Southern Utah University

Course Syllabus

Back to Syllabus Search | Browse by Department
Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Spring Semester 2026

English Workshop (Face-to-Face)

ENGL 4920-01

Course: ENGL 4920-01
Credits: 3
Term: Spring Semester 2026
Department: ENGL
CRN: 13469

Course Description

Description unavailable. (Fall, Spring) [Pass/Fail] Repeatable for Add’l Credit? Yes - Total Credits: 10

Required Texts

2)      PBIS—Overview  https://www.pbis.org/pbis/tier-3

3)      Wong and Wong. The Classroom Management Book. 

4)      Burke, Jim. The English Teacher’s Companion

5)      One children’s or YA Lit book that you read when you were younger (pre-teen)

Learning Outcomes

Course goals: In taking this course, you will become more competent and confident in understanding approaches to teaching writ large. You will have required readings as well as readings of your own choice that we will use in class discussions and other projects. Students are accountable for their performance, which will be reflected in the grade they earn in accordance with the standards set forth in the syllabus for each class. Students are expected to think critically, read and engage with course materials, apply and synthesize ideas, and express themselves well orally and in writing. Students should expect this course to reflect the academic rigor to which Southern Utah University is committed.

Student conduct: Students are required to adhere to the behavior standards provided by the university and detailed at http://www.suu.edu/ss/vp/studentconduct.html. Students are entitled to receive instruction free from interference by other members of the class. If a student is disruptive, an instructor may ask the student to stop the disruptive behavior and warn the student that such behavior can result in withdrawal from the course. An instructor may withdraw a student from a course when the student's behavior disrupts the educational process. ALL portable electronic devices MUST be silenced (not just on vibrate). Laptops may be used in class to take notes or search the web when part of a class assignment. 

Professional Preparation: During this course, you may be asked to role play the part of students and teachers as I model different classroom approaches; you will also have numerous opportunities to provide feedback on what was modeled. One aspect of becoming an effective teacher is learning to appreciate the ideas and feedback of others as well as to understand how one becomes part of an effective community of educators. You will be expected to share your reactions, experiences, and questions with the class, often during our full class discussions but sometimes in small groups. Do not assume that everyone shares your beliefs. As you work towards becoming a professional educator, you will find that there are times when your perspectives and beliefs will be challenged. You do not have to agree with everything brought up in class, but you do have to interact with maturity and respect. 

You will also spend 30 hours fulfilling a capstone practicum. We will discuss this more in class; note that this experience will mirror the practicums you have previously completed. 

Course Requirements

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

1)      Attendance, homework, and active participation: Every day of class is worth ten points.  

2)      Practicum. During weeks 4-13, you will participate in a practicum at either a middle or a high school. You will need to ensure that your fingerprints and background check are current and make sure that you have your SUU English Ed ID card as you will be required to sign in and out at the school office. You will need a Time 2 Track account and all hours and activities will be logged through this account. There will be a total of 10 reflections for the practicum, and I will give you ideas in class as to what I’m looking for in those 1-page reflections; note that we will also use these as the basis for our in-class discussions of what you’re seeing out in classrooms. 

3)      Classroom Management Portfolio. A well-managed and organized classroom is vital to successful teaching and learning. As such, you will spend considerable time creating your classroom management portfolio. This portfolio will consist of five sections: 

                1. Before School Begins 
                2. Classroom Procedures A-Z 
                3. Progress Monitoring/RTI 
                4. Professional Philosophies: Teaching and Classroom Management 
                5. Avoiding Burnout: Self-Care

 4)      Professional E-Portfolio. In addition to participating in workshops and mock job interviews, you will create a free account with CourseNetwork to build your e-portfolio. This must contain each of the following sections and must be shared with the professor and each member of the class.
You are welcome to publish live but aren’t required to do this until your actual job search. NOTE: THIS IS THE FOUNDATION OF YOUR STUDENT TEACHING PORTFOLIO THAT IS REQUIRED TO SHOW THAT YOU MEET UTAH TEACHING STANDARDS. 

