This course is a comprehensive and realistic look at the nature of students and how they learn; the role of teachers, the teaching process, and teaching as a career; and schools as social and political institutions in our society. Some field experience required. Three contact hours. (CBE) A.A.

Required Textbook: Becoming a Teacher, Forest W. Parkay & Beverly Hardcastle Stanford, Allyn & Bacon, Sixth Edition, 2004, 0-205-38854

The textbook has a companion website which will be used with this course at http://wps.ablongman.com/ab_parkay_becoming_6

There are objectives for each topic studied in class. Use the objectives to get a sense of what it is the textbook will cover and what you should know when you are finished studying the topic. In a very real sense, this is much like skimming the headlines of a newspaper before you delve into a particular story. The objectives provide you with a basic framework for learning and understanding. Don't limit your knowledge or interest to the objectives.

Upon completion of this course, learners will be able to:

Explore and further clarify their individual motivation for considering teaching as a profession; this will include becoming aware of the knowledge and skills required for becoming a teacher.

Reflect upon teaching as a profession and gain insights regarding the relationships between the school system and the society it serves.

Expand their knowledge of teaching and learning styles and the multiple approaches for meeting the needs of diverse learners.

Examine multiple curriculum planning concepts and apply these concepts to course assignments.

Gain a broader knowledge of the historical, philosophical, economic and political foundations of education in the U.S.

6. Improve their skills in using technology as a learning tool as well as

a teaching tool.

The Course management tool, WebCT, is used to deliver the course materials.

§ 486/66-MHz processor or higher and 56kbs minimum Internet connection. The College can provide you with Internet access (no ISP needed). You may choose to use your own ISP; however, the College’s ISP services are free to enrolled students.

§ Please use the following checklist to determine your computer readiness. You should own or have access to:

a. a computer with personal access to the Internet (e.g., computer with a modem or cable modem connection)
b. a FCCJ e-mail account
c. Web-browser software - at least Internet Explorer 4.5 or Netscape 4.7
d. Windows 98 operating system or higher (or MAC OS 9 or higher)
e. virus-checking software
f. Plug-ins including Acrobat Reader and Flash Player
g. Additional hardware including speakers and microphone

If you require specific accommodations to complete this course, notify your instructor and contact Services for Students with Disabilities at www.fccj.edu/resources/disabilities/index.html.

People learn through interactions with each other, with the instructor and with written, auditory and visual learning materials. To facilitate interactive learning among learners and between learners and faculty, a major goal of this course is to encourage the development of learning communities—i.e., help learners and faculty get to know and better understand each other. Towards this end, the faculty member will post an audio/video vignette or a brief written bio introducing himself/herself; this will be available online as a part of the first day of class.

WebCT has a web page function. You are expected to create a web page within WebCT to introduce yourself to the class during the first week. You may include a picture of yourself, or if you would like, of a movie star or famous person who may have characteristics like yours. A brief Bio may help you to find students with likes and dislikes similar to yours. This will help when working with the members of the class for the remainder of the term.

In addition, a Cyber Café (a separate discussion area) will be provided for learners to informally discuss things among themselves without intervention of the faculty member.

Each student will participate in a field experience in an approved instructional setting; maintain and submit a journal of that experience and write a reflective paper. Note: Completion of Field Experience is a State requirement. Hours in excess of 18 will be counted as extra credit for the course. To be counted as extra credit all other required course assignment must be completed. In addition to satisfactorily completing all other course assignments, Field Experience is required and must be passed in order to complete and pass this course.

Record all of your field experiences in a journal. This includes your thoughts, feelings, observations, comments, and opinions about your field experiences and the material in class. The journal must be typewritten. In addition to the written reflections about Field Experience, you will be asked to address questions specified in the Field Experience handbook. You will answer the weekly question specified in the handbook, even if you are not completing a field activity for that particular week. You will turn in your final journal in the last week of class, and the journal should have answers for the entries. Submit the journal as one document, not 13 separate documents. Journal guidelines and the journal entry questions are available under Course Information. Your professor may wish to check the entries periodically during the term.

Use the Field Experience forms found at the registration site. Read the instructions for each form carefully, obtain the necessary signatures, and return the signed forms to Professor Wisner via mail, email, or fax.

