C&I 241:
Assignment--Scavenger Hunt

This week, you begin your internship semester of practice teaching. This semester is to be a culminating apprenticeship:

• when you synthesize all of the coursework that has seemed previously disconnected;
• when you develop your own classroom personality and presence;
• when you bring your love of mathematics and your love of students together.

Aren't I the idealist? Yet, it is true; you are capable to make strides in each of the above categories. I am certain that you are both excited and somewhat nervous about this upcoming semester's events. This assignment will remind us of one of the keys to success in teaching.

We often neglect to introduce you to one of the most important aspects of teaching--

• beyond your foundational coursework;
• beyond your methods of teaching coursework;
• and beyond your preservice field experience.

That aspect is an intimate understanding of the community in which you live and teach. As practice teachers, you may not even live in the community where you will be teaching. To know as much as possible about the community in which you teach and about its people & its culture will provide you with another window through which you understand the teaching experience.

So, I have designed a scavenger hunt to help familiarize you with the community where you will be practice teaching in your first assignment. I hope that you will take the initiative and do something similar for the second assignment. More importantly, I strongly encourage you to conduct a more extensive and fun study of the community when you receive your first job !!!

1. Describe the school, its physical facilities, and the surrounding area.
   Draw a rough map of the school and the surrounding neighborhood.
   
2. Describe the population of the school--its students, the faculty, administrators,
   and support staff. Take a photograph of someone in each category.
   
3. Take a tour of the major neighborhoods served by the school. Write a brief description
   of your impressions.
   
4. Visit the following places in the town in which your school is located and bring back
   an artifact that proves you were there:
   
5. Interview someone in the community. Ask them to describe the community, the school, and the students. Ask them about the tradition of the school. What makes their community unique?
   Get to know the community through their eyes. Take a photograph and write up a short summary of the interview.
   
6. Compile the above information and artifacts on a poster weight board and prepare it for
   presentation in class. Include your name, the school name, and the community of the placement.

This assignment is due on Wednesday, January 27, at our first 6 PM class meeting. I will ask each of you to describe one thing that you discovered on your scavenger hunt that you find to be interesting or unique and that is helpful in your understanding of the community, its students, and your role as a teacher there.