past+assignments

TEAMS Project Education 497I and 597R

Final ** Reading & **** Writing **** Assignment ** due 05/03/10 -Envisioning Multicultural Schools


 * Please follow the directions about the urls** on the wiki page.


 * Answer each of the site discussion questions**.


 * Twelfth Reading & **** Writing **** Assignment ** due 04/27/10 -Tutoring History


 * Please read or listen to all the urls** on the wiki page.


 * Answer teach of the site discussion questions and include your list of 10 most famous people**.


 * Eleventh Reading & **** Writing **** Assignment ** due 04/20/10--**Race and Racism**


 * Please read or listen to all the information** on the wiki page.


 * Answer thoughtfully and reflectively about each of the site discussion questions**.


 * Tenth Reading & **** Writing **** Assignment ** due 04/13/10--Ell

Please read all the information on the wiki and answer **briefly** the site discussion questions.

Take the Citizenship Test online and see how you score.

Please read all three reports on the wiki and answer **briefly** the site discussion questions.
 * Ninth Reading & **** Writing **** Assignment ** due 04/06/10--Gender and Education

Please read all of the information on the page although it appears to be a LOT. Skimming all of it will be helpful.
 * Eighth Reading Assignment ** due 03/30/10-- Special Education

Briefly answer all of the Site Discussion Questions at the top of the **Special Education** wiki page.
 * Eighth Writing Assignment ** due 03/30/10
 * Because I posted this assignment so late, I do not expect lengthy answers to any of the questions; a short response will be appreciated.**

Add a **paragraph about whether or not the place that you visited** during the spring break **would have been a place friendly to gay or lesbian couples, why or why not**. Or, if you did not travel, think about this questions in terms of where you were and compose a paragraph that answers the question

Please read all of the information on the page.
 * Seventh Reading Assignment ** due 03/23/10-- LGBT Students

Please answer all of the Site Discussion Questions at the top of the **LGBT Students** wiki page.
 * Seventh Writing Assignment ** due 03/23/10

Add a **paragraph about whether or not the place that you visited** during the spring break **would have been a place friendly to gay or lesbian couples, why or why not**. Or, if you did not travel, think about this questions in terms of where you were and compose a paragraph that answers the question.


 * Sixth** ** Reading Assignment ** due 03/09/10--Tutoring Mathematics


 * Please open and watch the video about Dr. Robert Moses and The Algebra Project.**

Please read the synopsis of **Reading Coaching for Math Word Problems.** Please read **Kids Master Mathematics When They Are Challenged But Supported.**


 * Sixth** ** Writing Assignment ** due 03/09/10

Please answer the **Site Discussion Questions** that appear at the top of the **Tutoring Mathematics** wiki page. The final question asks for one paragraph at the end of the paper stating your wonderings.

**Please read** two selections from **Graduation Rates, School Dropouts, and Achievement**:
 * Fifth** ** Reading Assignment ** due 03/02/10

1. __**//Research on the Achievement Gap//**__
 * 2. USA Today: Teachers Are Key for Students Who Like Learning and Remain Curious**


 * Fifth** ** Writing Assignment ** due 03/02/10

1. Briefly write your ideas about __**each**__ of the **site discussion group questions.

2. On another sheet of paper: List 5 life circumstances or conditions that would have prevented you from attending college. List 5 life circumstances or conditions that made possible your coming to college. Bring these lists with you to class.**


 * Fourth** ** Reading Assignment ** due 02/23/10

**Please read four selections** on the Tutoring Writing page of the wiki: **Writing and School Reform** **Writing Process Fit for Young Readers A Writing Process Fit for Young Writers**
 * National Writing Project's Spotlight on Think It Ink It**

**View these websites:**
 * National Gallery of Writing** []
 * Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing** []

**Please answer the four Site Discussion Questions** at the top of the Tutoring Writing page of the wiki.
 * Fourth** ** Writing Assignment ** due 02/23/10


 * Third** ** Reading Assignment ** due 02/08/10

**second** **half--15 minutes.** Click **Full Episode** (under the photo) to hear this podcast.
 * LISTEN to** [|**This American Life**, a podcast with Geoffrey Canada speaking about Harlem Free Zone].

Before hearing the second half of the podcast, ask yourself what the first half of the podcast implies for you as a teacher and a tutor. After hearing the second half, ask yourself what the second half implies for you as a teacher and a tutor.


 * Third** ** Writing Assignment ** due 02/08/10

In TEAMS we believe that **everyone teaches each othe** r. Tuesday's class experience included activities that were interactive or not, working in pairs, small groups, or whole class. To determine what each of you left class remembering or thinking about, we are asking for your assessments and reflections. **The writing assignment asks you:**
 * what you think you learned
 * what you enjoyed
 * what you found confusing
 * what you would change about the activity


 * 1) Baloney, Henry P. vocabulary (in the stairwell)
 * 2) Visual Perception and Reading Comprehension (video on the computer in the nook)
 * 3) Podcast of Geoffrey Canada in the Mac lab
 * 4) Reading no word pictures and picture books and books in Japanese
 * 5) Radio Reading of rhyming books
 * 6) C D B! by William Steig
 * 7) The Abstract Alphabet Book and its companion alphabet book that did not resemble an alphabet

A paragraph describing the four questions about each of the 7 experiences is the writing assignment. **As** **a final paragraph, tell me what you left wondering about at the end of class and in the days following class**.


