The Problem Students in Methods of Teaching English are preparing for careers as teachers of English in middle and high school. Much of their work in the class consists of simulation of teaching: conducting background research to prepare for instruction, creating both short- and long-term teaching plans for hypothetical classes, and conducting a demonstration of a middle- or high-school teaching activity for an audience of peers. I try to provide students with opportunities to give and receive commentary on each other's work, with an eye toward helping them understand the benefits of peer commentary for the classes they will someday teach. However, I have started to wonder whether the time spent in this exchange of commentary is justified. Though I model the critique before asking students to engage students in it, their spoken comments sometimes seem superficial and redundant. I grade the written commentary they provide on each other's sample instructional plans for completion only. Moreover, in my visits to actual middle and high-school classes, I see much less evidence of this sort of peer-critiquing activity than the literature would lead me to expect. Do the students' peer commentaries add anything to what I could provide myself? If so, what? Should I abandon this practice and explore using the time in a more productive way for students? Summer 2007

Methodologies & Types of Evidence of Student Learning Gathered Types of data: Text: Students' written commentaries (equivalent to 20 typed pages of text), 27 sample plans; my comments on the plans Other: (Proposed) Focus group interviews with selected students to provide a basis of comparison to my own interpretation. Data analysis: Qualitative analysis using analytic induction and constant comparison (Goetz and LeCompte, 1984) was an approach to the textual data. I scanned the text data for categories and relationships, developed working hypotheses, reread looking for additional instances of the identified categories, and modified the categories in a recursive and continuous process. Fall 2007

Project Summary The project consists of transcribing and analyzing the written commentary that students provide on one assignment, a draft of a hypothetical teaching plan based on a collection of multicultural short stories for young adults. I will collect the following information from each student to faciliate this evaluation: The hypothetical lesson plan The commentary on a draft of that plan written by a peer in class The commentary written by the student on the partner's plan. I will transcribe the commentaries, which are mostly a page or less in length and mostly handwritten, and will analyze them qualitatively to identify patterns. I will compare them to my own comments on the plans and note similarities and differences. This is a departure from the initial plan, which involved comparing commentaries written by peers with commentaries written by experienced teachers in the field and conducting follow-up interviews. Ongoing

Annotated List of Helpful Resources & References Many, J. (2001). Handbook of instructional practices for literacy teacher-educators. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. This is a collection of essays in which instructors of courses for preservice teachers explicate their syllabi. Its usefulness for the present study consists in illustrating how various theoretical perspectives can be explicitly embedded in methods-course activities. McCann, T. M., Johannessen, L. R., & Ricca, B. P. (2005). Supporting beginning English teachers: Research and implications for teacher induction. Based on surveys, interviews, and observations of three beginning teachers throughout their first year, this study provides some suggestions for teacher-education programs. These include providing preservice teachers with many opportunities to assume the teacher role among peers and encouraging students to imitate the practices of experienced teachers. Smagorinsky, P., & Whiting, M. E. (1995). How English teachers get taught: Methods of teaching the methods class. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English. Based on a survey of syllabi from throughout the country, this study generated a classification system fo methods classes, identified common issues treated in them, and listed types of assignments and assessments used, including opportunities for peer feedback. According to this system, my class corresponded most closely to the "workshop" type, emphasizing simulations and individual and group activities. Ongoing

Preliminary Findings, Results, Conclusions, & Implications Peer commentary was overwhelmingly atheoretical, which is problematic in light of the course purposes. Corollary: A workshop approach requires explicit discussion of theory. Merely participating in simulations will not ensure that students perceive the underlying instructional principles. Peer responses, though more detailed than instructor responses, were generally consistent with them. Corollary: Students selected for the methods course have appropriate analytical ability and can apply the principles they are taught in the class. Students in a methods course spontaneously shift between the teacher and student roles in response to specific tasks. Corollary: though McCann et al. stress the importance of cultivating the teacher identity, both imaginative stances--teacher and student--can be exploited in developing activities for the methods class. Spring 2008

Career Relevance & Impact I see five main ways the WTS program has the potential to affect my work: 1. Based on my close analysis of this one assignment, I have decided to modify the methods class in a few ways. I will place greater emphasis on generative theoretical principles, such as the distinction between efferent and aesthetic reading, by making them main topics and by assigning readings specific to them. I will provide a rubric for the peer-commentary assignment. And, in general, I will develop rubrics for individual assignments that are more closely aligned with the generic rubrics we are required to use in the program. 2. Upon further analysis of this data, I will submit a report on the study for publication, first to English Education and, if that fails, to The Reading Professor. 3. Paying close attention to this class made another problem obvious that can easily be made into a simple study. Students in the class currently are required to select an article from a professional journal to read and present in small group discussion each week. This can be studied in multiple ways, such as describing the choices, recording the minutes of the small-group discussions, and following up graduates to see if they continued to read professional journals. 4. Having done a classroom research study enhances my credibility when I teach courses or supervise master's prjects that involve classroom research studies. 5. The experience with WTS reinforces my awareness of a fact about how I work. I am most likely to engage in scholarship with colleague support. Without the meetings, the snapshot, and especially the telephone conferences with my two research partners, I would not have been able to get even this far in the study.