Syllabus

Email: [email protected]

Office Hours: Thursdays 12:30-1:30 pm (by Zoom, in-person following class) If the Zoom room is not open, please send me an email and let me know you need to see me.

• Please be sure to use: [email protected] to reach me more quickly than the various CUNY emails I have.  
• I check my email a minimum of twice a day, except on Friday-Saturday. 
•  Please resend if your message requires a response and you have not received one in 48 hours.
• Before sending any message, please check that the answer is not already available somewhere on the course website or syllabus.

• I am only physically on campus for our class and I will be arriving just as class starts.  If you need to speak to me in person we can meet following class or arrange a mutual time.
• If the Zoom room is not open, please send me an email and let me know you need to see me.

Class Policies

• Your safety and wellness, physical and mental, are paramount.
• It’s okay to make mistakes, not succeed at something, try something out, etc., because that is how you learn.
• Ask questions! Questions lead to further learning and exploration.
• Participating doesn’t just mean speaking up, it’s also listening and online discussion.
• Listen and respond to each other, not just me.
• Have good intentions for your fellow students. Assume good intentions from one another.
• Give your classmates your full attention when they present, in-person or virtually. Offer productive and specific feedback. Have good intentions for your fellow students. Assume good intentions from one another.
• If someone pushes back on something you said, listen before reacting.
•  No “devil’s advocate.” The Devil is not registered for this class. 
• Despite the best efforts of the MTA, let’s try to start class on time. 
• If we are on Zoom – you should know the drill by now.
• We will discuss any additional policies as needed.

REQUIRED COURSE MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGY

Course Content:

• All required materials for this course will be available through the classroom website or in electronic form from the Brooklyn College Library. 
• You should know how to access digital materials through the college library.
• Any materials you need for individual or group projects will be up to you to procure (though I will help.) 
• You may wish to create a free archive.org account to be able to access and borrow additional materials for these projects, or to make use of a public library.

Class Website 

• Most materials on the site are publicly available Open Educational Resources
• Our class will make use of a website on the CUNY Academic Commons.  
• All of our class readings and assignments are listed and linked on this website.
• This class asks you to engage in public scholarship through comments and discussions with the course materials.
• The website is set up to have you work through materials in a particular order each class week.   Sometimes we may cover portions of a module in class.
• The CUNY Academic Commons is a WordPress-based platform available to the entire CUNY community.  It allows anyone to create their own website or become an author on another site as you will be for this class.
• You will need access to a CUNY email in order to get set up on the Commons.  After that, you can use any email you wish.
• You will create web posts with some of your presentations and assignments.
• By creating posts for your assignments you will be gaining a valuable transferable skill.
• Additional sections on the site have extra resources to help with your assignments.
• Any material that needs to be password-protected will use the password found on Blackboard or given on the first day. Do not use a personal password on your posts, please use the class password.

Additional Technology

• You will need access to some kind of device in class (phone, tablet, or laptop) for some in-class activities. Please only use these when asked to do so and not when someone is presenting.  (Class time is not for other schoolwork….)
• I may ask you to collaborate on assignments digitally in class or refer to an electronic text.
• We may make use of other free technologies throughout the semester.

At no time should access to materials or technology be a prohibiting factor from allowing full engagement in this course.  If you have a concern, please see me privately to work out a solution ahead of time.

HEALTH & SAFETY/ FLEXIBLE MODALITIES

Zoom Option

You will get the most out of this class through in-person attendance.

However, flexibility and accessibility are important.

I have planned this course to allow it to be fully accessible via in-person, online synchronous, and in some cases, asynchronous engagement.

Health and safety are a priority.

• Please do not come to class if you are sick – COVID or otherwise.  That’s why there’s a Zoom link or an asynchronous catch-up. 
• While masking is no longer a requirement, they are always welcome.
• Please follow any advised quarantine guidelines and precautions.
• If you need to be out for any health or safety reasons, please let me know.

A synchronous Zoom session will be available for any class meeting with advance request. I will try to make the experience as equitable to in-person as I can, but it is not the same experience.   Please have your camera on if you are Zooming in and be ready to fully participate.

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ATTENDANCE 

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We have a limited amount of time together over the semester. Use it wisely.

• If you are physically sick, STAY HOME, this will not count against your grade. 
• You can always join class via Zoom on any given day (a head’s up email is always appreciated.)
• If you are scheduled to present but will be joining by Zoom you can either present via Zoom or post a video by the end of the day of your presentation. 
• If you are really sick – don’t feel like you have to Zoom in. Get well.
• If this causes you to miss more than two sessions in a row, we’ll discuss an asynchronous make-up option.   
• If you email me to let me know that you’ll be absent, I appreciate it, but may not always have a moment to respond..  
• Everyone needs a mental health day now and then; you get one, no questions asked.  This does not excuse you from turning in any assignments.
• You will be allowed to make up presentations for excused absences – we will determine how. 
• Unexcused absences and excessive lateness will factor into our final grade assessment.

DISABILITY SERVICES: 

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Official BC policy: The Center for Student Disability Services (CSDS) is committed to ensuring students with disabilities enjoy an equal opportunity to participate at Brooklyn College. In order to receive disability-related academic accommodations, students must first be registered with CSDS. Students who have a documented disability or suspect they may have a disability are invited to schedule an interview by calling (718) 951-5538 or emailing [email protected] 

If you have already registered with CSDS, email [email protected]  or [email protected] to ensure accommodation emails are sent to your professor.

