Course Calendar

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Meeting #, Day,  and Date

Morning

Afternoon

Prep for Mon.  1/22

Gather and bring to the first meeting of the Seminar the following important information for use by your University Supervisor (it is very important that you bring this information to your University Supervisor on the first day of the Seminar): 

• Data necessary for you to complete your "Student Teaching Schedule and Information" form (to be distributed the first day of the Seminar). This form records your teaching schedule (times of day for each class and planning period), room numbers, phone numbers, FAX numbers, school and home mailing addresses, e-mail addresses, and other information

• The school-wide bell schedule for your school

• A map to the school

• A map of the school, with your teaching rooms highlighted

• A parking permit and/or instructions about where your university supervisor should park

• The official school calendar for the semester in which you are student teaching, with holidays, in-service days, and other special events clearly marked

Prepare a plan for a unit of instruction that you will teach this spring. Bring 2-4 copies (including the original) of the plan so you can get peer response in our unit-plan workshops later in the week.

1

Monday 1/22

Introduction to the Seminar and to all participants. 

Team-building activities within supervisory groups and across the whole group of seminar participants. 

Creating a professional network in person, on paper, and electronically. 

Hand over the information you gathered for your university supervisor.

Read and discuss letters from last year's student teachers. (Their voices.) 

Read and discuss messages from this year's participants. (Your voices.) 

Vision Statements for Teaching English 

• What are we trying to accomplish as English teachers? 
• How will we go about it?

Draft a resume and job-search cover letter (or bring a sample) and a Table of Contents for a teaching portfolio, and maybe even some actual portfolio contents.  You will have the opportunity to workshop your job-search materials on Tuesday afternoon.  

Study some materials on teaching portfolios, including this part of the web site for ISU's Center for the Advancement of Teaching (CAT):

http://www.cat.ilstu.edu/teaching_tips/port.shtml

Write questions on file cards or notepad paper for tomorrow morning's panelists (real, live teachers of English).

2

Tuesday 1/23

Guest speakers: 

• Michael Boyd, Morton High School 
• Marijo Combs, Shepherd Middle School (Ottawa, IL)
• Sean Conroy, Bolingbrook High School
• Beth Harbaugh, Morton High School
• Kate Klein, Richmond-Burton Community High School
• Christina Schulz, Palos Heights High School
• Jill Swanson, Hufford Junior High School

The Job Search and E-recruiting
Paul Schobernd, ISU Student and Alumni Placement 

Resumes and Teaching Portfolios 
Workshop materials in groups

Draft a plan for classroom leadership (a.k.a. classroom "discipline" or "management"). Include a reflective or philosophical or inspirational statement as well as detailed rules, procedures, consequences, etc. Aim for 2-4 pages. Tailor your plans to suit the cooperating teacher, students, school, and community with whom you will work this spring. Also prepare a five-minute mini-lesson on any topic at all so you can try out your leadership plan under what we will politely call "adverse circumstances." 

Write a narrative and analysis of a time when you were a "discipline problem" or "behavior problem," with a focus on what was going on from your perspective and how you and/or the authority handled it. 

If Wednesday is your day to workshop your unit plan, bring copies of your unit plan so you can get response from your workshop group.  

3

Wed. 1/24

Finishing your degree in English Education
Guest: Sally Parry, Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Department of English

Dramatizations and experiential exercises to try your hand at classroom leadership.

Workshop your plans for classroom leadership 

Unit Plan Workshop #1

Using the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) web site, study materials related to the writing portions of the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT): 

http://www.isbe.state.il.us/isat/writing.htm

and the Prairie State Achievement Examination (PSAE): 

http://www.isbe.state.il.us/isat/prairiestatenew.htm

Devote special attention to the Grade 8 and High-School (i.e., secondary) materials.  Post your ideas, concerns, and questions about ISAT to the Seminar WebBoard.  

If Thursday is your day to workshop your unit plan, bring copies of your unit plan so you can get response from your workshop group.  

4

Thursday 1/25

Evaluation of Student Teaching in English

The Politics (Local and Statewide) of Teaching English
Guest: Patrick Mogge, Office of the Governor of Illinois, Springfield

Writing to Learn in the Secondary English Classroom
Guest: Julie Hile, Principal of The Hile Group, Bloomington, Illinois

Writing Tests in Illinois

Teacher Placement Day (April 6)

HISED participation (April 20)

Unit Plan Workshop #2

Tales from a Reading/Writing Workshop
Guest: John Coppess, Bloomington High School

Prepare for your final meeting with your university supervisor prior to student teaching. In that meeting, you will make plans for your semester of working together. 

Write a one-page handout to accompany a ten-minute presentation you will give to interested peers in our Professional Issues Seminar "Mini-Conference." Your presentation can be on any professional topic you consider valuable to your peers and about which you are knowledgeable. Examples: a book or article you have read, a lesson or activity you invented, a tough question or issue about which you are thinking, an interesting teaching situation you encountered or observed, or the results of teacher-research you have conducted. Bring 30 copies of your one-page handout to distribute to those who attend your mini-conference presentation.  

5

Friday 1/26

Final Preparations for Student Teaching 
Arrange initial supervisory visits, discuss forms and procedures with University Supervisors 

Mini-Conference 
Each participant will make a 10-minute presentation on a topic of his or her choice to a small group of peers.

Write thank-you's to Seminar Guests

Send-off to Student Teaching
We wish you success, joy, strength, discovery, and insight--and good nutrition, sleep, and exercise.  

6

M 3/19

[Activities TBA] 

This is an afternoon meeting during which you will be invited to discuss what you are doing and experiencing in student teaching. Prepare to present to the group at least one wonderful or inspiring aspect of your teaching and at least one frustrating or perplexing aspect.

7

F 4/6

If you do not attend the job fair, you should teach as usual on this day.  

8

F 4/20

8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Bone Student Center, Illinois State University

9

T 5/1

Highs and lows of student teaching: 

• Enjoy improvisational dramas 
• Discuss excerpts from teaching journals 

Write letters to next year’s ST’s

Evaluation of your student-teaching experience: Cooperating Teacher, University Supervisor, Professional Issues Seminar 

Final reflections 

English Education Banquet (evening): attendance REQUIRED for all student teachers

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