For teaching interns only. May be repeated for a maximum of 6 semester hours, all of which may be counted toward Option B program requirements for both master's and doctoral degrees. Only 3 semester hours of English 500 may be applied toward other master's or doctoral program options in English.

English 500 supports the new graduate Teaching Interns (TI's) in the Freshman English program by introducing them to the pedagogy of freshman composition--including theories of composition, classroom management, course preparation and lessons plans, writing assignments, guidance and evaluation of students, and -the conduct of networked writing tabs. The course proceeds through lecture, demonstration, readings, discussions, and practice teaching designed to develop professional confidence in graduate teaching assistants as they teach the university's core requirement in written communication.

* Michael Petracca and Madeleine Sorapure, Common Culture

* Leonard J. Rosen, Decisions: A Writer's Handbook

* Chris M.Anson, et al, Scenarios for Teaching Writing

* Gary Tate, et al, The Writing Teacher's Sourcebook

Goals and Objectives:

Goal #1

To encourage our Freshman composition students to think of themselves as writers and to begin to recognize a larger audience beyond the instructor.

* We will introduce them to the process approach to essay writing; we will occasionally model that process by writing our own versions of the English 103 student assignments.

* To help students discover a larger audience than the instructor, we will encourage peer review and evaluation. To sharpen our own critical eye as readers of this writing, we will set up grading sessions to read and evaluate sample 103 papers. We will also encourage students to submit their essays to the various essay competitions sponsored by the English Department.

* We will work to calibrate our grading standards with each other and with the Freshman English Program as a whole. To this end we will participate in the program-wide calibration sessions in October.

* Early in October the instructors in English 500 will also look at your student folders and evaluate your grading of the revised version of the "Personal Culture" essay. We will discuss these evaluations in individual conferences.

To establish good classroom management procedures and instructional skills.

* We will read professional essays from scholars in the field of rhetoric and composition on the range of composition pedagogy, and every member of the class will lead a discussion on one article from the Tate or the Anson texts.

* We will discuss, practice, and analyze lecture, discussion, and workshop as different modes of developing class time.

* To provide a critique of actual classroom performance, you will be observed and evaluated twice during the semester by the instructors on a mutually agreed-upon date. Each observation will be followed by individual conferences with the English 500 instructors.

To increase computer proficiency in order to facilitate better computer use among students.

* To develop our computer skill and confidence, each week our Wednesday class will meet in the NWR computer lab to work on weekly lab assignments and to discuss issues of teaching in the lab.

* To familiarize ourselves with the potential of the world wide web, we will identify and evaluate electronic sources of value to us professionally and to your students practically.

* To facilitate better computer familiarity and use among students, you are encouraged to explore several options for creative computer use, including establishing a web page for your course, posting assignments and receiving papers electronically, and maintaining regular communication with your students via e-mail.

* To encourage routine writing and responding in electronic environments, we will organize discussion groups on the web where we will expect our students to work collaboratively in reaction to our weekly prompts on reading and writing assignments.

To enable Teaching Interns to spot and stop plagiarism and inappropriate classroom behavior.

* To discourage plagiarism, we will survey the departmental Plagiarism Statement among ourselves and with our classes, encourage students to leave a "paper trail" for each assignment, learn to spot the signs of plagiarism, and challenge students to live up to the standards of honesty in their writing. We will also consider some of the complicated problems of plagiarism made possible by resources on the Internet.

* To discourage inappropriate classroom behavior, we will enforce classroom regulations and support one another by offering suggestions, our own experiences, and the advice of experts in the field.

To promote the values of critical thinking, multicultural sensitivity, racial harmony, and gender-neutral language among our students.

* To promote critical thinking, we will model it for our students and assign readings that will focus on topics which lend themselves to argumentation and reasoning. We will also permit students to discuss controversial subjects freely and without classroom censure.

* To promote multicultural sensitivity, we will seek to establish our classrooms as "safe houses" that are equally supportive of all students from different backgrounds of race, gender, religion and ethnicity. As instructors we will model courtesy and respect to all our students and strive to increase our own cultural sensitivities. Racial epithets or slurs against any ethnic group from instructors or students will not be tolerated under the guise of free speech. We will also encourage submissions to the annual Unity in Diversity essay contest.

* To promote gender-neutral language, we will abide by the English Department's revised "Statement on Gender Neutral Language". We will also discuss issues of language and gender and the larger issues of "political correctness" as they arise either within English 103 or English 500.

To encourage Teaching Interns to make their own pedagogical decisions and prepare themselves for independent teaching.

*To think about the planning of your own courses, we will empower a text book selection committee to select candidates for the spring 104 text and as a whole class vote on the reader to be used.

* To prepare for independent teaching, toward the end of the fall semester we will concentrate on the elements of text selection, syllabus preparation, and course planning.

To network among ourselves and create a sense of community among Teaching Interns.

* To facilitate communications, we have established a course listserv one which all members of the course will be asked to interact on both "official" matters relating to the course and on practical issues relating to the management of our classes.

* To facilitate community, social events will be scheduled throughout the semester and students will be encouraged to host informal events on their own. You will inevitably share ideas and conversation within the TI bay.

1. Attend the pre-semester seminar August 16-20 and meet twice a week throughout the semester on Monday in Reavis 202 and Wednesday in the NWR computer lab from 2:00 to 3:15 p.m. Please notify one of the instructors in advance if you cannot attend any session.

2. Teach a mini lesson to the seminar at the end of the first week of meetings and participate as a leader of seminar groups from time to time during the semester.

3. Develop a web page for your course and use it to communicate with your students.

4. Collaboratively develop prompts for the four essay assignments and for the class discussion of selected essays in English 103.

5. Submit to the course instructors copies of all handouts that you make for your English 103 course.

6. Return student writing within five working days from the time it was submitted.

7. Complete an essay on the teaching of writing and submit it any time after the Thanksgiving break.

As a result of your work in English 500, you will receive a grade, a recommendation concerning continuation in the program, and a recommendation for the Career Planning and Placement Center (if you desire it). Your grade will be derived from the accumulated evaluations of participation in the English 500 class, the evaluation of the care and accuracy with which you have evaluated your students' papers, the evaluations of you as a classroom teacher, the final essay, and the promptness and thoroughness with which you complete the requirements of taking 500 and teaching 103. The written evaluation of your classroom teaching establishes part of the basis for letters of recommendation from the Director of Freshman English when you seek employment upon completion of the graduate degree.

Grading: Students are graded on a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory basis. A grade of Satisfactory is a recommendation that the Teaching Intern be reappointed for subsequent semesters; a grade of Unsatisfactory is a recommendation that the Teaching intern not be reappointed. Assignments for English 500 center on the course requirements for English 103.

Attendance policy: Attendance is required.

Plagiarism Statement: "The attempt of any student to present as his or her own work that which he or she has not produced is regarded by the faculty and administration as a serious offense. Students are considered to have cheated if they copy the work of another during an examination or turn in a paper or an assignment written, in whole or in part, by someone else. Students are guilty of plagiarism, intentional or not, if they copy material from books, magazines, or other sources or if they paraphrase ideas from such sources without acknowledging them. Students guilty of, or assisting others in, either cheating or plagiarism on an assignment, quiz, or examination may receive a grade of F for the course involved and may be suspended or dismissed from the university." Northern Illinois University Undergraduate Catalog.