course learning tasks

beginning of Semester reflection (50 points)

At the beginning of the semester, you will complete a 500-750 word essay in which you will reflect on your experiences as language student and how these experiences influence your perspectives on teaching. More information will be provided on Canvas.

Reading & Video Responses (100 points)

The assigned readings and lecture videos are an essential component of this course as they will determine the scope and topic of discussion during each class session. For this reason, each course reading and lecture video will be accompanied by study questions (provided on the module pages on Canvas) that will help prepare you for class discussions and activities. It is your task to complete these reading questions before class and bring them to class (physical or digital copy is fine). Each completed reading response is worth 1 point. The percentage of completed responses will be applied to 100 points towards your final grade. If you miss class, e-mail me a scanned copy or picture of your reading response within 24 hours after the missed class to receive credit.

lesson plans (2 x 150 points; 300 total)

Being able to create lesson plans and materials is an essential skill in the daily life of an ESL teacher. In order to practice this skill, you will prepare two detailed 50-minute lesson plans with accompanying materials for a classroom context of your choosing. One lesson plan should follow the PPP format, while the other should follow the TBLT format. More details (including a rubric) will be provided on Canvas.

classroom observation (100 points)

One way teachers improve their practice is by observing other skilled teachers and seeing what they do well. To that end, you will observe one ESL class and write a 750-1,000 word report on your observation, connecting what you observe in the class with ideas from the readings and class discussions, as well as your own beliefs about language teaching. More details (including a rubric) will be provided on Canvas.

ESL Interaction (50 points)

To give you more experience interesting with ESL learners, you will attend and ESL class and meet with a conversation partner. Afterwards, you will write a 250-500 word report on your interaction, connecting what happened with ideas from the readings and class discussions, as well as your own beliefs about language teaching. More details will be provided on Canvas.

Peer Teaching Demonstration (200 points)

You and a group of classmates will design and demonstrate a 30-minute ESL lesson to your classmates. You and your peer(s) will be the classroom teachers, while your classmates will assume the role of English language learners in your class. This assignment will help you gain valuable experience creating and carrying out lessons. For this assignment, there will be three components:

1. E-mailing your lesson plan (including materials) to me and meeting with me to receive feedback at least three days before teaching

2. Uploading final lesson plan and materials to Canvas by 10:00 PM the day before your demonstration

3. Teaching the lesson to the class

Peer Teaching Reflection (100 points)

Within a week of completing your peer teaching, you will write and submit a 500-750 word individual reflection on your experience teaching. This reflection should critically assess your experience with teaching as well as connect your teaching experience with the concepts covered in course readings and discussions.

End-of-semester reflection (100 points)

The best teachers take time to reflect on their experiences and use those reflections to make plans for future professional development. To that end, you will complete a 1,000-1,500 narrative reflection at the end of the semester in which you discuss what you learned and how you improved over the semester and how these experiences will help you in the future. More information will be provided on Canvas.