Required Text: All texts will be provided on Canvas. 

This is a 3-unit UC/CSU transferable course.

Course Description: This course will provide an opportunity for students to explore the teaching profession as a career. Students will leave the course with an overview of TK-12 teaching from multicultural perspectives including the history of US public education, inequities in the field, actions to address inequities, current trends in the field, philosophies of teaching, and teaching strategies.

We will begin by learning the history of the formal education system, teacher training and teacher roles in the United States. We will discuss current issues in education including teaching job opportunities/challenges, the testing/standards movement, school funding and the politics of persistent inequities and child-advocacy/activism within the school system. Teacher quality and assessment will be explored within this context. In addition, we will explore the developmental needs of school-aged children, learning styles and the role of schools in supporting child growth and development.

Finally, students will learn about California state requirements for teaching, educational preparation and steps to securing a teaching position in an elementary, middle or high school setting. 

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, a student will be able to:

1. Describe the historical development of public education and the teaching profession in the U.S., especially in light of diverse perspectives.
2. Describe challenges and potential solutions to addressing inequities in urban education today.
3. Evaluate and define various methods and strategies for teaching in developmentally appropriate ways.
4. Articulate a personal philosophy of education with reference to major historical and contemporary learning theories and philosophies of education.

City College of San Francisco occupies the unceded ancestral, traditional and contemporary lands of the Ramaytush Ohlone peoples. In this land acknowledgement, we affirm Indigenous sovereignty, history and experiences. Our system of education in the United States has actively participated in the colonization and domination of indigenous peoples. It is up to each of us to consider our role in ongoing struggles for sovereignty as people benefiting from the land stewarded by the Ohlone. If you would like to learn more: Solidarity Resources

You Belong Here! As your instructor, I will work hard to support you and foster belonging, connection, and inclusion in this course. This means interrogating my biases, listening to student feedback, and making adjustments to instruction based on your feedback. Please let me know when you come across barriers to learning in the course. I will work hard to ensure you have the support you need to be successful! 

I honor the commitment CCSF has made to the rights of undocumented students to an education and to live free from the fear of deportation. I will actively resist any attempts to ascertain the immigration status of members of our classroom community. 

Confidentiality: I will often ask for you to share your story and experience with me in assignments--at times with classmates in discussions or presentations. Your experiences will never be shared with others without your permission. I honor your right to confidentiality in the course--anything shared in a small group forum will be accessible only to your small group and only for the duration of the course. If you have any concerns about this, please let me know. 

Instructor Contact

Jerica Coffey, Ed.M.

• • Email: CANVAS Inbox
  • Standing Office Hours: Wednesday evenings from 6-6:30 pm (open to all) or to meet 1-1 please make an appointment with me via my Canvas Inbox.
  • I will respond to all course emails within 24-48 hours Monday-Friday. Once the course begins, please communicate with me through the Canvas "Inbox". 

How Will We Communicate?

An interactive and personal learning environment is important to me so I plan to communicate with you in a variety of ways.

I want to make sure you feel supported as a unique individual and learner. I care about supporting your learning.  Below you will find a description of the ways I'll connect with you throughout the summer session:

💬Discussion Forums

Discussion forums are the heart of the course. Consider them your "playground" of ideas. This is where you will explore your thoughts, feelings and reactions to what you are learning and where you will learn from others. I monitor the forums throughout the week and will moderate when needed. Your ideas are never evaluated--in the forums, I am evaluating the level of engagement you have with the content for the week. 

☑️Grading & Feedback

Not only will you find your grades and rubric scores in our gradebook, I also use the comments feature to ask questions and spark further conversations about your ideas and contributions. I do my best to grade assignments and offer feedback within 5-7 days after the due date.

• How do I view grades and instructor comments? (Links to an external site.)
• How do I view annotation feedback in an assignment? (Links to an external site.)