 * Second** ** Reading Assignment ** due 02/02/10


 * LISTEN to** [|//Stranger in the Church// or //A Christmas Haunting// on **The Moonlit Road** site].

Click **Full Episode** (under the photo) to hear the **first half--15 minutes**-of this podcast.
 * LISTEN to** [|**This American Life**, a podcast with Geoffrey Canada speaking about Harlem Free Zone].

READ //As Classrooms Go Digital, Textbooks Are History//.

We rarely think about what reading really is. In our society so much of what we learn and do is connected to text that we do not think of everything else that we read. **Answer EACH OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS WITH A SHORT PARAGRAPH**. **Bring to class something that you read but has no words.**
 * Second** ** Writing Assignment ** due 02/02/10
 * 1) What things do you read throughout a day and a week?
 * 2) Can you read if there are no words? What do you read that does not have words?
 * 3) Who reads?
 * 4) How did you learn to read print?
 * 5) What do you read on paper, on the computer, on the phone or an iPod Touch?
 * 6) What would you like to be able to read?


 * First** ** Reading Assignment ** due 01/26/10

Please reread TUTORING IN TEAMS to refresh your understanding of the ideas.

Then read Mulitple Intelligences and Mindsets. Class discussion questions (at the top of the page) are our discussion topics next week in Teams.

Robert Feldman's, // The Liar In Your Life //, has two options: You may either read the text about the book or listen to a podcast of Dr. Feldman speaking about the book.

// An Educator's Journey Toward Multiple Intelligences ,// by Scott Seider, is a link that opens to his article describing a teacher's perspective of multiple intelligence. At this site are many other options for learning about Multiple Intelligences but the TEAMS assignment for Multiple Intelligences is simply to read and consider Scott Seider's piece.

Describe the characteristics of the person you consider to be one of the best teachers you have met in your life. How was this person different from others in motivating and supporting you to achieve successful learning? Did this person affect your **mindset** in positive ways? Did this person include in instructional methods any strategies that apply to the theory of **Multiple Intelligences** ?
 * First Writing Assignment ** due 01/26/10
 * Teachers are critical to student success**. For next Tuesday, write a 2 pg. paper.

Our in-class discussion identified five conditions, **advantages**, enabling each of us to be a college student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In so doing we explored five **barriers** that would have prevented our entry into college.

The **advantages** **and** **barriers** **are significant** when considering the statistics about who graduates from high school. In Massachusetts, **only 80 percent of first year high school students graduate with their class** four years later: The graduation numbers are much lower for African American, Latino and Native American students, as shown below.


 * Four-Year High School** **Graduation Rates** (2008)


 * Hispanic Students **Girls** 64.4% **Boys** 52.6%
 * African Americans **Girls** 74.2% **Boys** 62.7%
 * White Students **Girls** 89.3% **Boys** 84.1%
 * Asian Students **Girls** 89.3% **Boys** 84.4%

** High School Dropout Rates** (2008)


 * Asian Students **Girls** 5.4% **Boys** 7.3%
 * White Students **Girls** 5.6% **Boys** 7.9%
 * African Americans **Girls** 13.2% **Boys** 17.4%
 * Hispanic Students **Girls** 21.1% **Boys** 28.0%

**Digital Divides** **is another factor separating and disenfranchising students**, in **ways that may be invisible** unless you yourself have experienced the difference between having a reliable, internet connected computer for your own use 24/7 and then, suddenly not having the computer. Imagine if this were the situation for you throughout high school; access would be limited to a computer at school or in the public library or used with a friend who has a computer.
 * Eleventh Assignment** for class on 12/108/09

(Either choice is digital rather than paper.)
 * DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION offers choices for learning so this assignment offers two activities.** You **DO ONE.**

**//Choice 1//** : Read **//FOUR//** online entries: SUMMARIZE what you have learned IN A PARAGRAPH ABOUT __EACH ONE (four paragraphs)__ and answer the site discussion questions:
 * **//Technology and Children,//**
 * **//Digital Youth Research,//**
 * **//Writing Technology and Teens,//**
 * **//Technology Use and Gender Roles//**

**//Choice 2//** : Investigate **ONE** of the two interactive learning resources. Spend 45 minutes learning how the system teaches students to think about and to use math. SUMMARIZE what you have learned from the program IN 2-3 PARAGRAPHS and then answer the site discussion questions. These programs are on computers in Furcolo **//. If you would like to try out either one, I will be available to get you on a computer Thursday 11-5 or Monday 9-6:30.//**
 * **//Tinkerplots, Software to Make Data Analysis Engaging for Kids//**
 * **//Getting Started With Scratch//**

**Envisioning Multicultural Schools** is our topic for the 2 1/2 hours class that you will be exploring on the computer. The assignment is on the wiki page. You are reviewing and answering the site questions about two of the five multicultural school choices presented.
 * Tenth Assignment ** is the **Virtual Class** assignment for Nov. 24 when we do not meet in person.

