M201: Field Experience
and Laboratory

Spring 2003, Section 5517

(Printable Version)

Class: Tue. 8:00 to 8:50, Educ. 1204

Instructor: Sasha Barab, Ph.D., Education #2232

sbarab@indiana.edu, (812) 856-8462, http://inkido.indiana.edu/barab

 

Associate Instructor: Anna Arici, aarici@indiana.edu
Associate Instructor: Michael Thomas, micthoma@indiana.edu

“A teacher affects eternity, he can never tell where his influence stops”
(Henry Adams, 1907, great-grandson of John Adams)

The following sections are available:

Field Experience / Laboratory / Grading / Written Assignments

Field Experience

The purpose of field observation is to give real-world applications to theoretical coursework. Students will observe an Elementary classroom approximately six times during the semester. All field experiences will be at Binford Elementary or Harmony and will be coordinated through us. If you do not wish to be at one of these two schools you can contact the field placement office in ED 1000.

 

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Laboratory

Each Tuesday the lab will meet. The lab provides time to reflect upon what we see in the field. The lab also serves as a forum to reinforce our theoretical learning with concrete examples and activities. It is through the lab that we can bring together learning theory and everyday practice so that we can be effective teachers and best support our students. While in the field, lab, and class, you should view yourself not as a student, but as a teacher. I will take the role of facilitator or coach, and only coordinate the activities. You are a group of professionals who will explore what it means to teach and come to your own conclusions.

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Grading

The grading for the lab is pass/fail. Completion of the following represents the minimum necessary to pass this class:

  • Acquisition of 20 hours of field experience
  • Regular attendance in lab (only 2 absences permitted to pass)
  • A satisfactory rating from your cooperating teacher in the field
  • Completion of a professional Resume and Letter of Introduction
  • Completion of all 6 Field Experience Journal entries and 3 ILF observations
  • Active participation in lab discussion, case study readings and activities

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Written Assignments

1) Resume
To add a critical component to your portfolio, you will complete a resume as part of the lab component. This resume will be sent out to your cooperating teacher in the field with the official IU materials. This link provides a list of what should be included in your resume, http://inkido.indiana.edu/syllabi/p251/resume.html. We will also pass examples in class. The WWW is also a great resource for resume instruction and examples.


2) Letter of Introduction
This will be explained to you by your supervisor from the field placement office and an example letter will be provided. This is a very important letter that will represent both you and Indiana University as you enter out into the field placement. The letter will be sent directly to your cooperating teacher in the field as a means of introducing yourself before you arrive and setting down some expectations and offering your assistance.

3) Field Experience Journal
You will be keeping a journal of your experiences in the classroom. This is the vital piece that ties the class, lab, and field experiences together. While in the field, you will witness some fascinating events. The journal will help you be more reflective about why you are learning in class and how that relates to what you are seeing in the classroom. Write about something positive that you would like to emulate, or something you saw as negative that you would handle differently (explain how). Most importantly, always write about something you observe that is specifically related to our classroom discussions or theory. Reflect on how what you are learning in ed psych has helped you recognize issues that otherwise you might have missed or not understood. You will complete 6 handwritten journal entries while you are in the field. (Each entry should be at least one handwritten page, single spaced).

4) ILF Observation Activities
The ILF (Inquiry Learning Forum) is an innovative web environment that provides a forum for pre-service and professional teachers to gather, discuss, and inquire into their own development as educators (http://ilf.crlt.indiana.edu). The ILF provides an opportunity to access videos, lesson plans, reflections, and examples of student work for the purposes of observation. It is similar to your field experience, but available 24/7 via WWW. This will allow all of us to observe the same teacher and classroom, inquiry, and have discussions about specific concepts, talk online, etc. We will explain more about the ILF when we give the demo in Lab!

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Last updated January 1, 2003

URL: http://inkido.indiana.edu/P251
Address questions and comments to Sasha Barab