ENG 504 Seminar in the Composing Process: Rhetoric and Analysis
ENG 505 Participant-Observations Experience: Composing Process
AED 663 Research in the Teaching of English
ENG 505
Participant-Observation Experience:Composing Process
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Welcome to ENG 505. ENG 505 includes one class meeting per week as well as a 50-hour field experience in an English classroom in a middle school or secondary school. Students in ENG 505 are concurrently enrolled in ENG 504. The fieldwork will enable you to investigate how research, theory, and knowledge about writing inform classroom practice.
Syllabus
State University College at Cortland Department of English
ENG 505 Participant-Observer Experience: COMPOSING PROCESS
Credit Hours: 3
Semester: Fall
Location & Time:
Professor: Mary Lynch Kennedy
Telephone: x2086
Office: OM 115B
E-mail: mary.kennedy@cortland.edu
Webpages: http://www2.cortland.edu/departments/english/wrc/
Texts and Web Sites
Reading assignments listed on course schedule: Bissex (in Daiker & Morenberg), Kanevsy (in Cochran-
Smith & Lytle), and Strickland & Strickland (handouts)
Excerpts from Posner, George. Field Experience: A Guide to Reflective Teaching. New York, NY: Longman, 2000.
Blackboard: participation in all aspects
TaskStream: In ENG 505 you will submit one project, the Descriptive Review, to your teaching portfolio on TaskStream. Subscribe at http://www.taskstream.com/pub/enroll/enroll.asp
Writing Resource Center: http://www2.cortland.edu/departments/english/wrc/
State Education Department: http://www.nysed.gov/
*NYS ED English Language Arts: http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/ela.html
National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE): http://www.ncte.org
Center on English Learning and Achievement: http://cela.albany.edu/
ERIC: Educational Resources Information Center: http://www.eric.ed.gov/
Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication: http://reading.indiana.edu/
See the ENG 504 syllabus for additional sites.
TaskStream: You will upload one project to TaskStream: the Descriptive Review of a Special Needs Student. Subscribe at http://www.taskstream.com/pub/enroll/enroll.asp
Course Description
A 50-hour field experience, supervised by the course instructor. Students must be concurrently enrolled in ENG 504.
Course Attendance Policy
Fifty hours of fieldwork and one ENG 505 class meeting per week are basic requirements for the course.
Evaluation of Student Performance
Website reviews |
10 points |
Fieldwork Log |
10 points |
Fieldwork Portfolio |
40 points |
Survey and analysis of students' attitudes toward writing |
15 points |
Descriptive Review of a special needs student |
15 points |
One of the following: |
10 points |
Objectives and Outcomes
Course objectives are keyed to the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) Program Standards prepared by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and the Cortland Conceptual Framework for Teacher Education (CF). The course is designed to enable you to
participate in field experiences in middle school and secondary school English classrooms with certified/licensed, experienced teachers (5.1) (CF Knowledge Base, Professional Standards, Diversity)
investigate how research and knowledge about writing informs classroom practice (2.5, 3.7, 3.7.1, 4.1)
research attitudinal factors in the classroom by administering and analyzing results of a survey of students'
attitudes toward reading and writing (2.3, 2.4, 3.3.3, 3.7.2, 5.1, 5.5.5, 5.2.3) (CF Technology, Social
Justice, Assessment)
become knowledgeable of and sensitive to diverse learning styles, aptitudes, and special needs by
conducting a descriptive review/ case study of a special needs student (1.3, 2.1, 2.3, 2.4, 3.2.4,3.3.1, 3.4.2,
3.7.2, 5.1, 5.2.2, 5.2.3,) (CF Knowledge Base, Professional Commitments, Assessment)
Academic Honesty
As a student at SUNY Cortland, you are expected to uphold the values of academic integrity at all times. Always submit your own work. Information about the College policy, examples of plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty, and the College's procedures for handling dishonesty are in the SUNY Cortland College Handbook, Chapter 340. Extensive information is also available on the Writing Resource Center: http://www2.cortland.edu/departments/english/wrc/
If you are confused about whether or not to cite a source, or about the proper way to do so, do not hesitate to ask for help. I would much rather assist you with your writing process than watch you make a mistake that could hurt your academic career. Another source of help is the Academic Support and Achievement Program (ASAP). Tutors are available at (607) 753-4309.
