Praxis

When do you plan to take the Praxis II exam for your subject area?
-Winter of 2011

What is the minimum score that you must earn on the exam to qualify for your initial teaching license?
-For English I need a score of 168
-I plan on getting an endorsement for Art, which needs a score of 159 and a Theater Arts endorsement, which requires a score of 600.

Look at the topics covered in your exam. What do you need to do to fully prepare for this test?

I. Literature and Understanding Text
Identifying major works and authors of American, British, World (including non-Western), and young adult literature from various cultures, genres, and periods
Paraphrasing, comparing, and interpreting (literally and inferentially) various types of print and nonprint texts, e.g., fiction, poetry, essays, drama, and graphic representations
Identifying and interpreting figurative language and other literary elements, e.g., metaphor, simile, voice, point of view, tone, style, setting, diction, mood, allusions, irony, clichés, analogy, hyperbole, personification, alliteration, and foreshadowing
Understanding how patterns, structures, and characteristics of literary forms and genres may influence the meaning and effect of a work
Situating authors and texts within their historical, cultural, and critical contexts to aid in interpretation
Recognizing and applying various strategic approaches to teaching reading, e.g., applying cueing systems, activating prior knowledge, constructing meaning through context, and employing metacognitive strategies.

II. Language and Linguistics
Understanding the principles of first- and second-language acquisition and development, including social, cultural, and historical influences and the nature of dialects
Understanding elements of the history, development, and structure of the English language, including linguistic change, etymology, and processes of word formation
Understanding and applying the conventions of grammar, mechanics, and usage, e.g., syntax, sentence types, sentence structure, parts of speech, modifiers, phrases and clauses, capitalization, and punctuation
Understanding the elements of semantics, e.g., ambiguity, euphemism, connotation, and jargon, and how these elements affectmeaning

III. Composition and Rhetoric
Understanding and applying elements of teaching writing, including
Individual and collaborative approaches to teaching writing, e.g., stages of writing processes (prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, publishing, evaluating) and how those stages work recursively
Tools and response strategies for assessing student writing, e.g., peer review, portfolios, holistic scoring, scoring rubrics, self-assessment, and conferencing
Common research and documentation techniques, e.g., gathering and evaluating data, using electronic and print media, and citing sources
Understanding and evaluating rhetorical features in writing, including
Purposes for writing and the nature of the audience within varying contexts
Organization in writing, including creating and maintaining coherence
Strategies for the organization, development, and presentation of print, electronic, and visual media
Discourse aims, e.g., creative, expository, persuasive
Methods of argument and types of appeals, e.g., analogy, extended metaphor, allusion, and appeals to logic or emotion
Style, tone, voice, and point of view as part of rhetorical strategy
Recognition of bias and fallacies, distinctions between fact and opinion, and identification of stereotypes, inferences, and assumptions

Look at the sample questions for your exam. Can you answer them?
-I did pretty well with the sample question and got almost all of them right. I am worried about the books I haven’t read and the authors I’m not familiar with. I definitely need to study!!

When do you plan to take the Praxis II PLT?
-I’ll take this the summer of 2012.

Look at the topics covered on the Praxis II PLT exam. Compare them with the Table of Contents in our textbook and your syllabi/textbooks for any other Education classes you have taken/are taking. What do you need to do as a student to prepare for this exam?
-The categories are students as learners, instruction and assessment, teacher professionalism, students as learners, and communication techniques. These are really close to the class subjects they we have in the education program. I’m glad I’ll already have studied all of these areas, but I know I’ll still need to study a lot. This also strengthens my resolve to keep all my textbooks.

Look at the sample essay and multiple choice questions for the PLT. How does this preview of the test change your perspective of your coursework and how you study?
-This worries me a bit. I find that most of the standardized tests that have essay questions like this almost always default to a score of 2. It is both hard to know exactly what they are looking for and deep down I don’t think they want to give 3’s. This will be hard to study for because it is from a vast well of information and each essay could fill volumes, which is a problem of mine. I have a hard time writing concisely and tend to go on and on hoping to touch on the elements the person scoring is looking for.