English 4323: The Teaching of High School English

Instructor: Todd B. Finley, Ph.D

Bate Hall #2120
(h) 252.329-1487
(w) 252.328.6695 -

 

Philosophical Framework

  • Individualized Learning is...
    Understanding the learner
    Understanding the learning context, and
    Designing appropriate learning strategies
  • The Scientific Design Process: Invent. Reinvent. Repeat.
  • The Stockdale Paradox - You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end– which you can never afford to lose– with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.
  • This is the Curriculum Designer's Studio for Preservice Teachers. Design is the planned process of change. Instead of something changing by accident, design demands that we plan change so that we end up with the results we want. Technology is all about design. Computers and networks are transforming every aspect of our lives. As networks converge, almost everything we use, or do, involves some kind of interaction, us and the system, or between one object and another. Design shapes the kind of experience we have when this takes place. English is all about experiences and interactions. Education is about enhancing relationships, invisible processes, and services that adapt to an individual's needs and preferences. This is a completely new kind of design... guess who the designer is.

Description & Goals
The goal of this course is for students to learn methods of teaching language, composition, and literature, in grades seven through-twelve. In addition, students will learn to design and implement meaningful literacy experiences and curricula. It is also an opportunity for students to synthesize their philosophy, content knowledge, and practice, in preparation for student teaching.

In addition, interns will demonstrate the following INTASC Standard Indicators. Teacher education candidates: 1.1 understand the central concepts of English education. 1.2 use explanations and representations that link curriculum to prior learning 1.3 evaluate resources and curriculum materials for appropriateness to curriculum and instructional delivery. 1.6 use methods of inquiry that are central to the discipline. 4.1 use multiple teaching and learning strategies 4.3 assume different roles in the instructional process (instructor, facilitator, coach, audience) to accommodate content, purpose, and learner needs. 7.2 develop plans that are appropriate for curriculum goals and based on effective instruction 7.4 develop short and long range plans. 8.1 select, construct, and use assessment strategies appropriate to the learning outcomes. 8.4 evaluate the effects of class activities on individuals and on groups through observation of classroom interaction, questioning and analysis of student work. 9.1 use classroom observation, self reflection and information about students as sources for evaluating outcomes of teaching and learning and as a basis for experimenting with, reflecting on, and revising practice. 

Assignments

Quizzes | Research Article | Unit Plan | Portfolio | Teach+Videotape+Reflection | Misc

1. 3 Online Quizzes (posted @ http://ecu.blackboard.com/) Use your email name and password to Log on. If you have difficulty, e-mail Matt Long at: longm@mail.ecu.edu

    • Class #7
    • Class #12
    • Final Exam Date by 7:30 PM

2. A 5-7 Page Research Article in APA Format [http://webster.commnet.edu/apa/apa_index.htm] Suitable for Publication in the North Carolina English Teacher:

    • Class #7: 1st Draft Due
    • Class #8: Revised 2nd Draft Due
    • Class #12: Revised 3rd Draft of Research Article
    • Class #14: Final Draft of Research Due

Theme: Thinking English. The most dynamic areas of research are invariably between disciplines. The following themed journal explores the interplay between socio-cognitive learning theory, evolutionary biology, and the research base on secondary English pedagogy in order to extend our understanding of how these ideas can influence English instruction. Increasing interest in cognition in recent years (metacognition, reflection, ways of knowing, neurodevelopmental learning, multiple intelligences, learning styles, Vygotsky's pseudoconcepts, emotional IQ, narrative and paradigmatic knowledge, envisionment-building, multi-faceted (Bakhtinian) understanding of social reality, Six Hats Thinking, systems theory and feedback loops, critical thinking, graphic organizers, Thinking Maps, learning stances, and practical applications of Bloom's Taxonomy, etc.) has developed a significant number of perspectives on thinking that call for innovation in professional development and language arts instruction. This themed issue will publish a range of action research and related studies in English education with the aim of exemplifying the variety of possible styles of reporting, providing a forum for dialogue, and subjecting the aforementioned perspectives to critical analysis and reflection. The primary goal is to extend literary thinking and articulate new models of research-based instruction. In this issue, we invite a wide range of articles that explore the relationship between teaching thinking and teaching English. Possible areas to explore include the following:

