Practicum in Secondary English Language Arts 1

Instruction and Learning 2720

Fall 2014

Section 1060 (CN 25575)

Thursdays 4:30 – 6:00 pm

1 credit

Classroom: 5700 Posvar Hall

Instructor: Dr. Amber Pabon

Email:

Phone:(412) 624-6034

Office location: 5111 Posvar Hall

Office hours: Thursdays 12pm-1pm & 3pm-4pm/by appointment

Course Description

For this course, teacher candidates engage in 20 hours per week of fieldwork in secondary school sites. Fieldwork includes working with individual and small groups of students, collaborating with mentor teachers to design lessons, supporting instruction in the classrooms, and observing classroom instruction. Teacher candidates will also be responsible for independent instruction during this practicum. Assignments and weekly meetings are designed to help teacher candidates recognize and apply current research on effective English Language Arts instruction and theories of adolescent learning and development.

The course is a required teaching methods course in the English Education Masters of Arts and Teaching (MAT) and MOSAIC programs.

Learning Goals

At the end of the course you will be able to:

  • Analyze the teaching you observe and your own teaching to improve your practice.
  • Appreciate and build upon the varied, out of school literacy practices that your students bring to class.
  • Select texts to represent a variety of genres, media, and perspectives.
  • Design literacy lessons that are inquiry-based and culturally relevant to and sustaining for your students.
  • Participate in a professional learning community (PLC) by giving and receiving constructive feedback with peers.

Required Texts and Supplies

  • Wright, R. (2005). Native Son. Moosic, PA:Harper Perrenial Modern Classics.
  • A device to digitally videorecord yourself.

Grading and Assignments

Attendance, Preparation, Participation, Dispositions (20%)

This course requires your active, thoughtful, daring, candid and respectful participation in all activities.Come prepared to be actively engaged in each class. Preparing for each session by completing all readings and assignments completely and on time will enable you to enter fully into the discussions and contribute to the development of our class conversations. Our class discussions will focus on two aspects of your experiences as a novice teacher: (1) Your observations of your two placements, as viewed through the lenses of the readings you’ve done for this program (including summer readings), and (2) Your practice lessons on Native Son. Professional dispositions includethoughtful participation in class discussions, attending all classes and arriving to class on time. Please see English Education Handbook for related policies.

Lesson Plan, Lesson Implementation and Feedback to Peers (35%)

Using course readings, the University of Pittsburgh lesson plan template and the PA Core English Language Arts Standards, you will plan and execute a videotaped, 20-minute English language arts lesson using a non-print or multimedia text to connect to Native Son through inquiry-based and culturally relevant pedagogy. Be sure to plan ahead for videotaping your lesson with your own device. Your lesson plan should address a clear learning goal and engage your “student” peers with an activity that aligns with those goals. After your lesson, you will receive constructive feedback from your peers (oral and written). A hard copy of your lesson plan is due to the instructor on the day you deliver your lesson in class.

Providing feedback to your peers is an integral part of this course, this assignment, and the teaching profession. In addition to your oral feedback after each lesson, you will respond in writing to each lesson. Consider framing your feedback in ways that first acknowledge a specific strength that you observed in the lesson. Then, with careful consideration of the vulnerable experience that teaching for the first time in front of peers, provide specific, non-judgmental constructive feedback that refers to the course materials employed in developing this lesson plan. Statements such as “This was good” are not necessarily helpful for your peers in improving their teaching practice. However, a statement like, “I thought the introductory exercise in your lesson was engaging. Perhaps you could consider better organizing the sequence of activities in this writing lesson to transition from that introduction to the instructional strategy to the independent exercise”. As you provide feedback, you might also engage in a step-back in which you consider your experience in the lesson first as a student, then as a teacher and finally as an instructional designer. The ultimate task is to provide meaningful and thoughtful feedback that is grounded in your personal understandings of pedagogy, the readings you have done for this program, and your new learning from the courses you are currently enrolled in.

Reflective Essay (25%)

In your 3-4page reflective essay, you will reflect on your experience of teaching your lesson.In your reflection, you must do the following:

  1. Use evidence from the video to discuss the strengths of your lesson.
  2. Use evidence from the video to discuss areas for improvement in your lesson.
  3. Describe how you would revise the lesson if you were to teach it to your students.
  4. Discuss how you used feedback from your peers and instructor to shift and/or extend your thinking about teaching ELA, about yourself as a teacher, and about your lesson.

