Five College Schools Partnership : Programs: Teachers as Scholars

Programs: Teachers as Scholars

What is Teachers As Scholars?
Teachers as Scholars Seminars provide teachers and administrators with the unique opportunity to become learners again, to rekindle the pleasures of scholarly pursuit, and to keep abreast of new scholarship in their fields. Based on a model of professional development pioneered by the Harvard Graduate School of Education and school districts in the Boston area, TAS offers a series of small, multiple day seminars that encourage teachers to reconnect with the world of scholarship and research.

Content-based seminars invite intellectual engagement with subject matter in an atmosphere where scholarly knowledge is shared and dialogue encouraged. The format of the seminars allows teachers the opportunity to delve deeply into content areas addressed in the Massachusetts curriculum frameworks. The focus remains on the content, rather than an immediate translation into the teaching strategies or curriculum planning. While most teachers choose to take a seminar in a subject directly related to their teaching, the program is based on the belief that all learning will translate back into the classroom.

Seminars are taught by Five College faculty who have a passion for their subject matter. The Five College Public School Partnership believes that collaborations between higher education faculty and K12 faculty improves the quality of teaching at both levels. All seminars are held at one of the five college campuses (Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, Smith, and the University of Massachusetts).

Seminar participants meet during the day when their minds are fresh, rather than after a full day devoted to the learning needs of students. Districts are asked to provide release time for teachers attending the seminars. Registration fees include texts and related curricular materials which are mailed to registered participants in advance. Participants earn 10 professional development points for a two-day seminar, and 15 for a three-day seminar.

"Teachers as Scholars (TAS) is a simple but, I think, powerful idea -immerse teachers in the world of ideas. After all, they are thinking people whose attraction to ideas played a part in their entering teaching."
Henry Bolter, Project Founder and Co-Director, Harvard Teachers as Scholars

Teachers As Scholars 2001
Five College Public School Partnership headed its second year of the Teachers As Scholars series in the Spring of 2001. Seventy-two teachers participated from thirty-two districts. Below is a list of descriptions of each of the seminars held.

Thinking about Indians through Historical Fiction and Primary Documents
Description: This seminar focused on fiction and primary documents by both Indians and white Americans. The fiction included examples of books written for early elementary, middle, and high school ages as well as for adults. The primary documents were selected both for their importance in American Indian history and for their usability in any grade. The emphasis throughout was on American Indian and white American understandings of a complex and diverse history.
Dates: February 27, March 27, 2001
Location: Amherst College
Presenters: Barry O'Connell, Professor of English at Amherst College; Rosemary Agoglia, teacher at the Common School in Amherst.

Title: World Religion: The Deepest Layers
Description: This seminar examined ancient religions. It explored the following: the hunter/gatherer societies and their practice of shamanism and ecstatic healing rites; the farmer/pastoralists with their domesticated animals and plants and practices of blood sacrifice; and ancient urban dwellers and their creation of complex technologies and social structures manifested in the priesthood, temple hierarchies, kings, and monarchial gods.
Dates: February 9, March 9, April 13, 2001
Location: Herter Hall, University of Massachusetts
Presenters: Carlin Barton, Professor of History, Umass

Title: Emily Dickinson and Sylvia Plath: Public and Private Realms Poets Inhabit with Fierce, Passionate, Singularity.
Description: This seminar examined poems of both Emily Dickinson and Sylvia Plath, some samples of their letters, and Plath's journals. The seminar considered how reputations come to be obstacles readers must overcome if they are to seek intimacy with a poet's work.
Dates: March 9, 16, 2001
Location: Amherst College
Presenters: Dara Wier, Professor of English at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Madeline Hunter, teacher in the Amherst Public Schools.