Introductory Letter - Please present this letter to the principal of the school where you are completing your Field Experience.

Letter to Cooperating Teacher – Give this letter to the teacher assigned to you. It will help them make your experience meaningful.

Time Log - Use this form to document your field experience hours. The form must be submitted by the specified due date, and requires the signature of your cooperating teacher(s). Submit the time log to Professor Wisner via mail, email, or fax. This form is a requirement for passing the course and must be submitted in order for the journal to be graded.

Student Evaluation Form - Once you complete your field experience at a site, present this form to your cooperating teacher to complete and return to Professor Wisner via mail, email or fax. Give your field cooperating teacher a stamped envelope with your professor’s address. This form must be completed for each of your field experience sites, and is a requirement for passing the course.

Site Evaluation Form – Please return the completed form to the Field Experience Facilitator by mail, email or fax at the end of your Field Experience.

The business model of today is for persons to work as teams. To prepare for such activities, the class will be divided into groups of 7 -10 during the second week of class.

A minimum of one question is scheduled for each topic area. In all formal discussions, first post an answer to the discussion question. Then read the responses of members of your team and post an answer to each response. Learners who participate in discussions are likely to experience a higher level of learning and retention of the information contained in the course. To encourage their active participation in the course, they will receive credit for their contributions to the discussions.

Online Discussion, Example:

Reflect about a teacher who made an impact on your education. What characteristics did the teacher have that made the impact? Which of the five philosophical orientations do you think he/she belonged to?

Your grade will be based upon the thoroughness, accuracy and insightfulness of your response. Guidelines for your participation in these discussions are posted in the opening forum called "Forum Guidelines". Collegial and professional discussion is expected, which means that you must always use proper grammar (no emoticons or slang) and avoid "flaming" (verbally attacking another person in a public forum).

You will be expected to provide responses to the discussion questions in correct sentence and paragraph format; they should also be checked for correct spelling and grammar. Discussion participation is required and will be graded, and you must participate in the assigned week. In other words, you cannot go back and post in previous weeks as "late" posts will not be counted toward your grade.

Upon completion of each major unit’s materials and activities you should be ready to access and take your on-line assessment. The on-line assessments are located under the Tests link in the left hand navigation of WebCT. The items for each assessment are randomly drawn from large data bases. Learners may retake the assessment as many times as they choose without penalty. However, they will not be permitted to take the assessment for the next major unit until they have successfully achieved a score of 90% on the given assessment. Assessments for each major unit will be made available only after they have achieved the 90% level on the given assessment AND the appropriate week of the term has been reached as identified in the Calendar of Activities. Learners must achieve a 90% success rate on all four assessments in order to receive the 50 points available in the grading scheme.

Each group will select a topic and grade level in order to develop a lesson plan that will be presented to the entire class. You may present the plan on a webpage, power point or a as a document on the discussion board. Each member of the group will have the opportunity to evaluate their own participation as well as the participation and contributions of the other group members. These will assist the professor in determining the grades.

The projects and the evaluation will be due the last two weeks of the course. Additional guidelines and due dates are in the Assignments

Attend at least one School Board meeting or special session of the School Board in your county and write a summary of that experience. (70 points)

Read and prepare a written review of a book on education selected from the approved book list. (70 points)

Begin a Portfolio and Personal Resource Guide. (50 points)

Interview one teacher and prepare a short report. (50 points)

Grades will be based on the total number of points earned. Although assignments will vary from week to week, grades are based on class participation, Discussion Board postings and responses, assignment completion, quizzes, field experiences, interviews, book review, portfolio, and final evaluation. Extra credit assignments may be made available from time to time.

Your final letter grade will be determined by totaling the points for all of the above activities as indicated in the chart below. (See I grade in FAQ). FN grades will be given to those students who fail due to nonattendance. Attendance in an online class is defined as weekly participation. The FN grade may be given immediately after the withdrawal deadline.

Unless otherwise indicated, assignments are due by 11:55 pm Sunday. Portions of this syllabus and schedule are subject to change. Any additions and/or deletions will be placed in the Announcement section of our web site.

