“I don’t really rely on the textbook”: Mentoring a teacher candidate towards teaching content area literacy

I first met Lisa when she was an undergraduate student in my content area literacy course for secondary-level teacher certification. Lisa was a white female in her early twenties fresh with enthusiasm about the prospect of teaching social studies to adolescents. In my course, Lisa’s performance as a student was exemplary. She attended every class session, completed the reading assignments, participated in class discussions without dominating them, and consistently offered good insights about every pedagogical topic presented in the course.