English 430 Teaching English in
Secondary Schools
Teaching English in the Secondary Schools is a senior-level pre-professional course for public school teachers. Its focus is on preparing English Education majors for employment in the public secondary schools. This class assumes students are already well versed in their subject area, comfortable with and knowledgeable about writing, reading, language study, and the interdisciplinary combination of the various skills making up what we call the “language arts.” Rather than focusing on the building of various language skills, we will explore the theory and methodology of teaching adolescent students in the language arts.
Teaching English in the Secondary Schools Syllabus |
English 430 Teaching English in Secondary Schools Course Objectives
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English 430 has the following major assignments:
- Fear Factor. Students will examine their teaching fears and identify a coping strategy. Fear Factor
- English Teacher Encounter. Students will reflect on their past experiences in the English classroom and assess various teaching strategies used by others.
- Professional Journal Browser. Students will peruse professional language arts publications and analyze a single topic or a current professional debate that will apply to their teaching.
- Job Application Materials. Students will create a resume and letter of application for a specific position.
- Grading Portfolio. Students will evaluate various assignments demonstrating a variety of grading strategies.
- Assessing Learning Portfolio. Students will create a portfolio of different assessment strategies to reflect a variety of teaching approaches and learning styles.
- Teacher Shadowing. Students will “distance-shadow” their English instructors for a minimum of two weeks and write a reflective essay on their experience. Teacher Shadowing
- Scholarship of Learning and Teaching. Students will write an MLA documented research paper exploring an aspect of learning and teaching to language arts.
- Standard Bearer Portfolio. Students will create a portfolio of lesson ideas that apply directly to State Language Arts/Communications Standards. The portfolio will also contain two standards based thematic units and daily lesson plans.
- Learning Portfolio. Students will collect learning journal entries including reflective responses and case study applications to demonstrate growth throughout the semester.
- Teaching Moment Practicum. Students will demonstrate language arts teaching skills in 1-3 teaching opportunities. Teaching English Practicum
Blueberry High Case Studies
Blueberry High Case Studies
Through a fictional Blueberry High School case studies, students participated in written responses exploring how they would reaction in similar situations.
Blueberry High Case Studies
Through a fictional Blueberry High School case studies, students participated in written responses exploring how they would reaction in similar situations.
- First Day Blueberry Blues--How will you juggle your first day?
- Blueberry Shock Tarts--How will you handle offensive language and behavior in your classroom?
- Double Blueberry Vision--How will you handle dishonesty in your classroom?
- Offended Blueberry Folks--How should you treat a literature complaint?
- Sleepless Blueberry Nights--How involved should you be in the lives of your students?
- High and Low Blueberry Roads--How do you teach students with a diverse range of reading and writing abilities?
- Shifting Blueberry Standards--How do you assess students applying high academic standards while still encouraging student personal challenges?
- Blueberry Stage Fright--How should you prepare for an observation from a school administrator?
- Grammatically Correct Blueberry--How do you plant to teach grammar in your classroom?
Class Anthologies
As a English 430 class, we created three different teaching anthologies: poetry, grammar, and assessment. Each student contributed examples of different types of poems, sample grammar exercises, and assessment strategies. We compiled the student work to become teaching references.
As a English 430 class, we created three different teaching anthologies: poetry, grammar, and assessment. Each student contributed examples of different types of poems, sample grammar exercises, and assessment strategies. We compiled the student work to become teaching references.
Below are the course syllabus, major assignments, and student work: