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EdSe 5120: Middle School Philosophy and Organization. 2 Credits. Spring, 2005.

Dan Glisczinski, Instructor, Department of Education

Syllabus

Schedule

Assignments

Contact Dan

Syllabus

Welcome to Middle School Philosophy and Organization.

Class meets:

• Section 1: Fridays 8:00 to 9:40 a.m., Montague 108
• Section 2: Tuesdays noon to 1:40 p.m., Montague 203
• Section 3: Thursdays 5:00 to 6:40 p.m., Montague 108

Class aliases:

• Section 1: edse5120-1-s2005@d.umn.edu
• Section 2: edse5120-2-s2005@d.umn.edu
• Section 3: edse5120-3-s2005@d.umn.edu

Course description:
This course will provide opportunities to examine the philosophy, organization, and structure of middle schools. This will include assessment of benefits, drawbacks, and rationale of middle school education.

Course overview:
The goal of Middle School Philosophy and Organization is to prepare you to improve the educational experiences of young adolescents.

Required text and hardware:
1. Manning, M. & Bucher, Katherine T. (2005). Teaching in the Middle School. Second Edition. Upper Saddle River: Merrill/Prentice Hall.
2. One CPS/e-instruction responder, UMD bookstore.

Principles of instruction:

Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC) Standards	UMD Education Department Conceptual Framework
Standard 1: Knowing subject matter Standard 2: Human development and learning Standard 3: Diversity in learning Standard 4: Variety of instructional strategies Standard 5: Motivation and management Standard 6: Communication skills Standard 7: Instructional planning skills Standard 8: Assessment Standard 9: Reflection and responsibility Standard 10: Relationships and partners	Diversity Reflection Empowerment Collaboration Technology

Course outcomes:
During, or upon completion of this course, you will demonstrate the following abilities, which are aligned with the following Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC) principles:

Course objective	INTASC Principles and Standards of Effective Practice	UMD Conceptual Framework Elements
Describe the history of and current research on middle level reform.	Principle 9: Reflection and responsibility	Collaboration, Reflection, and Technology
Identify how student physical, social, emotional, moral, and cognitive development influence learning and know how to address these factors when making instructional decisions. Understand Developmental progressions of learners and ranges of individual variation in physical, social, emotional, moral, and cognitive domains. Identify levels of readiness in learning and understand how development in one domain may affect performance in others.	Principle 2 Human development and learning	Diversity, Empowerment, Reflection, and Collaboration
Identify options for middle school-specific scheduling, curriculum, programs, team teaching techniques, interdisciplinary teaching, and assessment strategies.	Principle 4: Variety of Instructional Strategies	Diversity, Empowerment, Reflection, Collaboration, and Technology
Articulate ways of developing and maintaining educational relationships with community partners. Understand schools as organizations within the larger community context and understand the operations of the relevant aspects of the system.	Principle 10: Relationships and partners	Collaboration
Identify and design instruction appropriate to a student's stages of development, learning styles, strengths, and needs. Create, revise, evaluate your own middle school-specific instructional plans.	Principles 3 and 7: Diversity in learning, Variety of Instructional Strategies, and Instructional planning skills	Diversity, Empowerment, Reflection, Collaboration, and Technology
Evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of middle level schools.	Principle 9: Reflection and responsibility	Diversity, Empowerment, and Collaboration
Articulate the characteristics, roles, and functions of the middle school teacher. Use professional literature, colleagues, and other resources to support development as a learner and a teacher. Collaboratively use professional colleagues as supports for reflection problem-solving and new ideas.	Principle 9 Reflection and responsibility	Diversity, Empowerment, and Collaboration
Explain student rights and teacher responsibilities for equal education, appropriate education for students with disabilities, confidentiality, privacy, appropriate treatment of students, reporting in situations related to possible child abuse.	Principle 10 Relationships and partners	Diversity, Empowerment, Reflection, and Collaboration
Integrate middle and intermediate state standards into lesson plans and curriculum design for subject and interdisciplinary teaching opportunities.	Principles 4 and 8: Instructional planning skills and Assessment	Collaboration, Technology, Empowerment
Identify state and federal accountability systems relative to middle schools.	Principles 4 and 8: Instructional planning skills and Assessment	Diversity, Reflection, Empowerment.

Dispositions:
This course will help you develop and strengthen the following professional dispositions:

Attendance/Punctuality	Self-initiative/Independence	Reliability/Dependability	Oral expression	Written expression
Critical thinking skills	Tactful judgment	Collegiality	Reflective response to feedback/supervision	Interaction with students/peers/teachers/others
Desire to improve own teaching performance	Commitment to the education profession	Attitudes toward learners	Professional ethics and demeanor

Diversity:
This course will provide firsthand experience utilizing diversity in learning communities. Our readings, discussions, interactions, guests, assignments, and reflections will emphasize and provide opportunity to learn from a variety of life experiences, ways of knowing, perspectives, and so forth. You are invited to share your perspectives. You are expected to honor the diverse perspectives of those around you.

Attendance expectations:
Active participation and CPS interaction in all meetings is required. Exceptions may be arranged in the case of an emergency. If you will miss class, make arrangements with me in advance. For my records, participation in class will be recorded by interaction through CPS responders. For the purpose of developing ideas, speaking experience, classroom community, and enhancing your grade, I encourage you to conscientiously participate verbally as well. Unexcused absences and unpreparedness in class will reduce your course grade. Numerous absences or patterns of unpreparedness may result in failure of this course.

Course grade:
You will earn your course grade by active class participation, regular CPS interaction, communicating your understanding of young adolescents, designing curriculum appropriate to these students, and collaborating with your peers. Your success with this will be recorded on your summative assessment rubric (or course grade rubric). Your final grade is determined by the location of the majority of your evidence from assignments.

IMPORTANT:
I INVITE ANY OF YOU WHO HAVE ANY DISABILITY, EITHER PERMANENT OR TEMPORARY, OR ANY OTHER SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH MIGHT AFFECT YOUR ABILITY TO PERFORM IN THIS CLASS, TO INFORM ME, SO ITHAT TOGETHER WE CAN ADAPT METHODS, MATERIALS, OR ASSIGNMENTS AS NEEDED TO PROVIDE EQUITABLE PARTICIPATION.