Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyReen Gibb

Course 11.129: Educational Theory and Practice I

Room 1-134Phone: 508-935-6549 (< 8:30 PM)

Tuesday and Thursday, 4:05 – 5:25 P.M.

Sept. 5 – Dec. 10, 2013Wendy Huang

Course Description

This course is designed to prepare you for a successful student teaching experience during IAP. This course requires significant personal involvement and time!

Some of the major themes include:

  • analysis of yourself as a teacher and as a learner
  • knowledge of subject matter, adolescent development, student learning styles, lesson planning, assessment strategies, classroom management techniques and differentiated instruction.

You will observe high school classes, begin to pursue a more active role in the classroom in the latter part of the semester, do reflective writings on what you see and think (journal), design and teach a minilesson, design a major curriculum unit and engage in our classroom discussions and activities.

Main Activities:

Reflect and write about your own educational experience both as a student and as a teacher.

Observe and work in a secondary school classroom(s). Keep a pre-practicum log of your visits (form provided).

Keep a weekly reflective journal. Write about what you observe in the classroom(s). Date your entries and be specific about what you observe. Be sure to include any questions/thoughts you have about what you see. These can be brought up in class discussion and/or your reflective papers. Journal must be updated at the end of each week.

Demonstrate competence in the area of curriculum design and a variety of teaching issues such as setting student expectations, classroom management techniques, discipline, grading policies, assessment strategies, conducting the lab part of a course, curriculum/time issues (depth vs. breadth), being an effective communicator in the classroom and outside of the classroom (parents, colleagues).

Demonstrate competence in the area of adolescent development and effective communication skills.

Demonstrate competence in your subject content in terms of the following: State Frameworks, Core Curriculum, MCAS, MTEL and a variety of typical student textbooks.

Become familiar with the Professional Teacher Standards.

Demonstrate competence in the area of special education(10/2, 10/24, 11/15 presentations).

Design and teach a mini-lesson which will be followed by group feedback.

Design a major curriculum unit that you will use in your student teaching in January. The unit should include the following: table of contents, general overview of the unit (one paragraph), daily calendar stating learning objectives, reference to alignment with the state Curriculum Frameworks and the Common Core, outline of what is to be taught day by day, homework assignments, relevant demonstrations and labs, and an assessment component(s).

Course Requirements

Class attendance.

Field work in a local secondary school (50 hours for the semester). Detail your weekly observations in your reflective journal. Keep your written pre-practicum log and journal up to date.

Assignments will include the following:

  • Written reflections (journal)
  • Selected readings (three major texts). Topics deal with issues such as student learning, adolescent development, subject matter knowledge, classroom management techniques, assessment issues, Curriculum Frameworks, MCAS student testing, MTEL teacher testing, and planning for your January teaching assignment.
  • Required documents for completion of licensure process
  • Two major reflective papers (due October 22 and Dec. 3)
  • Minilesson
  • Major curriculum project (due Dec. 5)

Workshops on special education:

  • Oct. 2 (7:00-9:00 PM at Wellesley College )
  • October 24 (MIT, regular class time)
  • Nov. 21 (MIT, regular class time)

Schedule of classes and readings

Sept. 5Syllabus

Overview of 11.129, 11.130 and 11.131

Assignment 1 and 2

Chapter 12. Expectations from The Skillful Teacher.

Chapter 1. Expectations from Teach like a Champion

Sept. 10Chapter 13. Personal Relationship Building from The Skillful Teacher

Chapter 14. Classroom Climatefrom The Skillful Teacher

Chapter 5. Strong Classroom Culture from Teach like a Champion

Assignment #1 due

Sept. 12Chapter 2 and 3. from Teach like a Champion

Section 1 and Section 2 (chapters 1- 4) from Tools for Teaching

Assignment #2 due

Sept. 17Section 3 (chapters 5-8) from Tools for Teaching

Sept. 19Chapter 8 Discipline from The Skillful Teacher

Section 4 (chapters 9 - 10) from Tools for Teaching

Sept. 24Ms. Emily Parks, Classroom Management – Session 1

Chapter 7 and 8. from Teach like a Champion

Section 5 (chapters 11 - 12) from Tools for Teaching

Excerpt from Teach Like your Hair is on Fire, Rafe Equith

Sept. 26 Ms. Emily Parks, Classroom Management – Session 1I

Chapter 9 Clarity from The Skillful Teacher

Section 6 (chapters 13 - 16) from Tools for Teaching

Oct. 2Special Education seminar at Wellesley College, 7-9:00 PM.

Oct. 3Ms. Emily Parks, Classroom Management – Session 1II

Chapter 10 Principles of Learning from The Skillful Teacher

Section 6 (chapters 17 - 19) from Tools for Teaching

Oct. 8Ms. Emily Parks, Classroom Management – Session 1V

Oct. 10Ms. Emily Parks, Classroom Management – Session V

Oct. 15Holiday

Oct. 17Ms. Emily Parks, Classroom Management – Session VI

Chapter 11 Models of teaching from The Skillful Teacher

Section 7 (chapters 20 - 23) from Tools for Teaching

Chapter 4 and 9. from Teach like a Champion

Oct. 22Chapter 18 Learning Experiences from The Skillful Teacher

Section 8 (chapters 24 - 25) from Tools for Teaching

First reflective paper due

Oct. 24Second Special Education seminar (Carol Rosengarten, special education teacher)

Oct. 29Chapter 19 Assessment from The Skillful Teacher

Chapter 15. Curriculum Design from the Skillful Teacher

Oct. 31Chapter 20 Overarching Objectives from The Skillful Teacher

Nov. 5Standards for Teachers

State Licensure information

MTEL information

Nov. 7Major curriculum project work

Journals in your field

Nov. 12Major curriculum project work

Nov. 14Major curriculum project work

Nov. 19 Best practices and self analysis of teaching style

Major curriculum project work

Nov. 21Third Special Education seminar (Greg Schwannbeck, physics teacher).

Nov. 26Frameworks and MCAS. Major curriculum project work.

Nov. 28Holiday. Thanksgiving vacation.

Dec. 3Final reflective paper due

Dec. 5Major curriculum project, reflective journal and prepracticum logs due

Dec. 10Last class

Main reference texts:

Jon Saphier and Robert Gower, The Skillful Teacher. Building your Teaching Skills.

Fred Jones, Tools for Teaching.

Doug Lemov, Teach like a Champion. 49 Techniques that Put Students on the Path to College.

Grading policy:

Your grade is based on you completing all course requirements (assignments 1-8) and your class engagement. The assignments are graded by the standards described in the ‘grading rationale and criteria’ document. Class engagementinvolves attending class, being prompt, being prepared and contributing to the class discussion/activities.

c Reen Gibb

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