In this course you will be asked to

• attend class meetings and participate in classroom activities and discussions;

• read the assigned texts by the appropriate date and be prepared to discuss them in class in SER format (see below under "Class Participation, Assigned Readings, and SER.");

• participate in online discussions about course-related issues;

• and complete the following four major assignments:

  1. a critical response to assigned reading;

  2. a profile of a teacher;

  3. a final group project on the contexts of teaching;

  4. a final reflective essay.

Detailed guidelines for each of these four major assignments are available on the assignments page.

Group Work

As part of the requirements for the major course assignments you will be a member of two groups that will remain together throughout the semester:

1. a roundtable group of not more than seven classmates;

2. a project group of five or six classmates;

The roundtable groups will meet seven times during the semester for in-class roundtable discussions; group members will share and respond to each others' summary/response papers. (See the guidelines for the summary/response papers and roundtable discussions.)

The project groups will complete a final group project on the contexts of teaching, as noted above. Project groups will be given class time to meet but they may also have to meet--in person and/or online--outside of class.

Participation and Community

One of the most important elements of effective teaching and learning is participation in the classroom and school communities. As a teacher, you will not only help create a community in your own classroom, but you will also be part of the school community and, by extension, the larger community within which your school is located. Accordingly, in ETAP 512 we take the idea of community seriously. The group work as well as regular course activities are intended to involve you in helping create a community of learners in this course. As a group member, you will have responsibility for contributing positively and honestly to the work of your group and to its effective functioning as a community. Please take this responsibility seriously.

Class Participation, Assigned Readings, and “SER.”

Being part of this classroom community also means being prepared for each class. You should come to each class having read the assigned reading selections carefully and prepared to discuss them in depth. Being familiar with the readings is especially important for your roundtable discussions, but you will also be expected to be sufficiently familiar with all the assigned readings for our larger class discussions.

During class discussions each week, you may be called on to discuss the assigned readings for that week. The format for those discussions is SER: Summarize, Explain, Respond. When called upon, you should be prepared to summarize the main points of the reading, explain the significance of these points and the implications of the reading for our understanding of teaching and teachers, and respond to the reading in a cogent manner.