Professional Dispositions Statement
One goal of this course is to provide opportunities for continuous positive growth toward strong teaching skills and dispositions as reflected in the Assessment of Candidate’s Professional Dispositions. Positive teaching dispositions are a basic requirement for all successful completion of the AEN program. In the event of problematic demonstration of teaching disposition, incidents will be documented and the departmental and Teacher Education Council Fair Practice Policy and Procedures for action will be followed.
N.B.: A borderline or unsatisfactory evaluation on the part of a host teacher virtually guarantees you a grade of C or lower in this course. An unsatisfactory external evaluation for either field experience course (ENG 505 or AED 669) may result in termination from the program. Students who do not receive at least one acceptable evaluation from their host teacher in either ENG 505 or AED 669 will not be permitted to student teach.
Course Schedule and Activities
While you are in the middle and high school classroom, you will be observing, listening, and taking copious notes. During the fieldwork experience, you will also collect samples of student work, participate in classroom activities, tutor students, conduct mini lessons, respond to student writing, and assist with instruction. Don't forget to write a personal note of thanks to the teachers you observe.
Week 1 Orientation, setting of goals, discussion of preliminary assignment
Assign websites.
HW: Prepare website reviews and presentations
Week 1
Website reviews and presentations
Week 3
Website reviews and presentations
HW: Digest of Educational Statistics: student values and attitudes toward writing and Digest of educational statistics for 2006
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d96/D96T112.asp
Musgrove, Laurence E. “Attitudes Toward Writing.” Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning, Winter/Spring 1998/1999.1-9. http://english.sxu.edu/musgrove/jaepl.htm
Classroom Assessment: Creating a survey http://fcit.usf.edu/assessment/attitude/surveyb.html
Bottomley, D. M., Henk, W. A., & Melnick, S. A. (December 1997/January 1998). Assessing children's views about themselves as writers using the Writer Self-Perception Scale. The Reading Teacher, 51(4), 286-296.
Writing Attitude Survey
http://www.region15.org/curriculum/ATTITUDE_SURVEY-Portrait.pdf
Descriptive Review of a special needs student
HW: Descriptive Review is due 11/4.
Week 4
Construct survey of student attitudes toward reading and writing.
HW: Conduct survey and analyze results by 10/2.
Read Bissex, Kanevsky, and Strickland & Strickland
Descriptive Review of a special needs student
Present the review on 11/4.
Week 5
Bissex, Kanevsky, and Strickland & Strickland
Week 6
Present report on student attitudes toward reading and writing: survey results, analysis, and discussion.
HW: TBA
Week 7
Present report on student attitudes toward reading and writing: survey results, analysis, and discussion.
HW: TBA
Week 8
TBA
Week 9
TBA
Week 10
Present Descriptive Review of a special needs student
Week 11
Present Descriptive Review of a special needs student
Week 12
Relationship between theory /texts, your reading for ENG 504, and practice
Issues that stand out for you regarding the teaching of writing
Thanksgiving Break
Week 13
TBA
Week 14
Reflection on fieldwork experience: how it will affect you as a teacher
Submit cooked log notes and fieldwork portfolio.
DESCRIPTIVE REVIEW OF A SPECIAL NEEDS CHILD
DESCRIPTIVE REVIEW OF A SPECIAL NEEDS CHILD
Assignment
The teacher candidate will observe a special needs student over the course of the 50-hour field placement. This will be done with the permission of the host teacher but otherwise unobtrusively, nonjudgmentally, and unbeknownst to the student. The candidate will write a Descriptive Review essay (3 -4 pages) that integrates her findings with related research and discusses the student’s physical presence and gesture, disposition and temperament, connections with others, strong interests and preferences, and modes of thinking and learning. The final section of the essay will be a reflection on the process as well as how it helped to offer a greater sense of the special needs student and how to support him or her as a writer. The candidate will follow the collaborative, inquiry-based Descriptive Review protocol to present her essay to the class.