1. How long will I have to wait for a response from the instructor to my e-mail?

Faculty responds to e-mails within 48 hours.

2. What is proper e-mail etiquette?

E-mail to other learners and the instructor needs to be addressed in a manner appropriate to polite interactions.

3. What will help me succeed in this course?

Strong discipline and desire to succeed. You’ll need to log-in to class often during the typical week, motivating yourself to meet the requirements for success.

Ability to work well independently. You’ll develop the support of fellow learners all taking the same coursework together, but it will be different than a typical classroom environment. If you work well independently, your chance of success is higher.

Computer savvy. If you’re not familiar with the Internet and e-mail communication, we recommend that you take a computer enrichment class prior to enrolling in this course. Faculty assumes you know how to access and send data on the Internet.

4. What are "I" grades and when are they used?

An "I" grade may be assigned at the instructor’s discretion upon request by the student to permit the student time to complete required course work which he/she was prevented from completing in a timely way due to non-academic reasons. The instructor may require the student to document the request to assist in the decision. The instructor may choose not to grant the request. The "I" grade should be considered only when the student has the potential to earn a passing grade if the missing work is made up.

The instructor shall prescribe in a written agreement with the student the remaining course work required for completion and removal of the "I" grade. A copy of this agreement will be kept on file in the office of the appropriate dean. All work must be completed within the first eight weeks of the subsequent term, unless the instructor agrees to a longer timeframe extension of time (not to exceed one year). When the work is completed, the instructor will submit a grade change form with the grade earned. If the work is not completed within the prescribed timeframe, the "I" will automatically change to an "F" grade. The student will be informed of the final grade assigned.

To be eligible for an "I" grade, the student must be passing the course at the time of the request, and must have completed at least 75 percent of the course work.

5. What is the FCCJ Code of Ethics?

Consistent with The Code of Ethics of the Education Profession in Florida, 6B-1.06, Principles of Professional conduct for the Education Profession in Florida, an obligation to the learner requires that an individual shall not harass or discriminate against any learner on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national or ethnic origin, political beliefs, marital status, handicapping condition, sexual orientation, or social and family background and shall make reasonable effort to assure that each learner is protected from harassment or discrimination.

Academic dishonesty, in any form, is expressly prohibited by the rules of the District Board of Trustees of Florida Community College at Jacksonville. Academic dishonesty incorporates the following:

a. Cheating which is defined as the giving or taking of any information or material with the intent of wrongfully aiding oneself or another in academic work considered in the determination of a course grade.

b. Plagiarism which is defined as the act of stealing or passing off as one’s own work the words, ideas, or conclusions of another as if the work submitted were the product of ones own thinking rather than an idea or product derived from another source.

c. Any other form of inappropriate behavior which may include but is not limited to: falsifying records or data; lying; unauthorized copying, tampering, abusing or otherwise unethically using a computer or other stored information; and, any other act of misconduct which may reasonably be deemed to be a part of this heading.

Any student alleged to have committed any act of academic dishonesty as defined herein, shall be entitled to due process as defined in District Board of Trustees’ Rule 6Hx7-2. 18, prior to the administration of disciplinary action, including suspension and dismissal.

7. May I repeat this course?

Learners repeat a course in an attempt to improve a grade previously earned. State Board Rule 6A-14.0301 limits such attempts to courses where a "D," "F," or "FN" grade was earned. A learner has only three total attempts in any course, including the original grade, repeat grades and withdrawals. Upon the third attempt in a course, the learner must be given an "A," "B," "C," "D" or "F".

When students repeat a course at Florida Community College, only the last grade earned is calculated in their cumulative grade point average (GPA). However, students with an excessive number of "W" or "FN" grades and students who repeat courses to improve their GPA may jeopardize their admission to programs in the Florida State University System (SUS) or other institutions.

You may email me within WebCT for class information. However, you may also email me at ewisner@fccj.ed I will respond to your email within 48 hours.

Please feel free to call 904 633 – 8412 or 904 388-2446 if you have an emergency or questions that we need to discuss.

Portions of this syllabus and schedule are subject to change. Any additions and/or deletions will be placed in the Announcement section of our web site.

Faye Wisner's Home Page, last updated 05/13/2005