March 9: Final Face-to-Face Class Meeting

Phew, if I am exhausted, I can only image how you all feel ;-)  Between TPAs, coursework, observations, and classes where some struggle to find meaning, your heads must be spinning. . .Alas, our course is almost over!  I really believe you will all have fun tonight in Coronado.  You will get a chance to see someone who has a lot of experience doing the type of reform that we have discussed in class.

The final "assignment" will be on the drop.io site as well as put in visually below.  In order to use Embedit.in, all you need is a Google account, which you all have; to use Scribd, you will need to create an account or use Facebook to get an account.

I have posted a link to the class GradeBook on our blog.  I am using CSUSM ID numbers instead of names.
I will create Project Surveys for the Class Management/Discipline Project, Blog/Reading Reflection, and Class Attendance/Participation (attendance, blog post comments,  & Twitter use).  This allows me to not only get your take on the experience, but to give assignment feedback as well.  I honestly appreciate the feedback I have already received under the Rethinking Schools & Ethnography Surveys!!

I expect everything to be completed by next Tuesday @ midnight. . .see the instructions for the final. . .papers are due on your blogs Fri; peer comments/All surveys due Tuesday.





Final Question: What is the one thing that you learned in this class that you will take with you?

Directions to Palm Academy

Here are the directions to Palm Academy
My expectation is that we will begin promptly @ 6pm so we can leave around 8-ish
call my cell: 619-944-7599 if there are any issues

Agenda:

• Tour of Palm & Discussion of History, Community Partnerships, & Service Learning
• Classroom Management/Discipline Discussion & Assignment
• Final Exam/Reflection Instructions/Discussion
• Course Evaluations

View Larger Map

Some Housekeeping. . .

What should be completed by class time Tuesday:

1. Rethinking High Schools Project Survey (If you complete by 8am Tuesday morning I will give you your grade in class)
2. Classroom Management/Discipline Survey & assignment (as of Mon afternoon, we only have 12; with 2 per student, I should have more than 40)
1. Bring Teaching in Secondary Schools text to class Tuesday
2. Either print survey data or bring laptop to be able to access the data!
3. Read assignment instructions ; start to consider Your Classroom Expectations!
4. Natural versus Logical Consequences . .good simple explanation.
1. Natural Vs. Logical . . .more academic.
3. Ethnographies should be added on CSUSM Educators
1. Notes on Executive Summary (from last week's post): Written Executive Report that outlines the design of your study, major findings, and reflections on the process (shared with me via GoogleDocs or on class Ning)
2. Title of your group should be school name and then my name, Heil
3. Movies are embedded into the text box
4. You can also paste your "executive summary" underneath the embed code of your movie OR you can embed a link to the summary on Google Docs (click "share" get link for this document.  Choose permissions, then use the link feature in the ning text editor to add the link!) 
5. Please complete the Ethnography Project Survey linked at the top of the blog!
4. Reading Reflections and Tweets should be up-to-date.  Reading Reflections:
1. Ch 1 Rethinking HS (Week One RR post)
2. Ch 1 Disrupting Class (Feb 9 post)
3. "What Makes School Ethnographies Ethnographic?" (Feb 9 post)
4. Designing Groupwork (RR4 post)
5. Rethinking Schools (March 2 post)
6. Final Exam (instructions to follow)
5.  Classroom Attendance/Participation:  I am still having trouble getting everyone to leave comments on the weekly question. . .this collaborative piece is a part of your attendance/participation.   
1. Also, if you missed/were excessively tardy a class and want to make up the points you lost: you may complete two more articles from the assignment in Reading Reflection 5. . .Ensure that you put the words "extra credit" after the blog post title.
6. Final Exam - I will go over in class (something will be posted tomorrow)
7. Directions to Coronado. . .I will post later tonight.

Leave a comment to let me know you have read and understand what is expected by tomorrow evening!

March 2: Flight at the End of the Tunnel?

I really enjoyed class last week.  Thanks for making it fun.
Tonight is the penultimate class and I hope that we can produce some awesome ethnographies by the end of the class period.  As usual, there is some small glitch in our schedule for next week (click here and press play).  I received emails from both Blake and Byron notifying me of the credentialing meeting next week from 4:30-5:30.  I have emailed to see if they can come to our class this evening, but I haven't heard back yet.  I hope to have a plan by the time class starts this evening. . .or we will have to "Improvise and Overcome!"
Anyway, I noticed that a few of you have already posted some responses to the classroom management/discipline survey.  I have put a link to the results page on the blog.  Ensure you can get in a couple of observations by the end of the week.
I have also been looking at your blogs.  Most of you are caught up with the reading reflections; however, there are still a few who need to complete some more.

Tonight we will watch some of the video we didn't make it to last week, and then we will work on the ethnographies.  We will also discuss our plans for next week and beyond.  You should re-familiarize yourself with the chapter on classroom management from the Teaching in Secondary Schools text (ch 9)

Reading Reflection 5:  I didn't give you the assignment last week as I knew everyone was probably working on their ethnographies.   For this reflection, I want to to choose an article from this Rethinking School link (it is also tagged ed530 on my delicious page).  There are some interesting articles revolving around educational issues that you might now find pertinent.
For the reflection:  Put the article name in the Title (Example:  RR5: Creating Democratic Schools). Tell which article you chose and why.  Give a brief analysis of the article and explain how you could use this information in your present or your future!  Also, read at least three other peers' reflections and leave them a thoughtful comment.

This week's Question: Discuss one thing that has stood out to you in the classes you have been observing. . .this could be about the teacher, students, or the class in general.