Middle School Methods

Fall 1999

2104J

8:30am – 1pm

(office hours & writing lab TBA)

METHODS & TEACHING PRACTICE IN MIDDLE SCHOOLS (EDU 63.3)

Professor Progler

2306J, 951-5950

jprogler@brooklyn.cuny.edu

Through reading, writing, observing, surfing, and discussing, students from all the disciplines represented will consider issues and experiences pertaining to methods and teaching practice in middle schools. This course serves three distinct, yet interrelated, purposes: 1) introduction to methods of teaching in secondary education, 2) observation in school settings, 3) integration of aesthetics and teaching. The latter purpose will be met concurrently in EDU 62, with which EDU 63.3 is paired. All observations and performances occur at field sites (TBA). All seminars meet at Brooklyn College, except for those on 10/21, 10/28 and 11/4, which will meet at a field site.

Date	Topic
9/2	Seminar: Who are we? What is this course about?
9/9	Seminar: What Every Great Teacher Knows (10am-1pm)
9/16	Observation (8:30-10:30am) & Seminar (11:30am-1pm)
9/23	Observation (8:30-10:30am) & Seminar (11:30am-1pm)
9/30	Observation (8:30-10:30am) & Seminar (11:30am-1pm)
10/7	Aesthetics Session at the Brooklyn Museum (time TBA)
10/14	Aesthetics Session at the Brooklyn Museum (time TBA)
10/21	Observation & Seminar (place and time TBA)
10/28	Observation & Seminar (place and time TBA)
11/4	Observation & Seminar (place and time TBA)
11/11	Seminar: Educational Standards (10:30am-1pm)
11/18	Seminar: Methods & Teaching Practice (10:30am-1pm)
12/2	Aesthetics Session at Lincoln Center (time TBA)
12/9	Seminar: Methods & Teaching Practice (10:30am-1pm)
12/16	Final Exam Session: Closing Presentations (time TBA)

Two required coursebooks are in the campus bookstore: Richard A. Gibboney with Charles D. Webb, What Every Great Teacher Knows; Practical Principles for Effective Teaching (1998), and Susan Ohanian, One Size Fits Few: The Folly of Educational Standards (1999).

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Regular attendance at seminars, observations, and performances is crucial to successful completion of the course. More than two unexcused absences will be grounds for failure, and chronic lateness will lower the grade.

Grading is based on five field journals (50%), two book response papers (20%), overall participation (15%), and a closing presentation/paper (15%). Details for each assignment will be provided in class in advance. To facilitate coursework and discussions, all students are required to use the internet and email on a regular basis.