Please read two selections in ELL: **//Silence on the English Learners Gap//** and **//Types of Programs for Students and answer the Site Discussion Questions. //**
 * Ninth Assignment**for class on 11/17/09

Open the page for Special Education. Slowly scroll down the page till you reach the bottom reading NONE of them but skimming the text of all of them.
 * Eighth Assignment** for class on 11/10/09
 * Read the site discussion questions**.

Ask yourself how you feel about having to read and process all of the information included on the page. Write a sentence or two describing your feelings.

Next go to the PBS website: [|http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/misunderstoodminds] On the left hand ribbon of choices, open **resources** and read the quote of Dr. David Urion. Ask yourself if and when you have felt this way in your schooling experience. Write a short paragraph describing your feelings and the circumstances making you feel as you did.

Open ONE of the other topics on the ribbon BUT NOT ATTENTION as it is part of Tuesday's class. Try all of the activities and do all of the reading for the topic you chose. If this were how you had to experience learning for most of your school career, what would you do? How would you behave in class and at home with homework? Would your family hire a tutor for you, urge you to go for extra help to the teacher, have you tested for a learning disability? Reply to each of these questions and your assignment will be finished.

Please go to **Racism**. The **first three** resources are this week's reading:
 * Seventh** Writing Assignment due **11/03/09**

Read all of these and then respond to the Site Discussion Questions at the top of the page.
Please go to **Tutoring History** to open **Shirley Chisholm for President**. Read the film description and watch the movie trailer.
 * Sixth** Writing Assignment due **10/27/09**

View the video clip, Electing a President in Plain English __[]__. Answer the Site Discussion Questions at the top of the page.

Please open our group presentation planning wikispace [] to view resources about presentation topics in preparation for planning meetings with your group members.

In class we will be participating in a presentation by the Stonewall Center which is located here at the University. Some of you may have been in the audience of a presentation by a panel from Stonewall already in another class. Panels are different, so this experience will be different from previous ones you may have attended. We are glad to have members of Stonewall Center join us in our class each semester.
 * Fifth** Writing Assignment due **10/20/09**

In preparation for the **LGBT**, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender presentation, open the readings in **LGBT Students in the topics column** and: listen to the National Public Radio podcast, If Gay Marriage is Allowed, Will Schools Promote It? ; open and read the report, 2007 National School Climate Survey ; then read Hostile Hallways. When you have finished hearing and reading these three resources, answer the Site Discussion Questions at the top of the page.

Because we have no class meeting on Tuesday, 10/13/09, the assignment that takes the place of class is to open the wikispace [] that we are using to plan **Presentation/Teaching Groups** and thoroughly look through the resources that are there for your topic: gender, race and racism, ELL, Special Education, and LGBT in preparation for meeting as a group during class on 10/20/09.

​

In class this week we will be having a **Writing Party**--something new for students of all ages. You don't need to dress up, just come ready to have a good time!
 * Fourth** Writing Assignment due **10/06/09**

In preparation for our writing, open **Tutoring Writing in the topics column** and read Writing Process Fit for Young Readers. In your journal response for this week, please answer the questions at the top of the page.

In class we will be examining the issues of ** Graduation Rates, School Dropouts, and Achievement **. T**he BIG question ** to consider before reading is this: " What do **you know** about these topics ?" What **you think you know and what you really know** may be different from what research about these topics has found.
 * Third** Writing Assignment due 09/29/09

Open ** Graduation Rates, School Dropouts, and Achievement in the topics column on your left **. The assignment is to read //**Research on the Achievement Gap** by Ronald Ferguson// in order to answer the site discussion questions at the top of the page. The writing assignment due Tuesday is to communicate your ideas about these questions.

Lastly, view the YouTube video, **__Dear Mr. President, Students Speak Up to President Obama About How to Improve Their Schools__**, at the bottom of the page, to see if you have other ideas to add to what these students say about improving schools. **Bring a list of ideas about how you would change schools** based on your career as a student in schools.

In class on Tuesday we will be discussing **reading**--what it is, how it is learned, and how we can help students become fluent and facile readers. In preparation for class, go to **Tutoring Reading** in the bulleted list of class topics.
 * Second** Writing Assignment due 09/22/09

You will see **Reading Discussion Questions**. These questions are the writing assignment for the elementary/middle section. Please list everything you read in a day and a week, then write answers to each discussion question. Read the material on the **Tutoring Reading** page of the wiki and listen to the read aloud website. I think you'll enjoy it.