Each week opens with an announcement at the top of the home page. Begin your work in the course on Mondays with the announcement. Here, I will share the module focus, a proposed schedule and due dates. When I come across information I think will be valuable for you, I'll post it as an announcement. Some of these posts relate to TK-12 education specifically, but some will feature useful resources that will help you as a student or as a human being.

If we need to make any changes to our schedule, I'll also post these in the announcements area.

Canvas notifies students according to their preferred Notification Preferences (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. as soon as the I create an Announcement. 

💬 Weekly Office Hours

I will be using Zoom for office hours. I will make time to meet with you Monday-Friday–simply message me a few times that work, and I will confirm and send you a meeting link.  I would love to hear from you!

📩Canvas Mail

If I need to get a hold of you this semester, I will contact you through Canvas mail.  You can access this feature by clicking "Inbox"  in the left-hand global navigation bar.

I respond to messages in Canvas within 24-48 hours, Monday through Friday. For messages sent over the weekend, expect a response the following Monday. 

🫶🏽Building Community

The heart of this class is engagement with your peers through the discussion forums, peer reviews, presentations and instructor presence.  Each week you and your classmates will analyze and discuss the issues that come up in the material that week. We learn from each other, from our varied experiences, and from our different perspectives. Please be sure to prioritize engagement with your classmates. These assignments must happen within the window of time offered so that we all get the most out of learning from each other. 

Canvas

Students will use the Canvas Learning Management system for assignment instructions, submitting assignments, viewing classmates' work, sharing resources, and viewing grades.  I can help with the course material and with some Canvas issues. But, if you need help uploading an assignment or with the mechanics of Canvas, Canvas help is the number to call.

For 24/7 help with Canvas call: 1-844-592-2198.

Required Software

• Adobe Reader (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
• Update your browser (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Important Dates

• The course begins June 10, 2023 and runs through July 19, 2024.
• June 19th, Juneteenth holiday
• August 9th, Final Grades are Available on myRAM Portal.

Attendance

This is an asynchronous, fully online course–as such, there are no class meetings. As long as you meet deadlines for assignments, you can learn when and where it is convenient for you. 

In an online class, attendance = participation.  Simply logging in to the course does not count as attendance or participation. If you have not completed/submitted any work for more than one week, and have not communicated in advance with me, you will be dropped from the course.

Late Policy

Good time management skills are especially important in an online course. Expect to spend as much or even more time than a traditional course, yet enjoy the flexibility, convenience, and connection that online learning brings. Consider blocking out a regular time in your schedule each day for this course. This class will take approximately 10-16 hours per week minimum.

There are three standard due dates during the week.

• Initial assignments such as reading the material and initial discussion-forum posts are due as early as possible in the week, no later than Wednesdays or Thursdays, 11:59 pm.
• Secondary assignments (i.e., forum replies) and written assignments, study guides, and quizzes are due at the close of the week before 11:59 pm on Sunday.

To best help you complete the course successfully, I ask that you strive to meet deadlines, especially on interactive elements of the course. 

If you need to turn something in late, message me as soon as you can. You can turn in a MAXIMUM of two assignments late without impacting your grade as long as you’ve communicated with me in advance.

The only exception to the above policy is the discussion  forums. They will close at the end of the week and will not be open for you to complete late. The forums are 25% of your grade so it is important to prioritize meeting the deadlines that apply each week. 

A late penalty of 10% will be applied to your grade when you submit a late assignment. If you are starting to get behind in the work, please contact me as soon as possible so I can help you stay on course.

If you recognize a due date might be a problem, advocate for your success by following these steps:

1. Identify the problem
2. Contact me to propose a solution

Life happens…good communication is key to working out reasonable solutions or accommodations.

Methods of Evaluation

Your grade will be broken down as follows:

Module Quizzes  25 %

Module Assignments 25 %

Discussion Posts 25 %

Final Paper/Philosophy of Education  25%

Quizzes 

There will be online quizzes throughout the course. You can take each quiz twice and your highest score will be recorded. 

