Sherry TE801-09

Teachbook – “Helps you connect and share with the teaching in your life”
Description
How useful our course is to you and others will depend on how we bring your
teaching regularly into the university classroom, and how you and others
respond to those "artifacts of practice." Each week, depending on the rotation
of three groups, you will either 1. post an artifact to the wiki by 9pm Tuesday
night; 2. respond to (at least) two others' artifacts on the wiki by 9pm
Wednesday night; or 3. synthesize the posts, and prepare a lesson for the first hour of the
next Friday 801 class by 9pm Thursday night. I expect you to take risks and respond honestly,
critically, and politely. These posts and responses should feed directly into your other
assignments, so the better they are, the easier it will be to build on them.

“What’s on your mind?”

Option 1 – Mini-Mikes
Each week, during the second hour of class, I’ll supply some ideas and resources in a “mini-
lesson” on which you may choose to follow up. For instance, I might share materials teachers
have used to set classroom expectations, and you might post/comment on similar materials
from your own placement classroom.

Option 2 – CASE/TRACE/THINK
Because this weekly work complements your other assignments, you may wish to
post/comment in ways that will help you accomplish those tasks. For instance, you may
wish to post examples of student work and request/provide feedback on multiple ways of
interpreting that artifact.

Option 5 – Your choice

What is something that grabs your attention which you’d like to understand better?

Process
1. (For posters) Prepare equipment
To help you collect classroom artifacts, I will provide tools and training; for instance, you
might want to use your cell phone to capture a brief video of groupwork. If your group is
posting, make sure you have the equipment you’ll need for the week.

2. (For posters) Keep eyes open

In order to allow time for others to respond, you’ll need to post by Wednesday night. So keep
your eyes open during the first part of the week for something you can capture and share.
3. (For posters/responders) Consult professional resources
As you plan your post/comments, consider what professional resources (e.g., colleagues,
research, previous experience) might help you make sense of the artifact(s).
4. (For posters/responders) Provide critical context
Whether you’re posting or responding, try to tell us not only what you think of the artifact,
but why you think it. You may also wish to respond to a responder.
5. (For synthesizers)
Read across the posts/responses: what common themes emerge? To collaborate with your
group members in planning for TE 801, you may wish to use tools like our wiki, Google
docs, or Wiggio. I’d like a brief lesson plan and a list of who was responsible for what in the
group.
 Sherry TE801-09
Assessment
You will receive a grade for the semester based on 1 post, 1 response, 1 synthesis, and your in-
class participation (each worth about 6% of your grade). Given that this assignment, above
all, depends on your investment, I trust you to take it seriously and respond honestly,
critically, and politely about challenging issues you want to address. As such, I would rather
leave the requirements open-ended. If I feel that the posts/responses/syntheses are not
meeting the guidelines below, I’ll issue more specific criteria.

Posts – Does the artifact you chose represent something that matters to you,
something you (and we, your colleagues) could/should learn more about?

Responses – Does your response share something from your own experience,
challenging the poster to think more deeply while still being polite and
sympathetic?

Syntheses – Do the topics you’ve chosen represent what most of your colleagues
seem to be interested in? Do the activities you’ve planned for the first hour
of class seem like the best way to get at those topics?

In-class – Do your comments/questions help you and others to forward your

thinking about teaching and what it means to be a professional?