The reflective essay is due one week after you deliver your lesson.

Fieldwork in Your Teaching Placement (20%)

This is based on the recommendation of the field supervisor. Your supervisor uses the English Education Evaluation form and observation form to recommend a grade based on consultation with your mentor teacher.

Competence Policy

It is expected that all students receive at least a minimum level of competence on each assignment, defined by a grade of S (satisfactory), in order to pass the course. Assignments that receive a grade below S (satisfactory) must be revised and resubmitted within one week.

Grading scale

H/S/U (honors/satisfactory/unsatisfactory)

H = 96-100 points

S = 85-95 points

U = 84 points and below.

Other Information

• Please see the English Education Handbook for program policies including those regarding attendance and late work.

• You will find some course readings and materials on our Courseweb site.To log onto Courseweb, go to Type in your Pitt username (email ID) and password, then select the name of the course.)

• All cell phones should be turned off during class.

• You are encouraged to bring laptops or other devices to class, as we will frequently be looking for resources or creating projects and plans during class. However, they are to be kept closed in class unless in use. Please do not use laptops, phones, or other devices for personal or off-topic work during class. Stay engaged.

• All assignments must be completed in order to pass the course. Assignments are due at or before the beginning of class or as specified for electronic submissions.

• All of the writing you do for this seminar should be wordprocessed in 12 point font (yielding approximately 250-300 words/page) with one inch margins. Proficiency with the conventions of Academic Written English must be demonstrated as part of the professional competence of all prospective teachers of English.

• At any point during the semester if you are not doing satisfactory work, I will let you know in writing immediately.

• Most assignments will be returned to you within a week with written feedback and evaluation.

• You can expect that I will respond to your emails within 24 hours Monday through Friday and 48 hours over the weekend.

•University Policy on Classroom Recording: To ensure the free and open discussion of ideas, students may not record classroom lectures, discussion and/or activities without the advance written permission of the instructor, and any such recording properly approved in advance can be used solely for the student’s own private use.

• If you need to miss class for a religious observance, please notify me as early as possible in the term so that we can arrange make up work.

• If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor and Disability Resources and Services (DRS), 140 William Pitt Union (412) 648-7890, , (412) 228-5347 for P3 ALS users, as early as possible in the term. DRS will verify your disability and determine reasonable accommodations for this course.

• You are expected to maintain your responsibility towards academic integrity as stated in the University of Pittsburgh academic policies and as stated in the English Education handbook. University Policy: “Students in this course will be expected to comply with the University of Pittsburgh's Policy on Academic Integrity. Any student suspected of violating this obligation for any reason during the semester will be required to participate in the procedural process, initiated at the instructor level, as outlined in the University Guidelines on Academic Integrity. This may include, but is not limited to, the confiscation of the examination of any individual suspected of violating University Policy. Furthermore, no student may bring any unauthorized materials to an exam, including dictionaries and programmable calculators.”

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Course Schedule

DATE  / Sept. 11 / Sept. 18 / Sept. 25 / October 2 / October 9
TOPIC / Discuss placement observations.
Discuss Pope
Introduction to inquiry-based lessons
(lecture)
Review of Pitt lesson plan. (next week)
BrainstormNative Son lessons. (next week)
Sign up for date to deliver lesson. (next week) / Discuss placement observations.
Discuss reading.
Peer and instructor feedback on rough drafts of lesson plans. / Discuss placement observations.
Group 1: Delivery of 3 lessons on Native Son. / Discuss placement observations.
Group 2: Delivery of 3 lessons on Native Son. / Discuss placement observations.
Group 3: Delivery of 3 lessons onNative Son.
READINGS/HW DUE /
  • Read selection from Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy (on Courseweb).
  • Draft lesson plan for Native Son lesson. Bring 3 copies to class.
/
  • Revise lesson plan for Native Son
  • Group 1: Prepare to teach Native Sonlesson. Hand in final copy of lesson plan.
/
  • Group 2: Prepare to teach Native Sonlesson. Hand in final copy of lesson plan.
  • Group 1:Upload in reflective essay.
/
  • Group 3: Prepare to teach Native Sonlesson. Hand in final copy of lesson plan. (reflective essay due for Group 3 on 10/16/14).
  • Group 2:Upload reflective essay.

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