Biography

Carrie L. James is a doctoral candidate in Language and Literacy with a concentration in Writing Studies. Carrie earned two bachelor's degrees - one in English literature and another in news/editorial journalism at the University of Missouri - Columbia. In 2004, she earned her M.S. in English Education from Queens College as part of the New York City Teaching Fellows program. She taught in New York City middle and high schools for 14 years before joining the doctoral program here at the University of Illinois. During her time in the PhD program, Carrie has served as a consultant at the Writers Workshop, a field supervisor through School and Community Experiences, a research assistant at the Siebel Center for Design, and an instructor and teaching assistant for C& I & Writing Studies courses. Her research interests include teacher preparation in writing instructional methods - particularly multimodal composing pedagogies. Additionally, Carrie is interested in researching educational technology that might support students’ writing development, student engagement in writing and composing, assessment and feedback practices, and how literacy practices move and are taken up by both teachers and students, particularly in secondary English classrooms. Her most recent research focuses on the impact of engaging pre-service teachers in Human-centered design as well as a critical analysis of the English language arts edTPA exam for middle and high school grades.

Courses

CI 401: Introductory Teaching in a Diverse Society (CI 401) Orients the student to ways in which English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies or Computer Science is learned in school settings. Integrates an introduction to the use of technology as both a tool and a context for teaching and learning. As participants in a series of learning activities, students will reflect on the teaching and learning of English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies or Computer Science from an inquiry oriented perspective. Coursework is integrated with a school field experience to connect theory with practice in an examination of research and current trends.

CI 404: Teaching and Assessing Secondary School Students (CI 404) Emphasizes the practical application of theory and recommended practices for developing curriculum, teaching, and assessing learning in the middle and senior high school years.

CI 476: Teaching Elementary and Middle Grade Language Arts (CI 476) Second of a two-course sequence that examines the basic theories, issues, methods, and materials for a developmental K-8 language arts program. It continues to emphasize the need to integrate the four language arts (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) as tools for learning across the curriculum. This second course, however, places a relatively greater emphasis on writing than on reading, speaking, and listening. Continues to address cultural diversity in language arts instruction, with emphasis on linguistic diversity.