German Outreach Program
Introduction to Teaching in the Schools
[course number and department name semester and year]
This conference course is designed to offer undergraduate students of German
1. an introduction to the principles of foreign language instruction,
2. the opportunity to teach some beginning German to elementary or middle school students, and
3. the chance to evaluate their own teaching, the school experience, and/or the curriculum in a final written project.
Group meetings (unless otherwise announced) will take place one and a half hours each week.
At these meetings (which will be conducted in German and in English), we will
* discuss readings on foreign language acquisition and pedagogy,
* become familiar with existing outreach curriculum and lesson plans, and
* practice some games, songs, and other activities that are suited to the elementary classroom.
When there has been a reading assignment, each student should bring along a half-page reaction in German to the day’s reading, which will be collected. In these reactions you should comment on/summarize the readings and reflect on how you might apply these ideas in the classroom.
School visits will begin in September or early October and each student will attend 1-3 classes (depending on credit hours) for the entire 8-lesson unit. You will observe a class period before you begin teaching yourself, in order to get to know the students and teacher. Once you are teaching, the classroom teachers will be in the rooms during the German lessons at all times. Since the school teachers and students are very excited about these lessons and they are planning on your visit, it is crucial that you are on time and well prepared for each lesson. Later in the semester you will be observed once by the instructor(s). If, in case of emergency, you cannot make a lesson, YOU MUST FIND A QUALIFIED SUBSTITUTE and notify the instructor(s) IN ADVANCE.
We want this to be a great experience for you, so please contact us if you experience any difficulties while teaching.
There are two other writing assignments in this course:
1. You are expected to keep a journal, in German, of your teaching experience (typed, at least a half a page per entry). Write in it on the days you teach as soon as you have finished teaching. Turn in a copy of your journal 1 week after your last day of teaching.
2. At the end of the semester you will turn in a final project/paper (in English; required length – at least 3 pages per credit hour). All papers must be typed and double-spaced. Follow the guidelines in your copy pack on bibliography and outline. This paper should connect your teaching experiences to the theoretical ideas you have read about. Your journal should help with this. See us if you have questions about your project.
Grading:
Class participation & attendance 10%
Reactions and other homework 10%
In-school teaching 40%
Journal 10%
Project:
Bibliography 5%
Outline 5%
Final paper 20%