INCLUDE: 

• Masthead with a portrait picture of yourself, name, title, and logo that connects you to SUU (other pertinent logos are encouraged as is linking to Facebook [IF YOUR FACEBOOK IS PROFESSIONALLY ACCEPTABLE], LinkedIn, ResearchGate, etc….) 
• About Section with introduction (short autobiography), personal quote, and basic information (internship/tutoring optional)
• My Education 
• Expertise: subject areas and endorsement(s) if applicable, foreign languages, etc. 
• Professional Information including: • Curriculum Vitae (resume)
• Cover letter 
• References: contact information for 3-5 professional references 
• Place Holder for three letters of recommendation/ (ultimately, you want one from your student teaching mentor, administrator, and an SUU professor who can speak to your academic and teaching abilities) 
• Teaching philosophy 
• Classroom management philosophy 
• Lesson Plan Exemplars: Thematic Unit (Include a link to your 6-Week Thematic Unit Folder from 4900 and to your 3 week unit from this course) 
• Skills & Interests: connect to at least 3 areas 

Optional: *Video of you teaching with accompanying reflection paper *location(s) willing to work *photos of your classroom in action to illustrate your lesson examples *Honors and Awards *copies of publications/presentations you have completed *Leadership positions held *Other areas pertinent to you

5)      Rosenblatt activity: Transactional analysis.  You will choose a YA Lit book (or one approved by me) that you read in middle or high school and re-read it with an understanding of a transactional analysis. This is due any time during the semester and should be approximately 3-5 pages long; I encourage you to work on this early in the semester as the last four weeks of the semester are exceptionally busy with your microteaching and your unit plan.

6)      Microteaching: Lesson Plan, Teaching, and Reflection: In order for you to demonstrate what you have learned this semester in terms of designing and delivering instruction, you will be required to prepare a lesson (IN PAIRS) to present to the class. This lesson must be no more than 30 minutes and you will be timed. You must TEACH the lesson, not simply explain it to the class. I MUST HAVE A COPY OF THE LESSON AND ALL MATERIALS ON THE DAY YOU PRESENT IT. The lessons will be based on a topic of your choosing. 

Components of this assignment include the following:

Developing a carefully written LITERATURE based lesson plan. 

The focus should be on a literary text – comprehension, response, and analysis.

Activities should come from or be inspired by the Burke text. 

You MUST follow the lesson plan format used throughout the program. 


Conference/Collaborative planning. Planning with other teachers is a very important (and very worthwhile) part of teaching; it’s also very practical in that many of you will be working with, for example, SPED teachers or team colleagues if you work in a middle school. You and your partner must meet with me for a conference to go over the lesson plan PRIOR to your teaching it.

Lesson Delivery. I expect you to rehearse this lesson before teaching it to the class. You will need to practice pacing, timing, giving directions, handling materials, etc. Remember, no more than 30 minutes.

The lesson should contain an anticipatory set, some form of modeling, and guided practice. 

Again, the lesson and ALL materials are due to me at the beginning of class. The smartest thing to do is give me a “Dr. Boreen packet.”

Written Reflection on the experience – 2-3 pages. This is due no later than one week after you present or it is considered late. 

7)      Unit: 3-week unit on some topic of interest to YOU as a teacher. All students will present their units on April 26 (you will each have five minutes).  Your unit is due by April 26 at 4:30 IN CLASS or by e-mail attachment to jeanboreen@suu.edu (as I expect to see you in class no matter what). You must also upload your unit to our class Canvas shell. 

Course Outline

January 7

a)   

b)   Introduction to the course. Then Dr. B will overview transactional analysis and discuss how to approach the Rosenblatt assignment. We will also discuss your goals for this class and how I can help you meet those goals by looking at the individual assignments for this course. 

