EDC 671 Interdisc Curriculum/Team Tch

One of the best ways to improve teaching practice is to make learning exciting by creating natural links in curriculum that are meaningful for both students and teachers. These links can easily be achieved through colleague consultation, interdisciplinary learning and team teaching. Think of the endless possibilities in blending content areas like social studies, English and physical education to create a Run the River unit. Or why not link science and social studies to learn about Science and Society? Imagine the links inherent in mathematics and health85what about a unit on Bodies in Number? How would your teaching look and feel different if you often taught with your partner(s) in a double classroom? As teachers strive to make learning meaningful for students, we often discover that we teach far more than just our content area. After all, how can we teach physics without mathematics, or literature without social sciences? Increasingly, teachers are discovering the rewards of interdisciplinary curriculum and team teaching. Whether you are interested in exploring the possibilities of teaming or you just want to increase the reach of an existing team, this collaborative and collegial atmosphere is the perfect setting to create rich, rewarding and meaningful curriculum units.This course will guide practicing teachers and teaching teams through some of the critical issues of interdisciplinary curriculum and team teaching. In addition to examining various designs for blending the boundaries among context areas, systems that increase the effectiveness of teaching teams as they plan, teach and assess together will be discussed. Participants' time will primarily be spent creating curriculum and team designs they can implement in their schools now or in the form of proposals for the future. Topics for discussion will include, but are not limited to, thematic units and essential questions, active and community-based learning, exhibitions as assessments, and deciding what content areas to blend.(1 credit)