 If, after attempting a quiz twice, you are dissatisfied with your grade, please message me--I will help you find another way to demonstrate your understanding!

Grading Response Time and Feedback

For auto-graded assessments, such as quizzes, you will get immediate feedback. For manually graded assessments such as discussions and module assignments, I aim to complete the grading within one week from the due date. Oftentimes, it will be sooner than that. Thank you for your patience! You will receive regular and substantive feedback, comments, and suggestions when needed in efforts to grow your understanding of course content.

As soon as a due date passes, a 0 credit grade will be posted in my gradebook. If you plan on turning in a late assignment, your grade will be updated when I get to it with the 10% late penalty.

You are welcome to RE-SUBMIT your work after making any remediations.  I'll be happy to adjust your score after one resubmission per assignment.  

It is very important that you read all the valuable feedback and suggestions for improvement that you receive throughout the course.  

Please review the Canvas Guides for how to access feedback How do I view my grades in a current course?

  How do I view my grades, teacher comments, and an assignment rubric as a student?

Grades will be assigned as follows: 

An “F” grade indicates that a student attended, participated and completed the course but failed to master the course curriculum.

An “FW” grade indicates the student stopped attending a course after the “last day to withdraw” deadline and subsequently did not submit any work or participate in any exams. Please check with your counselor and financial aid advisor for possible implications of the FW grade on residency and financial aid status.

If you need classroom or testing accommodations because of a disability, or have emergency medical information to share with me, or need special arrangements in case the building needs to be evacuated, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible. 

Students seeking disability-related accommodations are encouraged to also register with Disabled Students Programs and Services located in Room 323 of the Rosenberg Library (415) 452-5481. Please see the DSPS website (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. for more information and alternate locations.

Students who register in CCSF classes are required to abide by the CCSF Student Code of Conduct (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. Violation of the code is a basis for referral to the Student Conduct Coordinator or dismissal from class or from the College. See the Office of Student Affairs (Links to an external site.)Links to an external sit

Collaborating on or copying of tests or homework in whole or in part will be considered an act of academic dishonesty and result in a grade of 0 for that test or assignment. I encourage students to share information and ideas, but not their work.

Use of ChatGPT: I consider using ChatGPT to complete assignments a form of plagiarizing. All assignments in this course are designed to encourage you to do your own thinking. You sell yourself short when you use AI to complete assignments and typically, when students try to use ChatGPT, they get low scores because the assignments are missing the human, personal connection I am asking for.

Most importantly, you also loose out on important learning that can support you in working effectively with children and families who deserve professionals that have the knowledge and skills to serve them well. 

See these links on Plagiarism:

Encourage Academic Integrity and Prevent Plagiarism (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Citing Information Sources (Links to an external site.)

Links to an external site.

Student Expectations 

You will succeed in this course if you meet the following expectations:

• Log in regularly and often, if not daily.  Check-in early when the new module opens to review the week's assignments and assess the workload and commitments so you can plan accordingly.
• Pay close attention to your due dates at the start of each content week.
• If this is your first online learning experience, expect to invest extra time to orient yourself to the course design and tools.
• Block out time in your schedule to do the work.
• Please let me know as soon as you can concerning difficulties that you may have in getting assignments in on time. 
• Consider yourself a member of a community.
• Treat contributions made by other members of the class with respect.
• Check-in on class discussions regularly, if not daily. The contributions of each individual play a role in the collective strength and diversity of our community.
• Have patience and a sense of humor with technology.

Instructor Expectations

Here is what you can expect of me:

• I will respond to your messages in my Canvas Inbox within 24-48 hours during the week unless I inform you otherwise.
• I will treat you and your ideas with respect.
• I will grade your assignments within one week of completion.
• You will see your grades updated weekly in the Canvas Gradebook.
• I will work hard to make this a great class!