Spring 2001 Instructor: Stacey Leftwich, Ph. D.

MW 3:30-5:30 Telephone: 256-4500 x3821
Office Hours: T 12:30-1:30  W 2:30-3:30   R 12:30-1:30
E-mail: leftwich@rowan.edu

Course Focus:
In this tutoring experience you will be expected to integrate and apply the knowledge that you have received in all your previous courses to develop a dynamic instructional plan for a student(s) with reading problems. You will be tutoring twice a week, beginning on February 7^th and ending on April 23^rd. There will be no tutoring on March 19^th and March 21^st (Spring Break).

Readings:
A packet of professional journal articles will be put together. The packet will be placed on reserve in the library. You will read the articles and respond to them in a journal (see below for more information).

Materials:
You will be required to keep a notebook. Loose-leaf notebooks seem to work best. Sections of the notebook should include lesson plans, instructional log, responses to the readings, and reflections from your tutoring sessions.

Assignments:
Testing (10 points)
You will be required to evaluate two students. These students may or may not be the students you will tutor. Evaluations will take place on January 24^th and January 25th. The times for the evaluations will be from 4:00 to 5:30. When the evaluations are completed, you will hand in the testing materials and an Assessment Summary Sheet to the clinic's secretary. This information should be handed in by Monday, January 29^th.

Observations (15 points)
All tutors will be observed at least three times during the session for approximately 15 minutes. Observations will begin on February 12^th. A sign-up sheet for observations and conferences will be placed on the Reading Department's bulletin board weekly. Be sure to schedule an observation time and a conference appointment.

Instructional Log (15 points)
A tentative instructional plan should be prepared before each tutoring session and kept in a section of your notebook. On the day of an observation, you should have two copies of your plan (one for me and one for you). Your plans should include instructional notes like the anticipated activities (e.g., reading, explicit instruction, integration of reading and writing), materials and methods. While you are tutoring, you should write "on the run." That is, you should write down what you and the child have read/written, the assistance you provided, and the responses of the students.

Lesson Plans (30 points)
Immediately following each session, you should take your instructional plans and prepare a typed written lesson plan that will be handed in for either a comment(s) or points. Lesson plans must be handed in on Monday following your Wednesday tutoring session. Lesson plans must be handed in before tutoring begins. If the plans are not handed in before your tutoring session, your plans will be considered late. You will hand in plans starting Monday, February 19^th and will include lessons from February 12^th and 14^th. The plans should follow the format given in the handout.

Response Journals (15 points)
You will be required to keep a response journal section in your notebook. All readings should have been read and responded to by the date indicated. Using a section from your notebook, you are to record a brief summary, a response and reflections on the readings. Your purpose for reading the required articles is to react thoughtfully as a teacher in training and a learner. You are to share your views and where applicable, discuss how the information relates to your student. You do not have to agree with the points of view presented, but you should respond in terms of your own experiences as an observer of children and particularly in terms of your present experience of tutoring.

Final Reflective Essay (5 points)
You will be required to write a 2-4 page reflective essay which will integrate what you have learned from the course readings with your experiences as a tutor this semester. The essay should explore either change in your teaching behavior over the term and/or describe one or two strategies discussed in the readings you used that proved effective with each child. You should use quotes from your response journal and examples from your instructional logs to illustrate the points you are making in your essay.

Final Report (10 points)
Final reports will be written for your student. These reports will be sent to the parents. The rough draft will be due on April 30^th. It will be returned by May 2^nd. The final copy is due on May 7^th. Think of your rough draft as your final draft. In other words, points will be determined by the number of times the rough draft needs revising.

Attendance:
It is very important that you attend all tutoring sessions. If you are absent, you must call the clinic's secretary. Unexcused absences will affect your tutoring grade. Although I expect a telephone call if you will be absent, this call does not excuse you from tutoring. Doctor's appointments, funerals, etc., must be accompanied by a note, program, etc. If you are absent, you are required to make up the session. If the student is absent, you are not required to make up the session, but you may do so if desired. Please let me know if you need to make up sessions or extend the tutoring beyond the hour.

Expectations of Papers:
Papers, lesson plans, response journal, etc. are due on the due dates. Points will be deducted for late papers. If assignments are not handed in on or before the due date, you will receive a full point deduction for each day late (this includes the weekend). Papers are not accepted after the third day and will result in receiving a 0 for the assignment. The final report and the reflective essay should be grammatically correct and typed (double space with a typed size no larger than 12) or points will be deducted.

Grades:
A= 94-100 A-= 93-90

B+= 87-89 B= 84-86 B-= 80-83

C+= 77-79 C= 74-76 C-= 70-73

D+= 67-69 D= 64-66 D-= 60-63

F= 59 and below