Fall+09+Assignments

TEAMS Project Education 497I and 597R

**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.
 * **//Tinkerplots, Software to Make Data Analysis Engaging for Kids//**
 * **//Getting Started With Scratch//**

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.//**

**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.

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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.

In our first class we discussed which five conditions have allowed each of you to become a student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. We also explored some of the barriers that prevent other individuals from going to college.
 * First** Writing Assignment due 09/15/09

These advantages and barriers are not insignificant when you consider the statistics about who graduates from high school. In Massachusetts, about 80 percent of first year high school students graduate with their class four years later; the numbers are much lower for African American, Latino and Native American students, as shown below.

Four-Year High School Graduation Rates (2008)


 * African American Students (Girls 74.2%/Boys 62.7%)
 * Asian Students (Girls 89.3%/Boys 84.4%)
 * Hispanic Students (Girls 64.4%/Boys 52.6%)
 * White Students (Girls 89.3%/84.1%)

Dropout Rates (2008)


 * African American Students (Girls 13.2%/Boys 17.4%)
 * Asian Students (Girls 5.4%/Boys 7.3%)
 * Hispanic Students (Girls 21.1%/Boys 28.0%)
 * White Students (Girls 5.6%/7.9%)

For next week, write a paper describing the characters of the person you consider to be one of the best teachers you have met in your life and tell how this person was different from other teachers. Please be ready to share your ideas next week in class.