EDUCATION 439G: Methods in Teaching English Spring 2013 Wednesdays 5:30-8:00 p.m. Simpkins 014 http://wiuenglishlangartsmethods.wordpress.com/ Preparation for student teaching, including analysis of techniques and materials useful to the English teacher in the secondary school. Observation and demonstration teaching. Dr. Rebekah Buchanan Email: rj-buchanan@wiu.edu Office: SI 226 B Office Phone: (309) 298-1514 Office Hours: M/W 2:00-3:00 p.m., T 1:00-3:00 p.m., and by appointment NCTE Standards Standard V: Learners and Learning: Implementing English Language Arts Instruction Candidates plan, implement, assess, and reflect on research-based instruction that increases motivation and active student engagement, builds sustained learning of English language arts, and responds to diverse students context-based needs. Element #1: Candidates plan and implement instruction based on ELA curricular requirements and standards, school and community contexts, and knowledge about students linguistic and cultural background. Standard VI: Professional Knowledge Skills Candidates demonstrate knowledge of how theories and research about social justice, diversity, equity, student identities, and schools as institutions can enhance students opportunities to learn in ELA. Element #1: Candidates plan and implement ELA and literacy instruction that promotes social justice and critical engagement with complex issues related to maintaining a diverse, inclusive, and equitable society. Standard VII: Professional Knowledge and Skills Candidates are prepared to interact knowledgeably with students, families, and colleagues based on social needs and institutional roles, engage in leadership and/or collaborative roles in ELA professional learning communities, and actively develop as professional educators. Element #1: Candidates model literate and ethical practices in ELA teaching, and engage in/reflect on a variety of experiences related to ELA. Element #2: Candidates engage in and reflect on a variety of experiences related to ELA that demonstrate understanding of and readiness for leadership, collaboration, ongoing professional development, and community engagement. Course Description This course is designed to prepare candidates for student teaching through development of classroom theories and practices. Candidates will continue to learn how to think as a teacher, to read as a teacher, and to examine practices as a teacher. They will begin using theory and pedagogy acquired in teacher education courses to synthesize what they have learned and to develop teaching philosophies and practices. During the course, candidates explore a variety of instructional strategies and assessments, the use of technology in the classroom, and addressing diverse learner needs. Candidates will discuss current realities of teaching and explore how different societal aspects impact the classroom, teaching, and pedagogical decisions. They will address how Common Core Standards, social justice and critical engagement in learning, and literate and ethical practices in English Language Arts combine to make strong teachers and leaders. 1
Required Texts Burke, J. (2012). The English Teacher s Companion: A Complete Guide to Classroom, Curriculum and the Profession. (4 th edition). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. (BURKE) Smagorinsky, P. (2008). Teaching English by Design: How to Create and Carry Out Instructional Units. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. (SMAG) Picower, B. & T. Mack. (2012). Planning to Change the World-2012/2013: A Plan Book for Social Justice Teachers. Education for Liberation NYCoRE. Required Articles Throughout the semester you will read various articles assigned by myself and your classmates. All articles will be available in PDF form on Wordpress. Course Objectives In completing this course, teacher candidates will: 1. Prepare for student teaching by developing classroom theories and practices. 2. Think, read, and examine practices as a teacher. 3. Apply and synthesize theory and pedagogical practices from English Education courses to further develop teaching philosophies and practices. 4. Explore a variety of classroom strategies, assessments, and technologies that appeal to different learners. 5. Create lesson and unit plans to adapt to future classrooms. 6. Discuss current realities of teaching today and explore how different societal aspects impact the classroom, teaching, and pedagogical decisions. 7. Address the learning needs of students in and out of class. 8. Plan and implement instruction based on ELA curricular requirements and standards, school and community contexts, and knowledge about students linguistic and cultural backgrounds. (NCTE Standard V, #1) 9. Plan and implement ELA and literacy instruction that promotes social justice and critical engagement with complex issues related to maintaining a diverse, inclusive, and equitable society. (NCTE Standard VI, #1) 10. Candidates model literate and ethical practices in ELA teaching, and engage in/reflect on a variety of experiences related to ELA. (NCTE Standard VII, #1) 11. Candidates engage in and reflect on a variety of experiences related to ELA that demonstrate understanding of and readiness for leadership, collaboration, ongoing professional development, and community engagement. (NCTE Standard VII, #2) Rules and Expectations Attendance Attendance at all classes is mandatory. Missed classes cannot be made up. I do not differentiate between excused and unexcused absences. If you are not in class, you are absent. Students with perfect attendance will raise their grade by a half letter (so a B will become a B+). You will receive one (1) absence before points are deducted from your grade. Two absences (2) will receive a grade deduction from your final grade (so a B will become a C). Three (3) absences result in failure of the course (this is more than 2 weeks of missed class time). Tardies If you arrive more than 10 minutes late or leave more than 10 minutes early you will be marked absent. Two (2) tardies will be counted as one absence. Tardies will count toward perfect attendance extra credit. You cannot receive extra credit points if you are tardy. 2
