Practice Day

Over the course of the semester you will be responsible for giving a teaching demonstration/sample lesson for some topic related to the teaching of reading and writing.  For example, you might be asked to create a pre-writing activity structured around the reading of a short story.  

These practice teaching sessions will require that you turn in a lesson plan and engage your classmates in the lesson itself.  Following the lesson you will receive feedback from your classmates and teacher (me!).

What this means!

When you are in charge of the practice day you will need to take charge of the class for 15 minutes.  You could do this by teaching a lesson just as you would if you were really teaching a class involving your topic, teaching it as you would for whatever age-level you wish to work with.  For example, if you present on post-reading activities, you could have everyone read something before the class and use that text as the basis for your lesson.  Then, you would have the class do the activities you designed.  After this, you will get feedback from the class. 

IMPORTANT:

Whatever topic you choose for your practice day, it must be both practical and pedagogically oriented.  As noted above, you might do this by teaching a lesson with your classmates as your “students.”  However, you can also present your information as if they are your fellow teachers.  For example, if you find some good information on how to teach APA documentation, you could share how that might be used in a class.  Take a look at the TESL Reading & Writing Forum (http://www.eslweb.org/resources) to get an idea of some of the topics that would be possibilities.  In essence, if it relates to ESL Reading and/or Writing, it is a possibility!

Do remember that you don’t need to always take the full 15 minutes for your lesson.  In the case of lessons, I expect that the rest of the class will give lots of input/suggestions after the lesson, so leave some time for that.  On the other hand, do not plan on doing a 5 minute lesson and then sitting back for feedback (see below). If you lead a discussion, it is expected that the rest of the class will actively participate throughout the lesson, and that there will be little need for further discussion at the end of the class.

Keep this in mind.  This counts for a significant percentage of your grade, and you should plan accordingly.  Consider what you will do and plan ahead!  Carefully go over the readings for that week before that week actually arrives.

How much time will you have?  Each person will have about 15 minutes for their practice day, or about 30 minutes for teams of 2.

How much is it worth?  250 points, or 25% of your grade

What you need to give to me.

Before

1.      Your plan.  This should include the goals and objectives you have for that day/lesson, as well as a specific and detailed plan of what you will do.  You must give this to me by the class before your presentation.  You may (or may not) choose to meet with me at that time (or even earlier) to discuss and get feedback on your plan.

2.      Copies of all the materials you use for that day.

After

3.      A reflective report of your lesson that will need to be turned in the class after your lesson.  This reflection should be similar to what you will do for the classroom observation.  This should basically tell me how you feel the lesson went, what you might do differently next time, what surprised you, etc.

Practice Day Times and people!

1.	Feb 5	Xiaowan Zhang & Carrie Wells
2.	Feb 12	KiChan Park & Roberto Campillo Then Yinghua Yang, Colleen Feng, & Eric Liu
3.	Feb 19	Julie Kierski & Omid Abdar
4.	Feb 24	Nagi Fujie & Martha Gast
5.	Feb 26	Catalina Sandoval & Yeonjae Lee
6.	Mar 3	Noreen Madden & Jude Krushnowski
7.	Mar 5	Chris Huh & Karesa Ross
8.	Mar 10	Kris Wingo & Maria Frank
9.	Mar 12	Beth Carroll & Jules Dubin
10.	Mar 17	Elaine Liu & JJ Reyes
11.	Mar 19	Muna Aullad Thani & Fei Chen Wen
12.	Mar 31	Jiaxin Xu & Jaqian Jiang
13.	Apr 7	Erik Lubben & Jon Bair
14.	Apr 9	Diane Mackowiak & Liwen Huang
15.	Apr 16	Stephanie Osborne & Jenna Suk
16.	Apr 23
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