Title: Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima, and the U.S. Images of Japan
Description: This two day session examined four issues: the WW II editorial cartoons of Dr. Suess; Hollywood images of Japan, the poetry of Kurihara Sadako, Hiroshima survivor; and the experience of Americans of Japanese descent.
Dates: February 2, March 2, 2001
Location: Herter Hall, University of Massachusetts
Presenters: Richard Minear, Professor of History, UMass

Title: What is Trigonometry About?
Description: This seminar examined triangles and right triangle trigonometry, circles and circular trigonometry. Participants then tested their experiences by using trigonometry to measure heights of trees, and buildings on the Mount Holyoke campus. Each session included historical references to both the Egyptians and the Greeks. Dr. Virgina Bastable, served as seminar faculty..
Dates: March7, April 11, May 2, 2001
Location: Mount Holyoke College
Presenters: Virginia Bastable, Director of SummerMath for Teachers Program at Mount Holyoke College

Title: Blues, Reds and other Hues: The Alchemy of US Women's History
Description: This seminar focused on the spectrum of emotional and behavioral response of US women through a study of two key transformative historical periods: the American Revolution and its late eighteenth-century aftermath, and African American women's lives in antebellum south and north.
Dates: February 7, 28, 2001
Location: Amherst College
Presenters: Joyce Berkman, Professor of History, UMass

Title: Fundamental Physics: Amusing Musings
Description: This seminar allowed participants to learn how to analyze and reason using basic physics concepts and principles. Session 1 covered topics in Mechanics, and session 2 covered topics in Electricity & Magnetism. Each session was both "hands-on" and "minds-on". A classroom communication system was used to enhance the interactivity of these sessions.
Dates: April 6, 27, 2001
Location: Amherst College
Presenters: Bill Gerace, Professor of Physics, Umass; Bill Leonard, Professor of Physics, Umass

Title: Seeing is Believing: Introduction to Molecular Modeling
Description: This seminar served as an introduction to two freely available and easy to use molecular modeling programs: Rasmol, which allows one to visualize the tree dimensional structure of any molecule whose coordinates are already known, and Chime scripts. Participants were also introduced to a number of helpful websites.
Dates: March 19-20, 2001
Location: Amherst College
Presenters: Patricia O'Hara, Professor of Chemistry, Amherst College; Richard Blatchly, Professor of Chemistry, Keene State College.

Teachers As Scholars 2000

All That Perishes - All That Remains
This seminar focused on the way the ancient Egyptians, ancient Mesopotamians, and ancient Chinese organized their immediate and everyday worlds and how their solutions to the problems of human existence related to the great cosmic questions as they understood them, using ancient primary sources and ancient artifacts.
Dates: Mon, March 6, April 3, May 1, 2000
Presenters: Carlin Barton, Professor of History, Umass, Amherst

Music and History, Music and Literature, Music and Art
This seminar provided teachers with some musical examples and approaches to integrating them with more general historical topics. Topics included: The Twelfth Century Renaissance; Popular song and court music of the Renaissance; Shakespeare's Music; and The New World and the Old.
Dates: Weds., May 17, May 24, 2000
Presenters: Robert Eisenstein,

What I Didn't Do on my Summer Vacation and What Elizabeth Bishop Has to Say About That
Participants discussed and analyzed poetry focusing on the work of poet Elizabeth Bishop, including, "The Moose," "The Waiting Room," "12 O'Clock News," and "The Monument."
Dates: April 27, 2000
Presenter: Dara Wier, Professor of English, Umass, Amherst

FUN-damental Physics: Amusing Musings
This seminar allowed participants to learn how to analyze and reason using basic physics concepts and principles. Session 1 covered topics in Mechanics, and session 2 covered topics in Electricity & Magnetism. Each session was both "hands-on" and "minds-on". A classroom communication system was used to enhance the interactivity of these sessions.
Dates: Tues., March 28, Thurs., April 6, 2000
Presenters: Bill Gerace, Professor of Physics, Umass; Bill Leonard, Professor of Physics, Umass

Seeing is Believing: Introduction to Molecular Modeling
This seminar served as an introduction to two freely available and easy to use molecular modeling programs: Rasmol, which allows one to visualize the tree dimensional structure of any molecule whose coordinates are already known, and Chime scripts. Participants were also introduced to a number of helpful websites.
Dates: March 13, 14, 2000
Presenters: Patricia O'Hara, Professor of Chemistry, Amherst College; Phyllis Eisenberg, Science Teacher, Amherst Regional High School.

