Department of English
English 500, Fall Semester 2005
Instructors and office hours: Michael Day, Reavis 215B, 753-6603, mday@niu.edu; T, Th 2-4 and by appointment
Ellen Franklin, Reavis 326, 753-6628, efrankli@niu.edu; T,Th 9-11 and by appointment
Eric Hoffman, Reavis 308, 753-6588, nwr@niu.edu; MWF 4-5 in NWR (Reavis 308)
Meeting time and place:
M 2-3:15 in Reavis 201
W 2-3:15 in Reavis 203 (RJL1)
E-Mail: We will normally reply within 2 working days.
Catalogue Description: Internship in the College Teaching of English:
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, and for the certificate of advanced study. Only 3 semester hours of English 500 may be applied toward other master's or doctoral program options in English.
Course Description:
English 500 supports the new graduate Teaching Interns (TIs) in the First-Year Composition Program by introducing them to the pedagogy of first-year composition--including theories of composition, classroom management, course preparation and lesson plans, writing assignments, guidance and evaluation of students, and the conduct of networked writing labs. The course proceeds through lecture, demonstration, readings, discussion, and practice teaching designed to develop professional confidence in graduate teaching assistants as they teach the university's core requirement in written communication. In English 500, our assignments will center on the course requirements for English 103 and the demands of teaching First-Year Composition.
Required texts:
* Michael Petracca and Madeleine Sorapure, Common Culture, Fourth Ed.
* Ann Raimes, Keys For Writers, Fourth Ed. (Special Edition for NIU)
* Mike Rose, Lives on the Boundary
* Irene Clark, Concepts in Composition
* Erika Lindemann, A Rhetoric for Writing Teachers, Fourth Ed.
* Josephine Tarvers and Cynthia Moore, Teaching in Progress: Theories, Practices, and
Scenarios, Third Ed.
* Kathleen Blake Yancey, Reflection in the Writing Classroom
Goals and Objectives:
Goal #1
To encourage our First-Year Composition students to think of themselves as writers and to begin to recognize a larger audience beyond the instructor.
Objectives
* 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 First-Year Composition Program as a whole. To this end we will participate in the program-wide calibration sessions later in the year.
* Beginning early in November, the instructors in English 500 will evaluate your grading of one set of student essays. You are encouraged to discuss these evaluations in individual conferences.
Goal #2
To establish good classroom management procedures and instructional skills.
Objectives
* 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 one of the English 500 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 once during the semester by the instructors on a mutually agreed-upon date. Your observation will be followed by an individual conference with one of the English 500 instructors.
* Later in the semester, one of us will review one set of commented upon and graded papers from your 103 class and offer you comments and advice in written form. You are encouraged to follow up this activity with a conference with one of us.
Goal #3
To increase computer proficiency in order to facilitate more effective computer use among students.
Objectives
* To develop our computer skill and confidence, each week on Wednesday the class will meet in RJL1 (Reavis 203) 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 prompts on reading and writing assignments.
*To more fully explore the possibilities for webbed writing and electronic portfolios, you will create and have your students create an electronic portfolio demonstrating your growth as a teacher of writing and your students’ growth as writers.
Goal #4
To enable Teaching Interns to spot and stop violations of academic integrity.
Objectives
* 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.
Goal #5
To promote the values of critical thinking, multicultural sensitivity, racial harmony, and gender-neutral language among our students.
Objectives
* To promote critical thinking, we will model it for our students and assign readings that will focus on topics that 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, sexual orientation, 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 "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.
Goal #6
To encourage Teaching Interns to make their own pedagogical decisions and prepare themselves for independent teaching.
Objectives
*To think about the planning of our own courses, we will empower a textbook 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 document pedagogical decisions and dilemmas, as well as prepare for future teaching careers, we will create electronic teaching portfolios and update them throughout the year.
Goal #7
To network among ourselves and create a sense of community among Teaching Interns.
Objectives
* To facilitate communication, we have established a course WebBoard (http://webboard.engl.niu.edu/default.asp?boardid=engl500) on 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 TA offices.
Requirements:
1. Attend the pre-semester seminar week August 15-19 and meet twice a week throughout the semester on Monday in Reavis 201 and Wednesday in Reavis 203 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 during the first week of meetings and participate in 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. Collaborate with your colleagues to select and present on readings from our required texts.
5. Use our class WebBoard (http://webboard.engl.niu.edu/default.asp?boardid=engl500) to share ideas with and ask questions of our class community.
6. Return student writing within five working days from the time it was submitted.
7. Create an electronic teaching portfolio and update it throughout the semester.
As a result of your work in English 500, you will receive a grade and a recommendation concerning continuation in the program. 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 First-Year Composition 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.
Electronic Teaching Portfolios: Your electronic teaching portfolio should be an ongoing record of your growth and abilities as a teacher. You will continue to use this portfolio in both semesters of English 500, and hopefully throughout your teaching career.
At the conclusion of the Fall semester of English 500, your portfolio may include artifacts and reflective pieces that demonstrate:
· Methods to encourage First-Year Composition students to think of themselves as writers and to begin to recognize a larger audience beyond the instructor
· Your own philosophy of teaching
· Classroom management techniques
· Effective use of technology, particularly web-based technologies, in the teaching of composition
· Familiarity with a range of theories and practices in the field of Rhetoric and Composition, and the ability to apply those theories and practices where applicable
· Participation in a community of writers, teachers and scholars
· Familiarity with approaches to teaching for diverse classroom populations (e.g. learning styles, multicultural issues, disability issues)
· Reflection on the shift from student to teacher, and on the nature of these subject positions
· Reflections of teaching challenges, discoveries, and successes
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 2004-05 Graduate Catalog, p. 21).
Disabilities: If you have a disability or any other special circumstance that may have some impact on your work in this class, and for which you may require some type of accommodation, please contact one of us early in the semester so that appropriate arrangements can be made. The NIU Center for Access-Ability Resources (CAAR), located on the 4th floor of the University Health Service (753-1303), is the designated office on campus to provide services and accommodations to students with diagnosed disabilities. You need to provide documentation of your disability to that office.