Welcome to

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Welcome to

• FSA 400 School in American Society

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Your Instructor

• Dr. Joseph Rayle.
• At SUNY Cortland for 13 years.
• Doctorate in Social Foundations of Education
• Office 1225 Cornish Hall
• Come by anytime
• Knock loudly

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Research Interests

• School Reform
• System Theory
• Existentialism in Education (Weve got a big
  Why? problem in education/schooling)
• Futurism and Education

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Why a Foundations Class?

• State of education
• Nobody understands the complexity.
• State of the profession
• People are lying about us.
• Biggest Idea in this course School and
  Education arent the same thing.
• How to understand the education landscape
  System Theory

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Interlude

• Look over the syllabus.
• Get in groups.
• Discuss.
• Class Discussion
• Questions?
• Concerns?
• Ideas?

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Specifications Grading

• Clear Requirements
• Student Choice
• More Realistic
• You can spend more time on ideas.

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Syllabus/This course

• I saved you a bit of money.
• My Website.
• Lets work together.
• Let me know if something doesnt work ASAP.
• Writing Intensive Course.
• Written communication is really important.

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Dr. Rayle's Writing Commandments

• Thou Shalt Not
• Try to sound like a textbook.
• Write in passive voice (Example "The students
  were found to be quite interested." Just say,
  "The students were quite interested.").
• Use apostrophes in plurals (Except when denoting
  plural possessive).
• Use rhetorical questions. (Example "Why do I
  teach? Well, let me provide several reasons....
  Just say, "I teach for the following reasons
  ").

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Nor shalt thou

• Hand in first drafts of papers. Writing is a
  process. It is rare indeed for someone to sit
  down and crank out a finished product in one go.
  Good writers re-read and edit their work multiple
  times. Please read and comment on each others
  work.

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Thou shalt also not

• Use weird-sounding words. I know we do this a
  lot in academia, but that doesn't make it a good
  idea. (Examples Educationalist, Conversated,
  Reductionistic). English can be pretty awful as
  it is. Don't make it any worse....
• Cite Wikipedia. Use it to find other sources,
  maybe, but dont give me a Wikipedia citation.
  Youre in a real college. Use real sources.

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Thou Shalt

• Read Strunk and White's Elements of Style, if you
  haven't already. They've got copies in the
  bookstoreCheck out Grammar Girl
• Read something other than schoolbooks every once
  in a while. (H.L. Mencken is one of my personal
  favorites, but naturally, your mileage may
  vary...). While youre at it, read 1984 by
  George Orwell.
• Write a little everyday!
• Ask me for help. Sooner is better than later.

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And Finally.

• Find out the difference between a descriptive and
  prescriptive dictionary, and get one that suits
  your purposes. Heres one I use
  http//m-w.com/. You also have access to the OED
  Online through the library.
• Be aware of the Colleges statement on Academic
  Integrity, Chapter 340.02 of the College
  Handbook.

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Leading Class Discussions

• Why?
• Research on student learning.
• My own experience
• Start thinking about which class youd like to
  lead.