My Addendum:

I do my best to make my materials as accessible as possible.  I am aware that the process of seeking official accommodations is challenging and may take a prolonged time.  If you have a specific need that is not already being met, please let me know, regardless of official status. Accessible accommodation is something that we should all default to and that we will work as a class to increase.

Other Important Brooklyn College Policies

• Student Bereavement Policies – https://www.brooklyn.edu/policies/bereavement/
• Observance of Religious Holidays: information about non-attendance because of religious beliefs, noted in the frontmatter of the Undergraduate Bulletin and Graduate Bulletin. These may be found on the Bulletins page of the Registrar’s website. – https://www.brooklyn.edu/registrar/bulletins/ 

Sexual and Gender-based Harassment, Discrimination, and Title IX

Brooklyn College is committed to fostering a safe, equitable and productive learning environment. Students experiencing any form of prohibited discrimination or harassment on or off campus can find information about the reporting process, their rights, specific details about confidentiality, and reporting obligations of Brooklyn College employees on the Office of Diversity and Equity Programs website.

All reports of sexual misconduct or discrimination should be made to Michelle Vargas, Title IX Coordinator (718.951.5000, ext. 3689), and may also be made to Public Safety (719.951.5511), the New York City Police Department (911 or a local NYPD precinct), or Melissa Chan, Associate Director of Judicial Affairs, Division of Student Affairs (718.951.5352), as appropriate.The CUNY Equal Opportunity and Non-discrimination Policy includes additional information regardingreporting discrimination and/or retaliation

Course Breakdown

Read. 

It truly is the best way to learn.  You will be reading a lot.  This class will present you with a broad range of literature that has been written for young people.  We will be thinking about how and why certain stories have been presented to children and why some stories continue to be told.  Some of what has been given to children to read historically may surprise and even shock you.  We will be encountering difficult and troubling material in this course. I will try to give heads up when possible and you can always speak to me about materials.

Remember – this course is about how to engage children with books  and the single most important thing is that you model good reading habits.  

Research. Write. Edit.

Reading and Presentations are the basis of this course, but the ability to communicate ideas in writing is a vital skill that needs continuous practice to build and maintain. Academic writing is a way for you to respond to the views around you and synthesize them with your thoughts creating new knowledge that can be shared.  This process is one of the most challenging things that we can do as human beings. It involves constant decision-making.  Good academic writing requires you to hold multiple pieces of information in your brain, think about what they mean,  and anticipate a potential reader (even if it is just yourself!) to whom you have to explain the connections that underlie your thinking.  Even though writing may seem like a solitary process, it never really is.  The best writing is collaborative somewhere in the process and goes through edits.   Expect throughout the semester to share your writing not only with me but also with your peers. 

• Throughout the course material, you will see different questions and prompts in the course materials that you will respond to in short ways either online or prompted to in class.  This is public writing for you to engage with your classmates.  Give care and consideration to these prompts.
• You will be doing one research project resulting in an annotated bibliography. We will discuss this more.  It is the main written component of this class.  It will include a minimum of 8 sources.
• There will be a final 2-page self-reflection for the course. 
• Please be sure to edit your work. You will be partnered for each assignment for peer editing in class, and a draft is due one week before the final due date so that you and your partner can work together. 
• Full directions will be included on the class site for all assignments. 

Engage. 

This class aims to improve your presentation skills and your facility by speaking about and using literature. This will necessitate active participation and listening to your peers.  

This course is also about tapping into your creative energies.

Participate.   

• There will be discussions as a class and as smaller groups.  
• There will also be activities that we do collectively in class, or at home as part of the course materials that work on utilizing the voice and body.  You may feel silly about this at times.  Embrace it!

Performances/Presentations

Performances are the basis of this course. These are where you will put into action the presentation skills that this course is meant to focus on.

• There will be five total presentations of approximately five minutes each. Most of these will be with material of your choice; one presentation will be an assigned book related to a class topic.
• REHEARSE. It helps.
• You will deliver these in a combination of in-person and video formats
• Presentations should all be between 3-6 minutes in total length. Don’t hog the mic…
• The goal of the performance assignments is to work on performance and presentation skills and introduce the class to a range of different materials. 
• Try things out! Experiment! Be creative! Don’t be afraid not to have something work out just right. The performances are meant to be learning experiences, not perfection. 
• Performances will almost always include an introductory context where you offer us an oral analysis of the material you are presenting.
• Please pay close attention to the directions for each assignment. 
• You may be asked to submit your performance choices ahead of time. This will help me guide you and warn you if something may not work for the assignment parameters. 
• Everyone starts from a different comfort level in creating these performances. Please be respectful to one another. 
• Video presentations do not have to be elaborate, we are looking at your presentation skills, not your house.
  • They can be recorded on your phone, by you, by someone else, etc.
  • The focus is on developing your skill as a storyteller and reader, not on additional effects or video production.  
  • Don’t feel like you have to take multiple takes or do any editing.
• YOU are the focus, not a book’s text or its images.  But do feel free to interact with the images as you might if you were reading to a class.
  

Listen/Give and Recieve FeedbackC

• I will give feedback in-class or digitally on your performances.  Listen and consider how you might apply it to your own performances.  
• I might ask you to try something again with something specific in mind. Do your best and give it a try. 
• Before I give feedback, I will ask you to give feedback and constructive criticism to each other.
  • Do you tend to do something that they are doing? How do you overcome it? Do you have a question for the presenter (or me) about how to do something that you see and like? What might help the presenter go further the next time? 
  • Do you have a question or comment about the material that they are presenting? Ask!
  • Try to be specific and limit criticism to one point or idea, but ask as many questions and give as many compliments as you wish!