ELAN 3461 Service Learning in Secondary English Education

Mondays, 4:40-7:25PM 116/117 Aderhold Hall
Professor: Peter Smagorinsky

Office Phone:706-542-4505

smago@uga.edu
Office Hours: Mondays, 3:30-4:30 and by appointment

Course Description from the UGA Bulletin

Community work with adolescents (mentoring, tutoring, etc.), common readings in education, and interactions with professional educators. English education majors build on individual and shared experiences and readings to examine issues of English education in public schools.
Non-traditional format: Discussion plus community service work.

My Description of Service Learning in Secondary English Education

This course involves UGA students who aspire to teach in a tutoring relationship with a community member whose cultural background and life experiences are substantially different from their own. This community member will be a secondary student enrolled in Classic City High School: A Performance Learning Center located at 440 Dearing Extension in Athens. (Other sites for tutoring and mentoring are listed at School and Community Sites for Tutoring and Mentoring). You will both tutor this student and produce a Course Project through which you will reflect on this experience and consider its implications for secondary school teaching in diverse educational settings. Your relationship with this person will extend through the semester by means of weekly visits to a school or community tutoring center totaling a minimum of 15 hours for the semester. In addition, students enrolled in Service Learning in Secondary English Education will attend class on campus each week. During these class meetings you will:

1. Learn Tutoring Procedures for your 15 hours of field work at Classic City High School: A Performance Learning Center.
2. Conduct Book Club discussions in which you discuss the readings in conjunction with your experiences from your tutoring relationships.
3. Learn case study methods in order to produce a Course Project for the class.
   

My goal for the class is for each of you to develop a personal and academic relationship with an Athens-area teen or adult who comes from a cultural background that is different from your own. Through this experience, you will:

• set goals for your sessions and, in conjunction with the person you are tutoring and the site administrators, develop a plan for meeting them.
• learn about literacy development from someone with a social and cultural orientation that is different from yours.
• get a teaching experience that will help you evaluate secondary English Education as a possible major.
• produce a Course Project that synthesizes your understanding of your experiences with this relationship and how it is informed by the books you read in your Book Club discussions.

Please download and read each of the following documents:
Clarke County Public Schools Volunteer Information Form
Classic City High School (PLC) Mentoring Guide
Athens/Clark County Criminal Background Check Form

Please also download and read the English Education Quality Assurance Contract, which outlines the expectations we have for professional conduct during your work at Classic City High School: A Performance Learning Center.

The following link takes you to an article on sexual attractions between female teachers and male students. You will be only slightly older than the students you work with and need to be aware of pitfalls of attractions to them. In particular, you need to be aware of the consequences of trying to "rescue" a "bad boy." The article was written by a UGA doctoral student based on her Ph.D. dissertation. Got your attention yet?
Johnson, T. S. (2004). ''It's pointless to deny that that dynamic is there'': Sexual tensions in secondary classrooms. English Education, 37, 5-29.

Note: The course syllabus is a general plan for the course; deviations announced to the class by the instructor may be necessary.

Another note: All academic work must meet the standards contained in A Culture of Honesty. All students are responsible for informing themselves about those standards before performing any academic work.

Final Note: I am required to say these things on my syllabus. I assume that someone who is planning to go into teaching will not be academically dishonorable or personally disreputable.

Please prove me right on this.

Spring Semester 2012

(Based on 50 minute classes (M-W-F), 75 minute classes (Tu-Th),
15 weeks of classes, 75 days of classes.)
Orientation Jan. 4, W
Advisement Jan. 5, Th
Registration Jan. 6, F
Classes begin Jan. 9, M
Drop for undergraduate-level courses (1000-5999) Jan. 9-12, M-Th
Add for undergraduate-level courses (1000-5999) Jan. 9-13, M-F
Drop for graduate-level courses (6000-9999) Jan. 9-17, M-Tu
Add for graduate-level courses (6000-9999) Jan. 9-18, M-W
Holiday (M.L.K. Day) Jan. 16, M
Midterm Mar. 1, Th
Last day of classes (prior to Spring Break) Mar. 9, F
Spring Break Mar. 12-16, M-F
Classes Resume Mar. 19, M
Withdrawal Deadline Mar. 22, Th
Classes End Apr. 30, M
Reading Day May 1, Tu
Final Exams May 2-4, W-F & 7-8, M-Tu
Commencement May 11, F
Grades Due May 14, M, 7 p.m.