Critical Innovation in World Language Curriculum Development
This seminar was designed to guide language educators in creating world language curricula using socio-cultural theories, critical discourse, and pragmatics. The seminar looked at innovative ways of addressing the state curriculum frameworks.
Dates: May 23, 24, 2000
Presenters: Theresa Austin, Professor, UMass Amherst

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	Programs: Teachers as Scholars What is Teachers As Scholars? Teachers as Scholars Seminars provide teachers and administrators with the unique opportunity to become learners again, to rekindle the pleasures of scholarly pursuit, and to keep abreast of new scholarship in their fields. Based on a model of professional development pioneered by the Harvard Graduate School of Education and school districts in the Boston area, TAS offers a series of small, multiple day seminars that encourage teachers to reconnect with the world of scholarship and research. Content-based seminars invite intellectual engagement with subject matter in an atmosphere where scholarly knowledge is shared and dialogue encouraged. The format of the seminars allows teachers the opportunity to delve deeply into content areas addressed in the Massachusetts curriculum frameworks. The focus remains on the content, rather than an immediate translation into the teaching strategies or curriculum planning. While most teachers choose to take a seminar in a subject directly related to their teaching, the program is based on the belief that all learning will translate back into the classroom. Seminars are taught by Five College faculty who have a passion for their subject matter. The Five College Public School Partnership believes that collaborations between higher education faculty and K12 faculty improves the quality of teaching at both levels. All seminars are held at one of the five college campuses (Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, Smith, and the University of Massachusetts). Seminar participants meet during the day when their minds are fresh, rather than after a full day devoted to the learning needs of students. Districts are asked to provide release time for teachers attending the seminars. Registration fees include texts and related curricular materials which are mailed to registered participants in advance. Participants earn 10 professional development points for a two-day seminar, and 15 for a three-day seminar. "Teachers as Scholars (TAS) is a simple but, I think, powerful idea -immerse teachers in the world of ideas. After all, they are thinking people whose attraction to ideas played a part in their entering teaching." Henry Bolter, Project Founder and Co-Director, Harvard Teachers as Scholars Teachers As Scholars 2001 Five College Public School Partnership headed its second year of the Teachers As Scholars series in the Spring of 2001. Seventy-two teachers participated from thirty-two districts. Below is a list of descriptions of each of the seminars held. Thinking about Indians through Historical Fiction and Primary Documents Description: This seminar focused on fiction and primary documents by both Indians and white Americans. The fiction included examples of books written for early elementary, middle, and high school ages as well as for adults. The primary documents were selected both for their importance in American Indian history and for their usability in any grade. The emphasis throughout was on American Indian and white American understandings of a complex and diverse history. Dates: February 27, March 27, 2001 Location: Amherst College Presenters: Barry O'Connell, Professor of English at Amherst College; Rosemary Agoglia, teacher at the Common School in Amherst. Title: World Religion: The Deepest Layers Description: This seminar examined ancient religions. It explored the following: the hunter/gatherer societies and their practice of shamanism and ecstatic healing rites; the farmer/pastoralists with their domesticated animals and plants and practices of blood sacrifice; and ancient urban dwellers and their creation of complex technologies and social structures manifested in the priesthood, temple hierarchies, kings, and monarchial gods. Dates: February 9, March 9, April 13, 2001 Location: Herter Hall, University of Massachusetts Presenters: Carlin Barton, Professor of History, Umass Title: Emily Dickinson and Sylvia Plath: Public and Private Realms Poets Inhabit with Fierce, Passionate, Singularity. Description: This seminar examined poems of both Emily Dickinson and Sylvia Plath, some samples of their letters, and Plath's journals. The seminar considered how reputations come to be obstacles readers must overcome if they are to seek intimacy with a poet's work. Dates: March 9, 16, 2001 Location: Amherst College Presenters: Dara Wier, Professor of English at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Madeline Hunter, teacher in the Amherst Public Schools. Title: Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima, and the U.S. Images of Japan Description: This two day session examined four issues: the WW II editorial