  • How are students socialized to think in English classrooms and what is the impact of this socialization? How can teachers of English develop alternative methods of meaning making that complements the research on brain-based education? How might English classrooms be restructured in accordance with new knowledge about student thinking?
  • How do we locate and describe acts of "literary" understanding?
  • What kinds of thinking do English classrooms prioritize? What kind of thinking should they prioritize?
  • How do people "make sense" when they engage in a literary experience and how do these ways of "making sense" play themselves out in everyday reading, writing, and discussing? How do we draw on emotions, relationships, and sense of purpose, to make sense of literature?
  • How does "attention" relate to thinking?
  • How does the "soft" discipline of English contribute to students' intellectual development?
  • What teacher and student roles foster critical thinking
  • What role do graphic organizers, technology, and/or heuristics play in the development of students thinking?
  • What beliefs, knowledge, or narratives do English teachers rely on to make day to day decisions? What do they think about when they're teaching? What is the impact?
  • How can the divergent thinking of linguistically and culturally diverse students contribute to the thinking of mainstream students? How can thinking from multiple perspectives strengthen interpretation of literature?
  • Does controversial literature provoke certain kinds of thinking?
  • What is the role and impact of confusion, confrontation, and disagreement in English classrooms? How does a teacher successfully foster these types of interaction?
  • How does the teacher invite critical stances?
  • How does the state-wide ABC accountability measures impact teacher thinking? Student thinking? Do notions of a "hidden curriculum" influence students' thinking? How?
  • How do you develop and sustain a dialectic community?
  • How does traditional pedagogy sustain or undermine higher order thinking?
  • How do teacher study groups and other collegial efforts influence the ways English teachers think about their profession?

3. Five-Day Unit Plan

The course is structured, in part, to help you design and execute a unit plan, which satisfies a number of standards for your final Performance-Based ("Portfolio") Licensure. Your peers and I will also be available to assist you. The unit may emphasize the teaching of writing or literature. In either context, it is expected that your unit will arrange for students to read, write, speak, and listen as they meet your objectives.Your unit plan fulfills many functions. It shows that you have planned developmentally appropriate curriculum, explicitly applied the NC Course of Study requirements, and that you have given considerable thought to sequential planning. In addition, the unit plan is a way to externalize the process of developing teacher curriculum. Note: As a professional teacher, you will always create written plans, but most teachers do not have the time to write out their lesson plans in the kind of depth or specificity that this assignment requires. The act of writing out your unit formally and elaborately is a way for you to develop metacognitive understandings about your creative and academic processes of planning. It also gives your peers and me a chance to critique and refine your thinking about curriculum. I strongly suggest that you develop a unit that you can use during your student teaching.

Checklist of Items Your Unit Should Include:

  • The lesson plans should be detailed enough so that I could teach the lesson myself, just by reading your plans.
  • You have explicitly stated the theme of the unit (i.e., "Exploring 'loss' in Harlem Renaissance writing," or "Fathers and Sons in recent American Literature")
  • State the NC Course of Study requirements that you are meeting with this unit.
  • Lesson plans are provided for each day you teach and include the following headings: Objectives Resources & Materials Introduction Methods & Procedures Closure Assessment You may also use the 6-point lesson plan format (Optional) or http://www.englishcompanion.com/pdfDocs/lessonplantemplate.pdf
  • Discussion questions are explicitly included
  • A variety of teaching modes are planned for, i.e., small group, large group, debates, film, student presentations, lecture, reader's theater, use of graphic organizers, guest speakers, etc.
  • Evaluations are located in an appendix of the unit (if you plan on testing, you need to enclose the actual tests)
  • If you've based a lesson on curriculum plans detailed in a manual, book, the WWW, from something your mentor teacher has done before, etc., please make reference to that material.
  • All materials that you need to use and/or teach with are included, such as overheads, projectors, videotapes, maps, etc.
  • You have included copies of any homework assignments given.
  • You have explicitly planned for activities to engage your students' multiple intelligences (Gardner). Your lessons are diversity-conscious.
  • Transitions are made explicit. Create a script so that I know what you would say to switch from one activity to the next. Before handing in your unit, you have mentally gone over every moment to ensure good sequence.
  • Please include a disk with your unit on it, so that I can begin to create a unit plan database for you to access.

4. Portfolio Assignment

5. Teach + VideoTape + Reflection Assignment - Due Class #9

Arrange with your cooperating teacher to teach a lesson during your field experience. Arrange to video-tape the lesson. After watching the videotape of your lesson, write a reflection about your teaching. Both should be turned in at the same time.

FAQs

1. How long should the lesson be? The reflection?a. 45 minutes or more. b. Reflect for about two pages, double-spaced.

2. How do you want me to reflect? What do I reflect about? a. First of all, your reflection should be typed, dated, and in essay format. b. The following topics should be covered in your reflection: To what extent were the students productively engaged? Describe your teaching style. Did the students learn what you intended for this lesson? Were your instructional goals and objectives appropriate? Did these objectives match with the State goals and objectives? How did your lesson meet your instructional objectives? How did you know that your instructional objectives were met? Explain the positive impact on student learning? If you altered your lesson plan as you taught the lesson, explain the circumstances and why you made the changes? If you had the opportunity to teach this lesson again, what might you consider doing differently? Justify these changes.

