The Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute

2014 Annual Brochure

Talks: from 4:15 to 6:15 p.m. on Tuesdays, March 11, 18, 25, and April 8, 22 and 29. Yale faculty members present informal talks on topics drawn from current or potential Institute seminars. The talks are intended to stimulate thinking and discussion and to point up interdisciplinary relationships in scholarship and teaching.

Seminars: a two-hour meeting on March 4 and April 1 and meetings weekly from 4:15 to 6:15 p.m. on Tuesdays between May 6 and July 15. The seminars have the related and equally important purposes of increasing Fellows' background in, and developing new curricular materials on, the seminar subjects. The First Meeting in early March decides questions of each seminar's conduct and schedule and acquaints seminar members with the projects they will pursue individually. Bibliographies prepared by seminar leaders are distributed. The Second Meeting in early April includes a discussion of the final unit topics Fellows have chosen. The seminar decides on common readings to be discussed at subsequent meetings. At Weekly Meetings held between May 6 and July 15 Fellows study the general subject of the seminar and consider work-in-progress on the individual curriculum units by discussing common readings, including each Fellow's own writing. They also explore teaching strategies and classroom activities.

Reading Period: March 4 to July 1. Fellows read extensively on the seminar subject and intensively on the topic of the unit being developed. Fellows are expected to begin unit research early in this period, and to complete readings in preparation for each seminar meeting. Readings are drawn from annotated bibliographies prepared by Institute seminar leaders and from the Fellows' own research as they refine their topics.

Curriculum Unit Writing: April 1 to July 28. Each curriculum unit is a minimum of fifteen, single-spaced pages in length and contains five elements: a) content objectives — a clear statement of the subject matter the unit seeks to cover, b) teaching strategies — a unified, coherent teaching plan for those objectives, c) classroom activities — three or more detailed examples of actual teaching methods or lesson plans, d) resources — three annotated lists: a bibliography for teachers, a reading list for students, and a list of materials for classroom use, and e) an appendix of no more than one page on the school district academic standards the unit implements. The discussion of objectives and strategies consists of paragraphs of sustained narrative, exposition, or argument, and constitutes at least two thirds of the completed unit.

The stages in the writing process are as follows.

Unit Topic, Prospectus, Reading List: due April 1. Each Fellow, in consultation with the seminar leader and other seminar members, refines his or her topic and chooses basic readings for research. An essay of two-to-four pages describes what the Fellow intends the final unit to contain. This provides each seminar member with an overview of his or her colleagues' work.

First Draft: due May 27. The first draft consists of a longer essay on the unit's content objectives and teaching strategies and is distributed and discussed in seminar. The seminar leader provides written comments on this draft by June 3.

Second Draft: due July 1. This draft includes a rewriting of the content objectives and teaching strategies of the unit and a first writing of the unit's other elements. The draft is returned with comments by July 8.

Completed Unit: due July 28. Fellows follow Institute instructions for formatting and use of any illustration or copyrighted material. A written evaluation of the Institute program is due by August 11. Honoraria checks are mailed after all required submissions have been reviewed and accepted, but not before August 25.

Discussion on Curriculum Unit Development: from 4:15 to 6:15 p.m. on March 11. The workshop presents Institute unit guidelines to first-time participants, and experienced Fellows explain how they have approached writing a curriculum unit.

Individual Fellow-Faculty Meetings: Fellows are expected to meet individually with their seminar leader at least twice, initially while deciding on a final unit topic and reading list, and again while writing the unit, usually after the first draft is returned with the seminar leader's comments. Fellows are encouraged to discuss the development and teaching of their units with other Fellows and their seminar leader throughout the seminar period and beyond.