Fall 2022 Detailed Description: Seminar in English Teaching: Teaching Writing

The two-semester Seminar in English Teaching is a secondary school methods course that is designed to prepare you for future teaching. The fall course (Engl 725) focuses on teaching writing, and the spring course (Engl 726) focuses on teaching reading and literature, although it is difficult and even undesirable to attempt to fully separate these elements of literacy.

Working collaboratively, we will examine and compare philosophies of English teaching and learning, and we will work together to develop your own approaches to writing and literacy teaching. We will discuss theoretical, pedagogical, and practical ideas about teaching and learning writing; engage in reading and writing exercises; design and practice instructional lessons, activities, and assessments; and evaluate teaching approaches in peer groups and conferences. The goal of Engl 725 and Engl 726 (which are equivalent to Engl 710 and 792) is for you to learn how to recognize and affirm writing and literacy skills, and to consider how they can help your own future students learn to write, comprehend, analyze, describe, and evaluate various texts.

During each term, you may also take the 2-credit lab (Engl 725L in Fall semesters & 726L in Spring semesters) and devote thirty hours to a practicum project in which you will teach in a local school or build research about the writing and literacy practices of young adults.