For this activity you will be asked to interview several teachers (at least 3)
about their experiences working with adolescents.  There are a number of strategies
that you might take; for example, a basic e-mail interview is acceptable.
However, think creatively!  For example, it is fairly easy to set up a listserv
so your teachers can comment on the responses of one another.
If you want to get really sophisticated, try to get the teachers into a private chat room
so you can engage in more synchronous discussions. 

You are free to interview as many teachers as you would like; however, the preferred strategy would be to interview some teachers you know from high school or middle school and then try to contact some teachers in the Chicago Public School system. Via an earlier course activity, you should have a listing of all of the CPS schools. Beyond trying to contact some teachers at high schools, CPS contains traditional middle schools (e.g., 6th-8th grade) and elementary (e.g., K-8th), so both might be fruitful places to look.

After you collect your data, you will need to discuss your findings in a 6-8  page paper (grading criteria). Remember, you are to discuss how your findings relate to material in the lecture and book, this is a very important consideration. You must also append the e-mails your received from the teachers. For most papers, all you need to do is integrate the material used directly from this course (lectures; book) with the teacher data; that is, in most cases, you will not need to use outside sources. The strongest paper would be one that not only addresses the central paper requirment (integration of course material with teacher responses), but also one in which you contrast the responses of teachers you happened to have had with those of CPS teachers. Note: If you went to CPS, try contacting some teachers at schools located in other areas of Illinois (schools located at the Report Card Website):

While you are free to ask your own questions, I would encourage you to use
some of the following questions.

1. Has your job become easier or more difficult over time?  Why or why not?
2. Is it easier or more difficult to educate adolescents today?  Why or why not?
3. What are the primary factors that impede the learning of adolescents in your classes?
4. How do you cope with the vast differences in learning styles amongst students in your classes?
5. What is your opinion of the extracurricular?  Does it foster or hinder adolescent achievement?
6. What is your opinion of standardized tests?  Tracking?
7. What is your opinion of adolescent part-time work?
8. What's parent involvement like in your school? What factors tend to hurt parent involvement?
9.  Do you find that parents generally work with, or against you, when problems arise?
10. What is your opinion of No Child Left Behind?
11. What are your views regarding the use of technology (e.g., computers; Internet)
when educating adolescents?
 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):

Can I just interview teachers over the phone or in person? You can, but getting e-mail responses is easier.

I noticed there is an activity entitled "Parent Discussion Groups". Can I combine the activities, that is, can I seek out Teacher Discussion Groups and post questions instead of interviewing teachers I know? Yes, that's a very creative spin.

I noticed the teachers talk a lot about, for example, the extracurricular. I just write a term paper on that topic, right? Wrong. You need to discuss what the teachers are saying and relate it to the course material. I do not want a term paper on the extracurricular.

I'm a poor writer, does that hurt me? The quality of the writing is part of the grading criteria. There are services on campus you can pursue before you turn your paper in.

I just paste in the teachers' responses into the paper, right? No. Although it is OK to briefly refer to the comment of an individual teacher, inserting lengthy quotes from the teachers takes up too much paper space. Teacher responses should be appended (that is, attached to the end of the paper) and do not count towards page length.

Why do I need to contact teachers located in CPS? Remember, one component of the course is to understand more about the challanges that face adolescents who live in different communities or neighbordhoods. The challenges that face adolescents living in underserviced areas of the country are different than those of teens live, as an example, in suburbs.