3. What should I turn in? a. The video tape (re-wound to the start of the lesson, please) + reflection

4. What should I teach? a. It is up to you and your teacher. Ideally, the lesson should fit into your clinical teacher's plans. One time, a preservice teacher turned in a 10 minute videotape of himself giving a spelling lesson. He had to do the assignment over again.

5. Is it legal to video-tape students? a. Yes and no. Some schools have a policy/agreement that they have worked out with parents. Check with your teacher. If you need to, you can send home permission slips for parents to sign. Or you can train the video-camera on you. It is not illegal to shoot the back of students heads (as they do on the local news).

6. It's my first lesson. I'm nervous. Do I have to do this? a. It's natural to be anxious about taping yourself teach. Most preservice teachers feel a little exposed and vulnerable-the same way anyone feels when they're watched doing something new. But the truth is, the best time to correct bad teaching habits is early. And the best way to see yourself teach is to video-tape it. Feel free to conduct other teaching experiences in the class before you video-tape your lesson to get warmed up. Also, the video-tape and reflection assignment is something that you can use in your ECU portfolio, your teacher license portfolio, and your national boards portfolio.

7. If I don't like the lesson, may I video-tape another lesson and turn that one in? a. If you want. However, after watching Senior I students teach over the last 12 years, I've seen it all. I'm not looking for you to do whammy-wow lessons that show you off as freakishly brilliant in the classroom. I just want to get a sense of your teaching style.

8. Do you watch all the video-tapes? Will I get feedback? a. Yes and yes.

9. Will you show the video-tape to anyone else? a. No. Although, you may choose to include the video-tape in your ECU portfolio.

5. Misc. Assignments:

Course Outline - Dates, Class Topics, Assignments, Readings

1-8/22

Introduction; Readings:

2- 8/29 Conferences

(Class Does Not Meet as a Whole)

You are responsible for bringing several items to the conference. I will talk about this in class.

Important! Intern's Observation Schedule

Dearest Senior I Intern, It is very important for my sanity that this form be filled out completely. If it is not filled out completely, it causes great headaches for me, Al Muller, and the Office of Clinical Experiences. In the past, only about 20% of my Engl 4323 students have filled this form out with absolute completeness within the first week that it is due. Let me just say that if this gets turned in on time (and of course, I need not note the emphasis on completely), my heart will radiate sunshine for you all semester.. Let me further note that there is no such thing as hand grenades, horseshoes, or almost. It's 100% on this form. Thanks! -TBF

  • Your Full Name Phone numbers E-mail address
  • Please provide the following information about your clinical teacher:
    • Full Name of Clinical Teacher
    • Full School Mailing address
    • School Phone Number
    • E-mail Address of Teacher Clinical Teacher's Classroom Number
    • Clinical Teacher's Home Phone Number
  • For your clinical teacher's class schedule list the following:
    • Period - Time - Subject - Grade Level (Example: "Period 4 - 10:30 - 11:35 - British Literature - 12th Grade")
  • What is your clinical teacher's planning period # and time of planning period? (Example: "Period 3......10:30-11:30")
  • What days & times will you observe?
  • Provide driving instructions from ECU to your host school.

Take the Quick Myers-Briggs Personality Test: http://www.haleonline.com/. Assess what your score (example: "ENFP") means by reviewing this site: http://personalitypage.com/high-level.html. Print out your profile information & bring it to your conference.

On the North Carolina Standard Course of Study for English- 9-12 (NCSCOS) web page, find English III Standards. Under the following Strand: Oral Language, Written Language, and Other Media/Technology, tell me what Competency Goal 3 is. Please bookmark this site. It will come in handy when you create your unit plan.

Be ready to talk about your intended research project.

Locate a sample copy of a real high school student's writing--one page only. If the writing goes longer than a page, just photocopy the first page. Make enough copies for everyone in class, including yourself and the instructor. Readings on Organization:

Optional Readings

3. 9/5

Classroom Management I; Lesson Planning / Speed Planning; Praxis Writing Response Practice

Think about the pedagogical value of this brain teaser. Be ready to discuss it in class.

Bring to class 1) a clear research question or questions. Bring an annotated bibliography of support material for your research paper: ten articles. Bring completed items to class and prepare to orally summarize your work.

Sample Annotated Bibliography Using APA Format:

Goldschneider, F. K., Waite, L. J., & Witsberger, C. (1986). Nonfamily living and the erosion of traditional family orientations among young adults. American Sociological Review, 51, 541-554.

