Geology 201: The Professional Science Teacher

Announcements: Do not forget to attend the technology session today Sept. 17, 2007!

Course

Geology 201X and Chemistry 201X: The Professional Science Teacher (1 hr)

Catalog Description: An introduction to the role of the professional science teacher. Includes philosophical trends in teaching (and how they affect the science teacher), major factors affecting how science is taught, and an introduction to science content/teaching standards. CREQ: ILAS 201

Directly addresses INTASC #4, #6, #7, #9, #10, NSTA #3, #5, #6, #9, #10, ISBE CORE TEACHING #3, #5, #6, #7, #8, #11, ISBE LANGUAGE ARTS CORE #1, #2, #3, ISBE TECHNOLOGY CORE #1, #2, #3, #4, #6, #7,

Instructor Information - Fall 2007

Instructor Name: Dr. Kathy Kitts
Office Location: Davis Hall 402, Teacher Certification Workroom Davis Hall 07
Office Hours: Monday 1:00-2:00 pm and Wednesday 2:00-3:00 pm
Telephone: 753-5990
e-mail address: kkitts@niu.edu

Meeting Days/Times/Location

The students will meet a total of seven times for 2 hours each. Approximately one-half the class time will be spent with the instructor or other teaching experts. The remaining class time will be spent on student led discussions or presentations. The class will meet approximately every other week on Mondays. Class meetings will be held in Davis Hall 309, unless noted otherwise, from 4:00-6:00 pm.

Meeting dates are September 17, October 1, October 8, October 22, November 5, November 26 and December 3.

Course Goals

The goals of this course will be to:

Introduce the students to the professional teaching standards and the ways by which they will meet them.
Introduce the certification program itself, its expectations and requirements including assessment and retention.
Provide students with a better understanding of classroom dynamics, instructional patterns and the role of the teacher.
Provide students with the ability to share their knowledge and understanding through participation in meaningful discussions about the role(s) of the teacher.

Methodology

Each class period will be student-centered, and will include the following items:

Discussion of observations made during ILAS 201, the role of the professional educator or short presentations led by the teacher candidates (60-90 minutes)
Faculty lead examination of the various roles of the professional science teacher. (30-60 minutes)

Assessment

Students will be assessed by both the course instructor and by their peers using rubrics for all in-course activities, and will perform regular written assignments and self-assessments.

In this course, as in other Secondary Science Teacher Education courses, emphasis will be placed on student assessment-as-learning strategies. That is, assessments of student performance will be used not only to assign grades, but also to improve student performance. Most assignments will be graded on a "satisfactory" versus "unsatisfactory" basis. Unsatisfactory work will be returned to the student for improvement. Appropriate revision and resubmission of "unsatisfactory" course projects can improve a student's grade, so long as all deadlines are met. All these materials are specifically designed to meet NSTA and Illinois State Teaching Standards when done to the "satifactory level" and should be included in the electronic portfolio.

Assignments and Requirements

Students will work on common core assignments.
Students will write reaction paper based on observations and classroom topics.
Students will submit a copy of their ongoing electronic portfolio.
Students will write a summary paper on the topics covered in class.
Students will participate in daily topic discussions.

In GEOL 201, students begin constructing their electronic portfolios. Here is an example. Your electronic portfolio must done in a format open to users of all major operating systems and should fit on one cd-rom. Materials from this course will be added to the portfolio. Assessment of the portfolio will be performed on a continuing basis by both the student and the Dr. Kitts in her role as Discipline Coordinator not just faculty member. If the portfolio is deemed unsatisfactory at any time and the student disagrees, they may request a portfolio review by the Science Certification Coordinators Committee consisting of Drs. Baker, Kitts, Miller and Windelborn.

