Space: 029 State Hall / Time: Tuesdays, 3-5 PM / Instructor: Dr. Jeff Pruchnic / Office: 9308, 5057 Woodward (Maccabees Bldg.) / Office Hours: Tuesdays 10-11:30 AM & by Appointment / Phone: 313-577-3060 (office); 814-574-0252 (mobile)
As a continuation of the pedagogical training that began with the first teaching practicum (ENG 6001), ENG 6004 is designed to support your teaching of English 1020 at WSU (now that you are actually teaching that course) and in building general skills in teaching at a university level. Although the English 1020 course will remain our primary focus, we will also discuss the standards sequence of courses a GTA may be called upon to teach during their funding period depending on opportunity and particular research focus (e.g., Intermediate Writing, Advanced Composition, Technical Writing, Introduction to Literature) and will be visited by senior GTAs who will discuss their experiences teaching these courses. Although participants will continue to receive instruction in best practices for teaching writing, ENG 6004 also focuses on such additional issues as the role of teaching (and your teaching record) when you enter the job market. Most classes will be devoted to discussion of class readings and of participants’ ongoing experiences teaching English 1020 this semester. There is no research paper required for the course; graded deliverables include weekly responses to readings and other prompts, contributions to the WSU Teaching site, as well as the development of a working teaching portfolio.
TEXTS
All of our required texts are available for purchase at the campus B & N bookstore; additional readings will be provided online or via e-mail or Blackboard.
ASSIGNMENTS
Reading Responses and Teaching Reflections: For almost every course meeting, each practicum participant will be responsible for a reading response, a teaching reflection, or a teaching demo. Responses and reflections should be a double-spaced single page in length unless otherwise stated. We will begin most sessions by discussing reading responses and start our second hour with discussion of teaching reflections. Participants will also post their responses to our blog within 48 hours after our meetings so that they may serve as references for the rest of the class (teaching reflections will remain private).
Teaching Demos: Much like the Fall semester of the practicum, participants will again be assigned to do teaching demos. This time, however, you will be assigned to demo particular approaches/techniques/tools covered in our readings or otherwise relevant to our itinerary rather than (as we did last semester) sessions with specific learning objectives.
Proto-Teaching Portfolio/Statement of Teaching Philosophy: As part of our studies this semester, we will discuss the importance of teaching as part of your eventual job search in academia. As part of this objective, participants will create basic components of a teaching portfolio that they can add to throughout their graduate teaching career. For those of you teaching for the first time this semester, this will consist more or less entirely of a statement of teaching philosophy. The proto-portfolio will be due during our final meeting.
Blog Post: Practicum participants will also be responsible for contributing a blog post (on a topic of their choosing) to the WSU Teaching site. A schedule of the due dates for these posts is available here.
Lesson Plan: Participants will also adapt one lesson plan or assignment plan from their teaching this semester to contribute to the WSU Teaching site. You must submit your lesson plan before our final class meeting.
Credit breakdown for assignments is as follows:
- Weekly Responses, Reflections, and Participation (40%)
- Teaching Demos (20%)
- Proto-Portfolio (20%)
- WSU Teaching Blog Post (10%)
- WSU Teaching Blog Lesson/Assignment Plan Contribution (10%)
ATTENDANCE
All participants are expected to attend every session of this course. You are also encouraged to make use of office hours either by appearing in my office in person or chatting online via the “virtual classroom” option on Blackboard.
STUDENT DISABILITY SERVICES
If you have a documented disability that requires accommodations, you will need to register with Student Disability Services (SDS) for coordination of your academic accommodations. The Student Disability Services (SDS) office is located at 1600 David Adamany Undergraduate Library in the Student Academic Success Services department. SDS telephone number is 313-577-1851 or 313-577-3365 (TDD only). Once you have your accommodations in place, I will be glad to meet with you privately during my office hours to discuss your special needs. Student Disability Services’ mission is to assist the university in creating an accessible community where students with disabilities have an equal opportunity to fully participate in their educational experience at Wayne State University.
Please be aware that a delay in getting SDS accommodation letters for the current semester may hinder the availability or facilitation of those accommodations in a timely manner. Therefore, it is in your best interest to get your accommodation letters as early in the semester as possible.
ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
According to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences policy on plagiarism, instructors are required to report all instances of academic dishonesty and the responsibility to notify the student of alleged violations and the action being taken. Both the student and the instructor are entitled to due process in all such cases. Acts of dishonest may lead to failure in a given course, suspension, or exclusion
The above is plagiarized from the Wayne State Policy on Academic Dishonesty; for more about the definition of plagiarism, consult your local library.
