simManual

How to Use the Handbook

The SimMentoring project seeks to help novice teachers more rapidly develop maturity and expertise in adaptingteaching to the diverse needs o all learners and increase retention rates o new teachers through development anduse o simSchool – a web-based dynamic simulation o a classroom – together with new orms o pre-service teachermentoring. The project stems rom a partnership between the teacher education program at University o NorthTexas and CurveShit, Inc, a private sector educational solutions company that developed simSchool.This handbook has been designed to provide an individual or group with support or learning simSchool and pro-vides lessons or running simulations in order to gain practice in planning and adapting instruction. There are a totalo 15 lessons that start with the basics and then increase in complexity. As you and your preservice teachers experi-ment with lessons you will nd ways to modiy and improve these lessons.It is not necessary to complete all 15 lessons in order to benet rom simSchool. An individual will want to workthrough a dierent list o lessons depending on the end goal.In order to begin using simSchool it is suggested that Lessons 1, 2, and 3 be completed rst. Then you should pickand choose the lessons that t the objectives or your classroom. Lesson 4 was originally a slide deck and providesthe theoretical basis behind the creation o simSchool. This can be used beore completing any lessons but it seemsto work best i introduced ater the rst three lessons.Lessons 5-7 deal with a ve student classroom and work with planning an appropriate set o activities or a given timeperiod. These lessons are good or lesson planning practice and dierentiation issues.Lessons 8-10 deal with creating students in simSchool based on actual students seen in classrooms and then teachingthe created students. These lessons are good or practice in identiying characteristics in individuals that can aectlearning in the classroom and how to account or these characteristics in teaching.Lessons 11-12 deal with creating tasks to then use to teach any o the simSchool students whether provided in theprogram or added by the participants. These lessons provide practice in thinking about the strengths and weakness-es o tasks as well as the sequencing and scaolding needs o tasks and students.Lessons 13-15 deal with the eighteen student classroom. These are the most advanced lessons and therecommendation is to attempt these only ater a signicant amount o practice has been completed withthe other lessons.

The authors would like to express their thanks and gratitude to Dr.Carol Wickstrom and her language arts methods students at theUniversity o North Texas. Their willingness to use simSchool andprovide eedback were instrumental in the lessons and learningaids in this handbook.We also extend our thanks to Dr. Kelley King and her secondarypreservice teacher education students. Their participation andeedback provided the impetus or renements to several o thelessons and learning aids.We grateully acknowledge the valuable artistic contributionsby Rebekah McPherson o the video tutorials reerenced in thismanual. Her numerous discussions with the authors and the projectdirectors helped ormalize instructional processes as well as in-tended outcomes rom simulation activities.A nal acknowledgement is due to FIPSE. This guide was undedin part by the U.S. Department o Education Fund or the Improve-ment o Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) Grant #P116B060398.Principal Investigators: Rhonda Christensen, Gerald Knezek, LesliePatterson.

Acknowledgements

Table o Contents

The simSchool InteraceOutline o suggested lessonsWhat is simSchool?How simSchool WorksLesson 1: Introducing the program- How do I register?Lesson 1: Introducing the program- Running a simulationLesson 2: Learning the program basics- Tasks

Lesson 3: Learning the program basics- Comments

Lesson 4: Presenting the theories behind simSchoolLesson 5: Introducing the ve-student classroomLesson 6: Designing a lesson planLesson 7: Improving a lesson planLesson 8: Creating a student- IntroductionLesson 9: Creating a studentLesson 10: Running a class o ve created studentsLesson 11: Creating a task- IntroductionLesson 12: Creating a taskLesson 13: Introducing the eighteen-student classroomLesson 14: Using created tasks in the eighteen-student classroomLesson 15: Adding up to 5 created students and tasks in the eighteen-student classroomAppendix