The 505 student uses only her observations. Using the guiding questions and categories in Kanevsky, she summarizes and interprets the observational data, distributes the review, and gives an uninterrupted presentation. The group reflects, poses questions, and asks for clarification. At the end of the review process, I ask for recommendations (based on Thurlow and other resources), pull everything together, and give a critique.
Resources
Bissex, Glenda L. "Small Is Beautiful: Case Study as Appropriate Methodology for Teacher Research." In The Writing Teacher as Researcher, eds. Donald A. Daiker and Max Morenberg. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook, 1990: 70-75.
Himley, Margaret, and Patricia F. Carini, Eds. From another angle: children's strengths and school standards :the Prospect Center's descriptive review of the child. New York: Teachers College Press, 2000.
Kanevaky, Rhoda Drucker. "Descriptive Review of a Child: A Way of Knowing About Teaching and Learning." In Inside/Outside: Teacher Research and Knowledge, eds. Marilyn Cochran-Smith and Susan L. Lytle. New York: Teacher's College P, 1993: 150-162.
Strickland, Kathleen, and James Strickland. "Special Education and Other Concerns." In Making Assessment Elementary. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2000: 138-166.
Thurlow, Martha. “Accommodations for Students with Disabilities in High School,“National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (NCSET). http://www.ncset.org/publications/viewdesc.asp?id=247
Learning Disabilities: Definitions.” American Library Association
www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/olos/outreachresource/roadstolearning/ld_defined.pdf
“Learning Disabilities: Common Signs.” American Library Association
www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/olos/outreachresource/roadstolearning/checklist.pdf
Checkpoints for Progress In Reading and Writing for Teachers and Learning Partners. 1998.
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/CheckTeachers/index.html
A Guide to the Individualized Education Program. U.S. Department of Education. 2000.
http://www.ed.gov/parents/needs/speced/iepguide/index.html?exp=0
National Center for Learning Disabilities. 2007. http://www.ncld.org/
Special Education Resources on the Internet (SERI). 2001. http://seriweb.com/
LD Online. 2007. http://www.ldonline.org/
Dyagraphia. http://www.as.wvu.edu/~scidis/dysgraphia.html
Learning Disabilities Association of America.
http://www.ldanatl.org/aboutld/parents/ld_basics/dysgraphia.asp
Resource Room http://www.resourceroom.net/readspell/dysgraphia.asp
In ENG 504 you are experiencing and reading about various theories and approaches to the teaching of writing. In your field experience you will be observing how writing is actually taught in a middle school or high school classroom. By the end of your fifty hours of fieldwork, you will be able to draw some interesting conclusions about writing instruction in the schools.
Four preliminary assignments will be included in your portfolio report.
Preliminary assignment # 1: to be done prior to your classroom fieldwork.
Read the pertinent sections of the Posner handout and articulate your goals and concerns for your fieldwork. Your primary goal is to investigate how research and knowledge about writing inform classroom practice. You will also articulate other goals and concerns. The goal statements will be included in your portfolio.
Preliminary assignment # 2: to be done prior to your classroom fieldwork.
Take a walk around the school and respond to Exercise 8.2, Posner handout. Add to Exercise 8.2 the following components:
3. The computer lab. How are students using the lab to type besides to type writing assignments? Are students there by choice or by assignment? Is it a comfortable, quiet working environment? Is a teacher or lab assistant in charge? Does he or she act more as a resource person or as a warden?
4. The writing lab or writing resource room. Does the school have such a facility? Who staffs it? Who attends it? How is it used?
Drawing upon your responses to Exercise 8.2, write a good-sized paragraph describing the school. You will include this writing in your portfolio.