The authors, researchers at the Rand Corporation and Brown University, use data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Women and Young Men to test their hypothesis that nonfamily living by young adults alters their attitudes, values, plans, and expectations, moving them away from their belief in traditional sex roles. They find their hypothesis strongly supported in young females, while the effects were fewer in studies of young males. Increasing the time away from parents before marrying increased individualism, self-sufficiency, and changes in attitudes about families. In contrast, an earlier study by Williams cited below shows no significant gender differences in sex role attitudes as a result of nonfamily living.

At the beginning of the semester, I assign each student a number corresponding to his or her alphabetical place on the class roster. Each student is to write his number next to his name on the heading of each assignment. Then, when the papers are turned in, I can quickly alphabetize them (or have a TA do it) thus saving time later when it comes to quickly entering the grades into the computer in sequential order.

"I feel that my college education was very thorough, but nothing could quite prepare me for the planning and preparation it requires to accommodate students across 4 grade levels." - Preservice Teacher

4. 9/12

Classroom management continued; portfolio assignment; lesson planning

5. 9/19

Ed. Psych. & the Language Arts; Practice v. Instruction; Introduction to Unit Plan; Praxis Writing Response Practice

Classroom Management Philosophy (Sample: http://www.thomasgordon.com/Schoolphilo.asp and Classroom Rules Due (Sample: http://www.user.fast.net/~divey/rules.htm) (Portfolio Req.)

"Teachers are the last bastion against darkness and ignorance. The intensity of this need was my surprise, and I know of no way even X College, in all its excellence, could prepare me for this life lesson. Only being a caring teacher can."

6. 9/26

Thick Writing Prompt; Alternative Assessment & Writing; Stages & Strategies within the Writing Process; Demonstration of Teaching the Writing Process; Critical Thinking

Be ready to report progress on research paper.

"Being a teacher is like having homework every night for the rest of your life."

7. 10/3  

Progress Review; Neurodevelopmental View of Writing

Bring in 1st Draft of Research Article Assignment

Take the Memory Test

Online Quiz I (later part of class)

"Over plan! Prepare two hours for every hour of actual teaching. The day will go faster than you expect. You need to avoid the dreaded 15 minutes at the end when you will be asking yourself, `What do I do now?'"

Optional Readings

8. 10/10

Differentiating Instruction; Thinking Maps & Writing; Graphic Organizers & Writing; How to Lead a Class Discussion; Praxis Writing Response Practice

Bring in 2nd Draft of Research Article + Half-Page Reflection on how you have incorporated feedback. And Bring in a copy of a rubric for persuasive writing.

9. 10/17

Reading & Writing as Parallel Process; Advanced Techniques for Teaching Composition; Praxis Writing Response Practice

Teach + Video-Tape + Reflection Assignment Due

10. 10/24

How to Respond to Student Writing; Conferences; Writing to Learn; Praxis Writing Response Practice

11. 10/31

Praxis Exam Prep

12. 11/7 Quiz II

Individual Oral Exam - Cumulative -Dress Interview

CLASS DOES NOT MEET

Bring in 3rd Draft of Research Article

13. 11/14  

Praxis Writing Response Practice

14. 11/21 

Teaching Reading Comprehension; In Class Quia Assignment; Praxis Writing Response Practice

Final Research Project Due

15. 11/28

Language; Characteristics of the Adolescent (Video); Drugs; Assessment & Evaluation, Spelling; Praxis Writing Response Practice

16. 12/5

Grammar; "Student I Learned from Most"; Praxis Writing Response Practice Wrap Up

Quiz III (Not Cumulative) will be posted. You have until the official exam date to complete the quiz.

Senior I Agreement Form Due

Official Exam Day- 7:30 December 12th

We will not meet as a class. Submit all materials to my office, Bate 2120, by 7:30 PM. I'll be waiting to collect them until 7:30. You may turn your projects in earlier in the week, if you wish..

Due

  • 5-Day Thematic Teaching Unit
  • Complete Online Quiz III by 7:30PM

    1. Turn in a hard copy and electronic (disk) versions (or WWW address) of these assignments.
    2. Every student will submit a separate individual copy of their group project. 
    3. For each assignment, complete the rubric that goes with it. 
    4. For each collaborative assignment, list your partners.
    5. Review the assignment descriptions and rubrics thoroughly. 
    6. Submit all materials in an envelope or secure packet labeled as follows:
    John Doe, English 4323, Date
    7. If you want me to mail your projects to you, please put adequate postage on the envelope.
    8. Nobody gets a free ride. If members of your group did not participate, please explain the situation to me in writing. Your comments will remain anonymous.