January 14

a)      DUE: Wong and Wong: Prologue through Procedures for the First Day of School (pages 2-87 plus plans on pages 277 – 286; Burke, Chapter 1 (pages 1-20); CourseNetwork Account

b)      In class, we will start with a discussion of what you remember from your own school experiences on the first day of class, then how the Wong and Wong text provides context for your memories and what you have/will continue to see in your practicum this semester. We will also discuss what Burke says about the discipline of English/Language Arts and why it is so important in the lives of our students and our communities. Finally, we will review what you need to put in your CourseNetwork Account to see what questions you have. 

January 21

a)      DUE: Wong and Wong: Procedures: For Students; For the Classroom; For Instruction; For Teachers (pages 88-207 and 228-267); Burke Chapters 2 and 3 (21-64) 

b)   In class, we will discuss the rest of Wong and Wong and discuss how we would implement some of these ideas in a middle or high school English/Language Arts class. We will also discuss the Classroom Management Portfolio that you will be working on; in conjunction with that, we will look at some examples of management plans and discuss the pros and cons of each as you determine how you would like yours to look.  Finally, we will start to consider our own philosophies of teaching and why these must be living documents.  

 

 

 

January 28

a)      DUE: Management plan; Teaching Philosophy

b)       In class, we will peer-conference both your management plan and your teaching philosophy.  We will also discuss censorship versus selection and talk about having rationales for book choices available for parents.  

February 4

a)      DUE: Final management plan; final teaching Philosophy; Burke, Chapters 4 and 5

b)      We will focus our day discussing how to teach writing in the secondary classroom. After the lesson I model, we will debrief and discuss the idea of the writing workshop and successful peer conferencing. 

February 11

a)        DUE: Burke, Chapter 6; AI Articles; practicum reflection

b)       We will talk more about writing workshops and what expectations we can have by level; in conjunction with that, we’ll talk about the role of AI in the secondary classroom. We will also discuss what’s going on in your practicum. 

February 18

a)      DUE: Burke, Chapter 7; Short story to be determined; practicum reflection

b)      I will model how I would teach the short story assigned for today and we will debrief. There will also be time to touch base on how you’re coming along with your management portfolio and your CourseNetwork portfolio.

February 25

a)      DUE: Burke, Chapter 8; Classroom Management Portfolio; Non-fiction piece to be determined; Practicum reflection

b)      I will model teaching a piece of non-fiction and we will debrief. We will then also talk about grading and I will provide you some examples of student work to grade and share in small groups. 

March 4

a)      DUE: Practicum reflection

b)      I will model a 30 minute class using poetry. We will then discuss parent teacher conferences to help you start thinking about how you’ll approach those in our mock conferences coming up after the break. We will finish the day by discussing what’s going on in your practicum that ties into how to talk to parents about students who are facing challenges as well as those who are flourishing in your classroom.

March 11—Spring Break

March 18

a)      DUE: Practicum reflection

b)      In class, you will have the opportunity to be part of “mock” parent teacher conferences; after you’ve each one, we will debrief. We will also discuss other issues and your practicum if time allows.  

March 25

a)      DUE: Unit plan. Practicum reflection

b)      In class, you will share with your colleagues your approach to your unit plan. We will also discuss any items you’d like to spend more time on in conjunction with that you’re learning and experiencing in your practicum.

April 1

a)      DUE: Practicum reflection

b)      In class, we will discuss how to stay motivated through professional development opportunities. We will also discuss your upcoming paired teaching.

April 8

a)      DUE: Practicum reflection

b)      First 4 teaching presentations.

April 15

a)      DUE: 

b)      Final 4 teaching presentations. 

April 22—Portfolio share during last class meeting; due by 4:30.  

 

Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work

Late assignments will not be accepted.

Attendance Policy

Attendance, homework, and active participation: Every day of class is worth ten points.  If you aren't in class, you can't participate. You are going to be a teacher, so I expect you to be here, just as you will need to be at school every day, on time, and prepared to work.

Course Fees

None

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.