I would appreciate if you cannot attend class you email me ahead of time or as quickly as possible with an explanation. You are then responsible for contacting a classmate to determine what you have missed. Your absence will not allow your late work to be marked as on time. Coming Prepared If you do not bring the required books or readings to class you will be asked to leave. Class discussion is a major component to this course and materials and texts are needed in order to participate in discussion. If it is evident that you have not read the texts/readings for the class, you may be asked to leave. It is not fair to fellow classmates if you are not prepared to discuss texts and assignments. Communication, Emails, and Phone Calls This course has a Wordpress site where course changes, and other communication will take place. Please check it regularly to make sure that you are up to date on any changes. Any email you receive from me will go to your WIU account. When emailing please be sure to include a subject line in your email (this could be the course name or something that alerts me to the nature of the email). Also, include your name and course information in the email. I will return emails sent Sunday afternoon through Friday morning within 24 hours. I may return emails sent on the weekend within 24 hours, but do not expect your email sent Friday or Saturday night to be answered before Monday morning. If you call me, please state your name and number clearly so that I can return your call. Deadlines Deadlines are firm. All assignments are due on time. Late assignments will be downgraded at the rate of one grade per day. Assignments are due at the beginning of class. You must turn in a hard copy of all papers. I will not accept papers via email. DO NOT come to class expecting to be able to print your paper. Print your paper ahead of time. Assignments Students are expected to review the entire syllabus and become familiar with the course schedule, with weekly assignments, and with deadlines for papers and projects. Ignorance is not an excuse. If an assignment is not clear to you, e-mail me or bring it up in class before it is due. Community Students often report that they learn a lot from each other. Because the content of this class is not fixed but evolving and because students often bring new perspectives and experiences that enrich the content, students are expected to behave as members of a collaborative learning community, listening to and learning from each other as well as from me. Student Initiative and Participation Learning requires that the student meet the instructor half way. This course is designed to make the material as interesting as possible and to engage students in hands-on activities to promote active learning and student engagement. However, successful engagement requires students to approach the material and assignments with a positive attitude, an open mind and a desire to learn. I welcome your feedback and will be happy to hear any suggestions you have for improving the course. If you only want to do the minimum work necessary to get by, however, and are not interested in getting the most you can out of it, this course is probably not for you. 3
Personal Responsibility This is a college class, and students are responsible for doing the work as assigned and striving to meet the content goals and reach the learning outcomes specified in the syllabus. You will have an opportunity to demonstrate what you have learned through your assignments and papers. If at any point you are unclear about the goals or expectations in this course, you should let me know. If you do not speak up, I will assume that you understand. Writing Center The Writing Center is available to help you at any stage in your writing process. Please feel free to talk with a tutor about larger issues such as organization and clarity or getting help with grammatical problems or other surface level concerns. The University Writing Center is located in Simpkins Hall 341. Call 298-2815 for an appointment. Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) In accordance with University policy and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), academic accommodations may be made for any student who notifies me of the need for an accommodation. For me to provide the proper accommodation(s), you must obtain the documentation of the need for an accommodation through Disability Support Services and provide it to me. It is imperative that you take the initiative to bring such needs to my attention, as I am not legally permitted to inquire about such particular needs. Students who may require special assistance in emergency evacuations (i.e. fire, tornado, etc.) should contact me as to the most appropriate procedures to follow in such an emergency. Contact Disability Support Services at 298-2512 for additional service. Cell Phones Please turn off all cell phones while you are in class. If you cannot go the class period without texting then you must leave class and take an absence for the period. There is no reason you would need to text during class that cannot wait until the class period is over. (Exceptions will be made if we use cell phones during class assignments ) WIU Student Rights and Responsibilities WIU Student Rights and Responsibilities are outlined on the web at http://www.wiu.edu/provost/students. You should be familiar with both your rights and responsibilities. Academic Integrity Policy Please be aware of WIU s academic integrity policy found at http://www.wiu.edu/policies/acintegrity.php. Any violation of this policy will result in immediate failure of the course. Dispositions ISBE requires of teachers applying for certification Collaboration Honesty and Integrity Respect Commitment to Learning Emotional Maturity Responsibility Fairness Belief that all Students can Learn All students must exhibit behaviors and speech that embodies these dispositions. You will be evaluated on these dispositions during your time in this course. See the CPEP Disposition Check for specific examples of behaviors and speech that demonstrate the dispositions. 4
