TEACHING ENGLISH IN SECONDARY SCHOOL
SPRING 2003
Dr. Joan DelFattore
Class hours: T 3:45-6:45
062 Memorial Hall
Office hours: T 2-3:30, W 2-4:30
831-2987 (office)
E-mail: jdel@udel.edu
737-7124 (home and fax)
Homepage: www.english.udel.edu/jdel
PURPOSES
• To enhance students’ understanding of the ways in which the Conceptual Framework applies to their classroom teaching.
• To familiarize students with the ways in which the Conceptual Framework is embodied in the four elements of the Pathwise evaluation system.
• To help students develop a philosophy of education.
• To offer guidance as students construct a Performance Portfolio.
• To help students master the elements of a successful job search, including writing cover letters and resumes and participating in interviews.
• To provide students with access to professionals who will increase their understanding of the practical aspects of a teaching career, such as the roles of state and local school boards and administrators, community interactions, legal liability, union contracts, and requirements for continuing professional development.
• To expand upon the work of the prerequisite methods courses and to
complement the co-requisite course, EDUC 430 (Classroom Management in Secondary
School), by helping students to continue developing their classroom management
skills.
TEXT
Student Teaching Guidelines: University of Delaware
GRADING
ENGL 481 is a pass/fail course, and it is important to understand that it is indeed possible to fail. Student teaching is stressful, and people may be tempted to let things slide. Nevertheless, it would be very unfair if students who missed classes and neglected the coursework were to receive the same grade as those who attended all classes and did all the work on time. Because of the demands of student teaching, the requirements for this course are modest, and all of the classwork is directly relevant to the student teaching semester, the job search, and the first year of teaching. In order to pass the course, the following minimum requirements must be met:
• Attend all classes unless you are sick enough to have stayed home from school that day.
• Be on time for class and stay until the end of class.
• Complete all assignments on time; all work must be typed.
• Complete a satisfactory English Education performance portfolio.
ADDITIONAL EXPECTATIONS
• Come to class in professional dress when requested to do so.
• Do not eat or drink anything while guest speakers from outside the university are present.
• Bring to class any material read for homework or used as the basis
of written work.
SCHEDULE
NOTE: Most classes will include a discussion of authentic issues arising from that week’s experience in student teaching. Most of these discussions will focus on classroom management, but other topics will include professional demeanor, Pathwise evaluation, teacher attitudes and expectations, and communications with parents and administrators.
Feb. 11: Meeting with Dr. Brown about student teaching issues
Introduction to the course
Brief discussion of the English Education performance portfolios
Discussion of reflective teaching, including the Pathwise/Conceptual Framework
model of self-evaluation
Assignment: Write one page, double-spaced, answering the following
question: If I
overheard two of my students talking about me, what would I most
want to hear them say? Then write one page responding to the question:
What
could they say that would pain me the most? Avoid making these essays
simply
mirror-images of each other – e.g., “I would want them to say that I hold
them to
high standards/I would not want them to say that I don’t hold them to high
standards.” Try to define your values as an educator; what you think
is most
important, and what kinds of teacher behaviors you are most determined
to avoid.
Feb. 18: Meeting with Barbara Vandornick of the Delaware Center
for Teacher Education: how
to seek teacher certification, how to get the most out of Project Search
Discussion of the reflection essays and their relation to philosophies
of education
Discussion of handout on philosophies of education
Assignment: Re-read the handout. Then draft a philosophy of
education suitable for
including in your job-search portfolio (no more than one page, typed, single-spaced,
double-spaced between paragraphs, 12-point font).
Feb. 25: Meeting with Cindy Holland of the UD Career Services
Center: setting up a
credentials file, writing cover letters and resumes, interviewing at Project
Search
Hand in philosophies of education and reflective essays
Preliminary discussion of material needed for the performance portfolios
Assignment: Go to http://www.udel.edu/CSC/guide.html#Article13 and
scroll down to
the information on how to write a resume. Print this out to bring
to class. Then
scroll down to the end of the section on resume-writing, where you will
find a
discussion of cover letters. Print it out and bring it to class.
March 4: Philosophies of education and reflective essays returned
Discussion of philosophies of education, values in teaching, reflective
lifelong teaching
General discussion of cover letters and resumes
Discussion of adapting the performance portfolios into job-search portfolios
(handout)
March 11: Meeting with last year’s graduates who are now in their first year of teaching
March 18: No class because of Project Search this week
March 25: Meeting with English Ed graduates who have been teaching
for two or more years
Assignment: Begin revising your performance portfolio in preparation
for our small-
group conferences after spring break. If you have a preference about
when you
would like to meet, you are welcome to e-mail me at any time; slots will
be
assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.
April 1: UD spring break
April 8: Panel presentation by personnel director, principals:
what factors cause them to hire
one applicant and reject others?
Small-group mock interviews with panelists
Assignments of remaining times for one-on-one conferences
Final whole-group discussion of revisions to performance portfolios, construction
of
job-search portfolios
Assignment: Finish revising your performance portfolio and your job-search
portfolio (optional). Be careful to remove your students’ names from
anything
that appears in the portfolio.
April 15: Assigned students report for conferences at 3:30 and at 4:30
April 22: Public school spring break
April 29: Assigned students report for conferences at 3:30 and at 4:30
May 6: Assigned students report for conferences at 3:30 and at 4:30
May 13: Assigned students report for conferences at 3:30 and at 4:30
May 20: End-of-year celebration
*******************************************************************************
DIRECTIONS FOR JOB-SEARCH PORTFOLIOS
Contents of the portfolio: * Resume
* Philosophy of education
* Three sample lesson plans as explained below
* Additional materials (e.g., photographs) included at your discretion
(Suggestions appear in the Student Teaching Guidelines booklet)
Sample lesson plans:
Each lesson plan should cover from one to three days of instruction, and each should focus on a different class year (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior) or on a different academic level. They should describe lessons you actually taught. Since the goal is to display your teaching ability, you should select plans that utilize a variety of teaching methods and student activities. You should select lessons that will result in a student work product, either that day or in a future lesson, so that samples of the student work can be included.
Before teaching a lesson you intend to include in your portfolio, write a one-page reflection explaining why you have planned the lesson in this way, what you are trying to accomplish and what you are hoping to avoid, how you anticipate the students will respond, and how this lesson fits into the overall unit – that is, how it follows from past lessons and prepares for future ones. Be sure to explain how this lesson is intended to meet certain state standards and performance indicators.
Since the people reading these plans will be unfamiliar with your classes, each plan should begin by listing the grade and academic level (e.g., 9th Grade General), how many students are in the class, what time of day it meets (if you are on a rotating schedule, the time of day you taught this particular lesson), and anything else you think the reader should know about the characteristics of the class. The plan should also list the state standards and performance indicators the lesson addresses. These should be written out in full; simply putting something like “Standard 3.1.2” in the margin is not going to mean anything to the readers. Other than that, the plan should follow the format you normally use, with any extra detail or explanation you want to include for the intended audience (personnel directors, principals, department chairs, or future colleagues interviewing you for a job).
After teaching the lesson, write a one-page reflection describing how it went, what you would repeat the next time you teach it, what you would change, and why. Briefly indicate why you think certain things worked better than others. Be sure to mention the state standards and performance indicators in saying whether the lesson achieved its objectives.
Finally, include at least three or four samples of the student work
product that resulted from the lesson, including your grading and comments.
Be sure to remove the students’ names from the samples. You should
make reference to this student work in your reflection on whether the lesson
was successful.