Course Objectives

As a result of this course, the student will demonstrate the ability to:

Objective: Students will	Source of Course Objective
(1) lead discussions of assigned readings in a way that reflects reverence for learning and seriousness of personal and professional purpose.	INTASC #9, #10
(2) demonstrate their understanding of how standards are put into practice in classes.	INTASC #4, #6, #7, #9, #10, ISBE CORE TEACHING #3, #5, #6, #7, #8, #11
(3) develop a resource file of ideas on applying standards in the science classroom	ISBE TECHNOLOGY CORE #2, #3, #4, #6, #7
(4) share information they have gathered on the most common language arts problems that students have, and methods for addressing those problems, that they have gathered from teachers, the readings and from observation.	ISBE LANGUAGE ARTS CORE #1, #2, #3
(5) share information they have gathered from teachers, the readings and from observation, on the uses of technology in the classroom.	ISBE TECHNOLOGY CORE #1, #2, #3

Course Outline

Date	Activities	Assignment
Sept. 17, 2007	Introduction to teaching standards - INTASC, ISBE & NSTA, Similarities and Differences What are the skills that a professional educators should possess? NCATE #1D, INTASC #4, #5, #6, NSTA #5, IPTS #6, #7, ISBE LA #1 - #3	Review standards. Assignment 1 - Classroom Communication Due October 1, 2007.
October 1, 2007	Collect Assn. #1 Class discussion of Assn. #1. What do you teach and how do you know if you succeed? Illinois Learning Standards. SIUE, NCREL, ERIC, Alaska NCATE #1C, INTASC #7, #9 ISBE #6, #8, NSTA #1 - #7, IPTS #1, #8, ISBE Science Core #1 - #11	Assignment 2 - What science should students learn? Due October 8, 2007.
October 8, 2007	Collect Assn #2. Class discussion of Assn. #2. How do we teach? How do you teach someone who thinks differently?	Assignment 3a - Teaching/learning and student development Due October 22, 2007. Assignment 3b-Prepare summary of one of the case studies for discussion under the "How" link due Oct. 22, 2007.
October 22, 2007	Collect Assn. #3. Student presentation of Case Studies The larger classroom and its resources and opportunities. (NCATE #1G, INTASC #9, #10, ISBE#3C, 3E, 3F, #9A - 9G, NSTA #7, #10A, 10D)	Assignment 4 - Communicating with Parents Due November 5, 2007.
November 5, 2007	Collect Assn. #4 How can you teach science if they can't read? Teaching reading and writing in the science classroom. Handouts for in-class assignment. (See Dr. Kitts for another copy of the target article if you miss class.) Readability url. Article on reading in science middle school course. ( NCATE #1F, ISBE LA #1, #2, #3)	Assignment 5 - Reading Due November 26, 2007.
November 26, 2007	Discussion of middle school reading article. Review students reading technique suggestions. Collect Assn. #5. Technology tools in the classroom, use and abuse. Portfolio activities (ISBE Technology #1, #2, #3, #4, #6, #7 )	Final Assignment: Common core. See below. Do not forget to add the urls in today's lesson (click on the word use in the box to the right) to your annotated bibliography which should function as the backbone to your resource file under the common core requirements.
December 3, 2007	Common Core and Portfolio turn-in date and/or make-up date due to weather etc.	None. You are done! Woohoo!!

*Standards and indicators listed for each session show topics being addressed. Standards and indicators addressed in each assignment depends on the work submitted.

Common Core requirement

Each semester, as part of their clinical course requirements, students are required to show progress on the following ongoing assignments.

Log of observations of standards in Student Journal.
Teacher Scrapbook - Maintain a scrapbook of print materials (magazines, newspaper, etc.) that appear on a chosen topic. Sample topics include Science & Society, Science Education, Teaching as a Profession or Current Discoveries in Science. The photographic record of the scrapbook should be updated at the end of each semester in the electronic portfolio.
Resource File - Students will create an electronic record of teaching resources. The resources could be methods, places to visit, demonstrations, etc. The emphasis is on ideas.
Annotated bibliography- Students should develop an annotated bibliography of all the urls listed on the various certification course sites. This bibliography should be updated each semester in the electronic portfolio. Websites are ephemeral. It is recommended that any materials considered to be of great value be archived. Remember to appropriately cite the location of the original website in the archive even if the site no longer exists today.
Demonstration Box - Students will collect physical objects to be used in teaching. The collection could be of toys, apparatus or "junk" that is used to teach specific ideas. The emphasis is on objects. A photograph should be taken at the end of each semester of these materials and updated in the electronic portfolio.

Final Checklist

08/25/07