class. I will make every effort to post your grades for the week as soon as possible.

The grading system for this course is based on a scale of 10. You can earn as many as 10 points for each week’s assignments, which include posts, submission of assigned projects, essays, and responses. The final project is worth 25 points
The total number of points you can earn for the course is 165. This means the grading for the semester looks like this:
148 – 165 points = A
132 – 147 points = B
116 – 131 points = C
99 – 115 points = D

At Midterm: (maximum points available: 70)
63 – 70 points = A
56 – 62 points = B
49 – 55 points = C
42 – 48 points = D

8-10 points = Excellent posts which include information from the reading assignments and critical thinking on your part. Responses are spread throughout the week and indicate that you have not only read the assigned reading, but your peers’ posts as well.

7 points = Several posts which include some references to the reading material, and more than two responses which are posted at different times.

5-6 points = A post which addresses the question in a very general way, and one or two responses that are written at the same time. Blackboard tracks posting times, so it is evident when you have spent 15 minutes on your posts for the week. Even though you may in fact be reading every post all week, I have no way of knowing this if you do not interact with your peers.

An absence is indicated by a grade of 0 for the week.

As the above criteria indicates, I am looking for meaningful synthesis of the reading material, quality interactions spread over the course of the week, and “critical thinking” on your part. Critical thinking is indicated by your opinion on the topic, and why you feel the way you do.

If you ever have questions or comments about grades or anything else, do not hesitate to contact me via email or phone. It is always better to address issues sooner rather than later.

Suzanne
suzpurcell@gmail.com
802-922-0058

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