Course Requirements and Grades Grading You should look at the evaluation criteria before you complete an assignment to understand what I am expecting from you. You can also review the criteria after you receive your grade if you are unsure why you received the grade you did. Contextual Factors Assignment 5% Five-day Writing Unit and Presentation 15% Ten-day Social Justice Unit and Presentation 25% Article assignment, leading course discussion, and one-pager grading 10% IRC Conference attendance (2 days) or 5 outside class activities 10% Oral and written responses to texts/short assignments/quizzes/other 15% Completed online portfolio and query letter a job! NCTE Connected Community, NCTE Journal, and Course Wordpress site 10% Final Exam 10% I will calculate final grades as follows: A: 93-100% B : 83-86% C : 73-76% D: 63-66% A-: 90-92% B- : 80-82% C- : 70-72% B+: 87-89% C+: 77-79% D+: 67-69% **Please note that, In accordance with Illinois State Board of Education certification rules, all candidates seeking teacher certification are required by Western Illinois University to obtain a grade of C or better in all directed general education courses, all core courses, and all courses in the option. Note: A C- is below a C. ** Papers and Assignments 1. Contextual Factors Assignment: Using your Block Teaching placement, you will complete a version of the Contextual Factors Tasks from the Western Teacher Work Sample (WTWS). You will describe the community and classroom factors as well as student-characteristics and instructional implications (1000-1250 words). 2. Five-day Writing Unit: You will design a five-day unit for teaching writing (trust me, you would have even done this if Bonnie taught the course). You will choose a short unit that does not focus on grammar (so don t attempt to do too much). For the unit you will use your contextual factors to outline 5 lesson plans based on where you are Block teaching. You will create a Rationale (500-750 words), a narrative discussing the Common Core Standards your unit addresses (500-750 words), a reflection on the unit (500-750 words), detailed lesson plans for each day, and one handout you will use. You will also present your unit to the class. 3. Ten-day Social Justice Unit: You will design a ten-day unit on a social justice issue. You will create daily lesson plans that include discussion questions if you need them, handouts (a minimum of 3 throughout your unit), and formal or informal assessments for each day s activities. You will find a minimum of 4 educational multimedia resources and print and non-print sources for your unit, write a Rationale for your unit (1250-1500 words), a narrative describing the Common Core Standards addressed and assessments of each standard formal or informal (1250-1750 words), and a reflection on your unit (750-1000 words). In addition, you will present your unit to the class. 5
4. Article assignment, leading course discussion, and one-pager grading: During weeks Four through Twelve each of you will take a turn choosing an article for reading (from a predetermined journal), leading class discussion on the article, grading your peers written responses on the assignment, and meeting with me to discuss your peers writing and your evaluations. You will not turn in a written response for your discussion week; instead, you will turn in discussion questions for your article and a description of activities and objectives for the article the Monday prior to when you are to lead discussion. (I will model this Weeks Two and Three.) 5. IRC Conference attendance (2 days) or 5 outside class activities: One of the goals of this course is to push you to thinking about yourself as a teacher. In order to think of yourself as a teacher, you need to attend workshops, conferences, and other professional activities. During the semester you need to either attend the Illinois Reading Council Conference for two full days and write a 500-750 word reflection on the experience or attend five separate professional events (school board meetings, professional lectures, workshops, etc) and write a 250-500 word reflection on each event. (You must vet each event with me before attendance.) 6. NCTE Connected Community, journal, and course Wordpress Site: As National NCTE Members you can join Connected Communities. We will join one together as a class and you will join other groups on your own. You will read postings, post yourself, and participate in the communities. In addition, you will actively participate in our course Wordpress blog. You will read and comment on postings, articles, and blogs. 7. Oral and written responses to texts/short assignments/quizzes/other: For most of the readings you will be expected to submit a typed response to the week s article (750-1000 words). You will analyze the text, critiquing the author s ideas. These will NOT be summaries of the work, instead you will consider ideas introduced in the text and explore their ramifications. You will engage intellectually with the text. We will create a rubric for the response papers during the first week of the course. In addition, you will have other quizzes and short assignments throughout the course. 8. Teaching Portfolio and Query Letter: You will complete your Online Portfolio and write a query letter you can use when you apply for a teaching position. 9. Final Exam: You will complete a final exam addressing NCTE Standards V, VI, and VII and their application to the work you do throughout the semester. 6