cartoons of Dr. Suess; Hollywood images of Japan, the poetry of Kurihara Sadako, Hiroshima survivor; and the experience of Americans of Japanese descent. Dates: February 2, March 2, 2001 Location: Herter Hall, University of Massachusetts Presenters: Richard Minear, Professor of History, UMass Title: What is Trigonometry About? Description: This seminar examined triangles and right triangle trigonometry, circles and circular trigonometry. Participants then tested their experiences by using trigonometry to measure heights of trees, and buildings on the Mount Holyoke campus. Each session included historical references to both the Egyptians and the Greeks. Dr. Virgina Bastable, served as seminar faculty.. Dates: March7, April 11, May 2, 2001 Location: Mount Holyoke College Presenters: Virginia Bastable, Director of SummerMath for Teachers Program at Mount Holyoke College Title: Blues, Reds and other Hues: The Alchemy of US Women's History Description: This seminar focused on the spectrum of emotional and behavioral response of US women through a study of two key transformative historical periods: the American Revolution and its late eighteenth-century aftermath, and African American women's lives in antebellum south and north. Dates: February 7, 28, 2001 Location: Amherst College Presenters: Joyce Berkman, Professor of History, UMass Title: Fundamental Physics: Amusing Musings Description: This seminar allowed participants to learn how to analyze and reason using basic physics concepts and principles. Session 1 covered topics in Mechanics, and session 2 covered topics in Electricity & Magnetism. Each session was both "hands-on" and "minds-on". A classroom communication system was used to enhance the interactivity of these sessions. Dates: April 6, 27, 2001 Location: Amherst College Presenters: Bill Gerace, Professor of Physics, Umass; Bill Leonard, Professor of Physics, Umass Title: Seeing is Believing: Introduction to Molecular Modeling Description: This seminar served as an introduction to two freely available and easy to use molecular modeling programs: Rasmol, which allows one to visualize the tree dimensional structure of any molecule whose coordinates are already known, and Chime scripts. Participants were also introduced to a number of helpful websites. Dates: March 19-20, 2001 Location: Amherst College Presenters: Patricia O'Hara, Professor of Chemistry, Amherst College; Richard Blatchly, Professor of Chemistry, Keene State College. Teachers As Scholars 2000 All That Perishes - All That Remains This seminar focused on the way the ancient Egyptians, ancient Mesopotamians, and ancient Chinese organized their immediate and everyday worlds and how their solutions to the problems of human existence related to the great cosmic questions as they understood them, using ancient primary sources and ancient artifacts. Dates: Mon, March 6, April 3, May 1, 2000 Presenters: Carlin Barton, Professor of History, Umass, Amherst Music and History, Music and Literature, Music and Art This seminar provided teachers with some musical examples and approaches to integrating them with more general historical topics. Topics included: The Twelfth Century Renaissance; Popular song and court music of the Renaissance; Shakespeare's Music; and The New World and the Old. Dates: Weds., May 17, May 24, 2000 Presenters: Robert Eisenstein, What I Didn't Do on my Summer Vacation and What Elizabeth Bishop Has to Say About That Participants discussed and analyzed poetry focusing on the work of poet Elizabeth Bishop, including, "The Moose," "The Waiting Room," "12 O'Clock News," and "The Monument." Dates: April 27, 2000 Presenter: Dara Wier, Professor of English, Umass, Amherst FUN-damental Physics: Amusing Musings This seminar allowed participants to learn how to analyze and reason using basic physics concepts and principles. Session 1 covered topics in Mechanics, and session 2 covered topics in Electricity & Magnetism. Each session was both "hands-on" and "minds-on". A classroom communication system was used to enhance the interactivity of these sessions. Dates: Tues., March 28, Thurs., April 6, 2000 Presenters: Bill Gerace, Professor of Physics, Umass; Bill Leonard, Professor of Physics, Umass Seeing is Believing: Introduction to Molecular Modeling This seminar served as an introduction to two freely available and easy to use molecular modeling programs: Rasmol, which allows one to visualize the tree dimensional structure of any molecule whose coordinates are already known, and Chime scripts. Participants were also introduced to a number of helpful websites. Dates: March 13, 14, 2000 Presenters: Patricia O'Hara, Professor of Chemistry, Amherst College; Phyllis Eisenberg, Science Teacher, Amherst Regional High School. Critical Innovation in World Language Curriculum Development This seminar was designed to guide language educators in creating world language curricula using socio-cultural theories, critical discourse, and pragmatics. The seminar looked at innovative ways of addressing the state curriculum frameworks. Dates: May 23, 24, 2000 Presenters: Theresa Austin, Professor, UMass Amherst