Go directly to: Ten Minute Paper   or   Midterm Exam   or   Mini-Unit Assignment.

About the Examples. This section contains samples of two assignments & a major project. In addition to demonstrating the way assignments begin simply and progress to more complex, analytical levels; these samples were selected because they represent different facets of the course: (1) personal reflection, (2) evaluation, and (3) application of theory in real classrooms. They are arranged in chronological order.

• Ten Minute Paper first & last assignment of the semester
• Midterm Exam educative assessment assignment at mid-semester
• M201 Mini-Unit culminating assignment for the semester

Ten Minute Paper. The ten minute paper is typical of reflective assignments in which students are asked to reflect upon a class investigation or reading assignment for ten minutes. The purpose of these assignments is to get at students gut reactions and to help them make connections to personal school experiences. I chose to include this particular example because it is both the first and last assignment of the semester. During the first class students are introduced to the idea of working cooperatively in TEAMs. Each TEAM is given a packet, which cannot be opened, and students’ investigate it as best they can. They are asked to come to a group consensus of what’s inside the packet and to tell how the item is representative of teaching. After coming to a consensus, TEAMs open their packets and discover a number; a blank slate on which anything can be written; or letters of different sizes, materials, textures, colors, and styles.

These items are hung on the board and students are asked to decide how the whole collection represents teaching. Students immediately begin to create words with the letters, and discover that they can create the word T-E-A-C-H and use the blank slate to add endings such as -es, -er, and -ing. This leads to a discussion of part-part-whole (an important mathematics concept taught in E343) and how a “whole” word has more meaning than individual letters. I try to guide students toward an understanding that teaching is not about knowing all the teacher “tricks;” rather it is a matter of organizing activities, the physical and social environment, instructional strategies, etc. in order to maximize outcomes—learning. This is a theme we revisit often during the semester. The class ends with a story entitled the “Tale of the Teaching Elephant,” my version of the blind men and the elephant (in this case, the blindfolded students and the teaching elephant). Go to: assignment.

As homework, students are asked to write a ten minute paper explaining which part of the teaching elephant they are holding, and how this represents an important aspect of teaching. This assignment is designed to create cognitive dissidence because of its unique nature. It also sets the stage for the experiential-based learning activities that are central to the development of a deeper understanding of teaching, and that are used throughout the semester. This assignment is also representative of the multiple functions I try to embed in everything I do. It allows me to “see” my students’ levels of writing proficiency, their ability to think outside the box, and their willingness to take risks, while also validating and connecting them to their own P-12+ learning experiences. And I use this assignment, not only as a pre-assessment tool, but also for summative evaluation on the last day of class when students revisit their responses and write “the rest of the story.” Go to: assignment.

Midterm Exam. I think of the Midterm Exam as an educative experience that does double duty as an assessment tool. It is unique in that students “customize” their own exam by selecting from a variety of options including taking the exam individually, in pairs, or in TEAMs. The exam questions require students to synthesize what they have read in the context of a real classroom, once again connecting theory to practice (see student work sample). As part of the exam, students watch a video which tells the true story of a 4th grade teacher who decides to use a “Project Approach” to integrate across the curriculum. I edited the video so that it focuses on the science and mathematics activities, while retaining the “flavor” of Mr. Levy’s classroom.

The Midterm Exam is another example of how I try to incorporate multiple functions into everything I do. Not only is it an educative experience, the design of the exam allows me to analyze students’ strengths and weaknesses, learning gains, and teaching misconception (formative assessment ) at mid-semester; and also provides me with information about the effectiveness of the curriculum I am using (evaluative assessment*). In addition, the Midterm is designed to enhance and promote students’ learning by allowing them to experience another aspect of science teaching (educative assessment*)––project based learning. Go to: Midterm Exam.

*Hodson, D. (1992) “Assessment of Practical Work.” Science and Education. 1(2): 115-144.

M201 Mini-Unit Project. The third sample is that of a major project, the M201 Mini-Unit. I’ve also included the evaluation rubric and a student work sample. Preliminary work on this assignment begins the second week of the semester when I introduce the “TOG” unit planning process. The TOG Model is both a mnemonic (TOG’s CD to the Rural Transit Authority) and a song I created to provide students with a unit planning tool. The words to the song outline a planning process, and is sung to the tune Frère Jacques: Pick your Topic, then Organize your thou-ghts, Gather info too, Cre-ate a plan. De-si-gn yo-ur lessons, Re-vi-ew yo-ur plan, Revise, Teach, Assess. Revise, Teach, Assess. The key words serve as scaffolds to other unit planning ideas. Go to: Mini-Unit Assignment.

Students work in TEAMs to apply the TOG strategies as part of a Pond Unit Planning simulation. Simultaneously, I introduced science activities that could be included in a Pond Unit by using examples from my own K-6 classroom––an outdoor study area, burying food items to see if they decomposes, a weather project using homemade instruments, etc. During the “organizing thoughts” phase, students learn about big ideas, objectives, process skills, and misconceptions. In the “gathering information” phase, students learn how to pre-assess K-6 graders’ knowledge, and the importance of allowing children to participate in the planning process. When I introduce KWHLs and concept maps as pre-assessment tools, I show examples of the concept map and questions created by my sixth graders when they planned a yearlong investigation around a trip to Mars.

During the “create a plan” phase, students dissect a sample unit to see how the pieces fit together, while also looking at lesson plans to identify key components. What seems like an impossible task on the first day of the simulation slowly takes form and becomes a useful tool. By the time the “draft” Pond Unit is handed-in, students are ready to begin work on the real thing. The M201 Mini-Unit assignment is the culminating activity for the semester, and provides students with the opportunity to apply what they learn during the simulation to a real classroom as they plan and teach a science mini-unit (four 45-minute lesson) to K-6 students.