Preliminary assignment # 3: to be done at the beginning of your fieldwork.
Use Exercise 9.1, Posner handout, particularly the questions under "General Comments," to analyze the classroom in which you are doing most of your observing. Compose a good-sized paragraph describing the classroom. This paragraph will also appear in your portfolio.
Preliminary assignment # 4: to be done at the beginning of your fieldwork.
Drawing upon (1) the Posner handout, but refining the questions so that they focus on writing, and (2) the NYS curriculum for writing, write a 2- to 3- page analysis of the "writing curriculum" for the class you are observing. If the class does not follow a set writing curriculum, write an analysis of either the school or district writing curriculum.
Fieldwork Log: 10 points
You will spend most of the fifty hours observing your host teacher. Spend at least two class periods in an English classroom with a different teacher. Your host teacher may be able to help you identify another convenient classroom for the observations and to act as a liaison for you.
Date each entry and indicate the amount of time spent (e.g., October 12, 1:30-3:00 p.m.)
Think of yourself as an ethnographer. Divide your pages into two columns. In the right hand column, take copious "raw" field notes. Develop a system of shorthand that will enable you to write rich, detailed, vivid descriptions. Describe every phenomenon in minute detail.
Think of each class period as a sequence of events. Keep in mind the items Posner lists under Lesson Profile, p. 103; the questions at the top of p. 104; and the lesson elements outlined on pp. 104-105. Each class you observe, make note of the amount of time allocated to in-class writing and the writing assignments that are given as homework.
Here are some additional prompts:
How does the teacher open the class?
What appears to be the objectives of the lesson?
Which of the NYS Learning Standards are emphasized?
How does the teacher motivate the students?
What classroom management strategies are used?
What teaching strategies are used?
Describe the teacher’s nonverbal communication.
How does the teacher assist students?
Are theories or practices you’re learning in 504 integrated into the lesson?
How does the class end?
After each observation, as soon as possible, reread your notes and look beneath the surface. In the left hand column, analyze, explicate, and thematize the events in a discriminating way. Draw relationships between your observations and the texts you are reading for ENG 504 (cite authors and pages). Ethnographers call this "cooking" the notes. Type up the cooked notes and save them. They will form the basis for Analysis and Evaluation section of your portfolio, and they will be submitted at the end of the semester.
Fieldwork Portfolio: 40 points
Please write this as a report, that is, in essay form in continuous prose. Submit it in hard copy and also post Parts I and II on Blackboard.
Part I (2 page minimum)
Goals and concerns: What were your goals and concerns at the outset? Did you reach your goals and address your concerns? Did any of your goals shift? How much progress was made?
This section is derived from Preliminary Assignment #1.
Context: school, classroom, curriculum
This section is derived from Preliminary Assignments, #'s 2, 3, & 4
Part II (5 page minimum)
Analysis and evaluation: Reread your entire fieldwork log with an eye toward recurrent themes, patterns, and questions. Write an analysis and evaluation of the experience. Provide information to questions such as the following:
•Across the fifty hours, how much class time was devoted to teaching writing or having students write in class?
•What relationship did you discover between your experience in the classroom and the texts you read for 504?
•What issues stand out for you with regard to the teaching of writing?
•What can you say about the teaching of writing in general?
•How will your fieldwork experience affect you as a teacher of writing?
Appendix
Include mini lessons, rubrics, student papers to which you responded, handouts, other materials used with students
Resources
Instruction: 10 points
One of the following projects:
mini lesson on writing
response to and evaluation of subset of essays
construction of assessment rubric
Resources
See syllabus for ENG 504.
Related Reading
See syllabus for ENG 504.
If you are a student with a disability and wish to request accommodations, please contact the Office of Student Disability Services located at B-40 Van Hoesen Hall or call (607) 753-2066 for an appointment. Information regarding your disability will be treated in a confidential manner. Because many accommodations require early planning, requests should be made as early as possible.