English 424:
Teaching English in the
Secondary School
English 424
will engage students in exploring techniques in becoming an English
teacher/learner in the junior high/middle school and secondary classrooms. Students
will build a knowledge base for individual experimentation in methods for
teaching by assembling a repertoire of ideas and strategies for diverse
learners and by developing multicultural competencies as they learn to think
about themselves in interconnected local, regional, and global societies. Bridging English 3rd Edition (2003) by Milner
and Milner is the required book for the course.
1.
2.
Discussion Leadership (10 points)
3.
Two Teaching Units (40 points—20
each)
4. Teaching Presentation (20 points) and Teaching Evaluations (5
points)
5. Philosophy of Teaching English Statement
(5 points)
Points will be
translated to the following letter grades: A+ = 99; A = 96; A- =9 2; B+ = 88; B
= 85; B = 82; C+ = 78; C = 75; C- =7 2; D+ = 68; D = 64; D- = 60; F = 50.
Attendance is important. Since each class
period is the equivalent of one week of classes, after ONE ABSENCE,
grades WILL be lowered
accordingly, usually at 1/3 of a grade increments for each additional absence (A=A-,
A-=B+, B+=B, etc.). Only under exceptional circumstances will modifications be
made. Please speak to me if conflicts arise and we will try to work something
out. Three absences (three weeks) are grounds for failing the course.
Every week, students will complete the
reading assignment from the syllabus, participate in class discussion, and
write a 350-500 word typed response to the reading assignment (no more than 2
pages double spaced). While it may
include some reader-response to the text, this should not be the major
portion of every entry. Students should
pay attention to areas such as educational theory or philosophy, how the
information relates to your own learning experiences, or how the information
would be applicable to your teaching. The “Invitation to Reflection” sections
may help guide the responses. Remember, depth and specificity are always
superior to breadth and generality. The purpose of the assignment is to
stimulate critical thinking, make connections, and generate class discussion.
Although a response will be turned in each week, students should collect the
returned responses in a notebook to be evaluated as a whole. These should be
mini-essays with a thesis unifying your response and will be evaluated for
thoughtful reading, unity and coherence, grammar and style, and assigned
length.
2. Discussion Leadership
Student pairs (individuals for
Honors Contract) will be responsible for leading a 30 minute discussion of the
selected chapter in the text for a particular class period. These will be
chosen and assigned the first night of class. Students should prepare an outline
to hand out to the class of the most important points covered in the text and be
ready to field questions from the class. By the end of the semester, these
outlines of all of the chapters will be a good resource for future reference. For the discussion of the chapter, rather than
just go over the handout, the leaders/leader should narrow the class
presentation to one or two specific parts that could be explored in more
detail, perhaps involving class participation.
3. Two
Teaching Units and Teaching Philosophy
Each student will prepare two 10-day
Teaching Units—each including 5 days of detailed lesson plans and 5 days of general
lesson plans for each unit—or one 20-day unit with 10 days of detailed plans
and 10 days of general plans. The detailed days should include standards,
assignments, mini-lectures, outlines or notes on important information to be
covered, handouts, discussion questions, group projects, workshop directions,
assessments, essay topics, etc. Each student will also include a general
overview of each unit (50-100 words) that outlines what the student will be
doing and the goals he or she wishes to achieve.
4. Teaching Presentation and Peer
Evaluations
Each
student will present one 30-40 minute class presentation to his or her peers for
one day of one of the Teaching Units that the student has prepared. Students
will also write helpful comments on every student class presentation (at least
two positive and two suggestions for improvement) to be given to the presenters
on the last night of class during finals week. Student should make a second
copy of these helpful comments to turn in with their own portfolios during that
same class period.
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My office is 109D
Thomas Hall, and this semester my office hours will be from 12:30-2:00 on
Tuesdays and Thursdays and from 5:30-6:30 on Tuesdays. If you cannot meet with
me during this time period, I will be happy to make special arrangements. My office telephone number is 308-865-8867,
but I have no voice mail; my office e-mail is bloomfields@unk.edu and my
home e-mail is stbloomfield@hughes.net. For emergencies (scholarly or personal), my home telephone
number is 308-995-8547 with voice mail. Do not hesitate to call.
My Home Page is http://www.lopers.net/faculty/b/bloomfields/.
To access the English 424 Home Page, go to this site and click on English 424: Teaching English in the
Secondary School. Copies of all handouts as well as other useful
information and internet links are available on this Internet Class Home Page.
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Any student who feels s/he may need an accommodation
based on the impact of a disability should contact me privately to discuss specific
needs. I will contact Academic Success at 308 865-8214,