PREPARING TO TEACH

 Developing a good teaching plan with appropriate corresponding materials is a process . . .  try to build in flexibility; keep what works; discard what doesn't!

TOPIC 3:   Planning a syllabus /Selecting texts and materials / Addressing diversity & disabilities

1. Planning a syllabus

a. basic syllabus guidelines
b. the “Course Information Document”

2. Selecting texts and materials

a. how to locate, review and select texts for a class
b. do you actually need a textbook?

3. Addressing diversity & disabilities

a. UA's Disability Resource Center and S.A.L.T.

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT  (due in class Wed Feb 2nd when you'll have the opportunity to share your ideas about your evolving syllabus, including what you learned as you constructed it)

• Read Tools for Teaching Chapter 2 (The Comprehensive Course Syllabus)

• Construct a draft SYLLABUS or COURSE INFORMATION SHEET for the course you are working on (or a course in which you might teach the course module you are working on) -- Use the UA undergraduate course syllabus policy as  a guideline for required items to include.
  ( see: http://policy.web.arizona.edu/syllabus )

• Read Tools for Teaching Chapters 5-8 (Part II on Responding to a Changing Student Body)

• Familiarize yourself with

  • Katie's Teaching Logistics Webpage: http://fp.arizona.edu/kkh/teaching_logistics.htm

  • The DRC webpage:  http://drc.arizona.edu/index.html (esp. Information for Instructors)

  • The S.A.L.T. webpage:  http://www.salt.arizona.edu/

USEFUL FOLLOW-UP READING:  Planning a syllabus /Selecting texts and materials

On Syllabus Preparation:

- The UA course syllabus policy:  http://policy.web.arizona.edu/syllabus

- Tools for Teaching (old edition) on creating a syllabus: http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/syllabus.html

-Relevant sections of Iowa State's the Learning-Centered Syllabi Workshop:  http://www.celt.iastate.edu/teaching/syllabi.html

-Washington University's syllabus site:
 http://teachingcenter.wustl.edu/preparing-syllabus
 

On Textbook Selection:

- Tools for Teaching (old edition) Textbook section of page on preparing or revising a course:  http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/prepare.html

 - Science Teaching Reconsidered:  (Chapter 7 Choosing and Using Instructional Resources)
    http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=5287&page=47
     - other sections in this resource are quite useful!

- Browse “Textbook Selection for the ESL Classroom” http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/0210garinger.html  or locate and read a similarly-themed site you find on your own

- A slightly dated but interesting essay: R. Lewis (1992) Textbook Adoption: How Do Professors Select The Right One? The Scientist 6 [7] and comment: W. Farnsworth (2004) “In Teaching Science, Let The Textbook Support The Classwork, Not Vice Versa,”  The Scientist 6[11].