The following three projects will be the vehicles for applying your understanding of learning and development. In each case the papers should be informed by readings and other experiences in the program. Handouts with the specific expectations, process and due dates will be provided in class:
- Educational Autobiography – part 1– For this series of written essays, you will engage a self-reflective process that includes reflections on the past, examinations of the present and visions of future directions you might choose.
- The Young Adult Novel in the Classroom – For this paper you will assess the developmental value of using a selected novel in an educational setting with a group of students of a specific age group and/or grade level.
- Field Work Paper – REVISED — For this paper you will analyze a series of events from your field experiences (e.g. incidents, interactions, ongoing processes and conversations) using a developmental lens.
The following ongoing assignments are ways in which you will engage and track your understanding of the program content:
- The ABC papers(due at the beginning of every Monday seminar) — In addition to identifying important passages that help communicate the important ideas of the text, you will: (a) identify a short quotation from the reading that captures the point you want to talk about; (b) explain what you think the author is doing in the passage and how it relates to the writer’s larger framework of ideas; and (c) respond to the passage with how it provokes your thinking.
- Fieldwork and Field Journal – You will work directly with younger students (pre-K through high school) in order to learn about yourselves as teachers and to apply concepts to understand another’s learning and development. You will write a structured weekly field notes entry to describe and make sense of the thinking and behavior of children and youth.
- Annotated bibliography– You will locate read and annotate a series of articles as part of a small group investigation into a facet of development.
- Workshop preparations — In addition to the above assignments there will be a range of tasks, both individual and collaborative, to complete as preparation for our work together in workshops.
- Internalization exercises – Once or twice in the quarter you will get a take home exam as a way to take stock of your understanding of specific concepts.
- Metacognitive reflections and self-assessments– Both during and at the end of the quarter write reflections on significant areas of learning, strengths you see in your work, and areas of skill or understanding that need refining, and plans for proceeding with your learning. You will examine and select pieces of your work in order to inform and illustrate key points of your reflections for the final portfolio.