So I graduated.
What have I graduated unto? For a little while I was thinking 6 months to a full year off would be something great to graduate to. These thoughts were of course intermingled with disdain for writing papers and completing seemingly pointless assignments (as all assignments seem pointless when approaching the end). After attending the Teaching Fellows' Senior banquette, I was reminded of my fervor for becoming an educator. No, teaching cannot wait. I cannot wait to teach, because those children need me as soon as I am ready.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
I hope...
wow. Freedom Writers. Intense.
I hope that someday I will have the guts to stand up in front of people whom I know are judging me from my core to my outward appearance and passionately say what I believe while asking them to push themselves to consider a judgment or opinion outside of their first.
I hope that someday I will be able to have such a climate of respect in my classroom that students will be truly free to speak their minds.
I hope that someday I will be able to stand up to individuals who use their authority in ways that diminish the lives of my students.
I hope that someday I will be able to take on the role of a teacher in a classroom where every student depends on me, but in which no student recognizes his need for learning. This is where progress is made.
I hope that someday I will be able to facilitate a discussion that, at the very least, lends students new ideas and ways to view the world so that they may be able to learn to think in terms of other perspectives.
I have a lot of hope....
I hope that someday I will have the guts to stand up in front of people whom I know are judging me from my core to my outward appearance and passionately say what I believe while asking them to push themselves to consider a judgment or opinion outside of their first.
I hope that someday I will be able to have such a climate of respect in my classroom that students will be truly free to speak their minds.
I hope that someday I will be able to stand up to individuals who use their authority in ways that diminish the lives of my students.
I hope that someday I will be able to take on the role of a teacher in a classroom where every student depends on me, but in which no student recognizes his need for learning. This is where progress is made.
I hope that someday I will be able to facilitate a discussion that, at the very least, lends students new ideas and ways to view the world so that they may be able to learn to think in terms of other perspectives.
I have a lot of hope....
Monday, April 20, 2009
Propaganda and Some...
I liked the propaganda activity because it was engaging. I think students would learn a lot from the same activity because they are so impressionable and don't realize it. It's sad that some of those forms of propaganda are allowed to exist, but it is important to remember that society lets them exist because it falls for each technique. To me, bashing an opponent, be it political or business, immediately reveals the basher's inferiority. Resorting to putting other people / products down only shows that you can't think of enough positive things to say about yourself/your product for 30 seconds; that is sad. However, millions of Americans tune into those types of commercials and listen, but do not evaluate what they have heard. Thus dishonest forms of propaganda continue.
On the business side of things, propaganda is necessary for success. My dad owns his own business, and even as a child I observed his salesmanship and critiqued his overly abundant honesty about his products. I coached him not to lie, but not to be the first to point out the negatives either. Focus on the positive. As you take in different forms of propaganda, it is necessary to assess what you are being told versus what is being sold in order to come to a balanced evaluation of what is really going on...
As far as listening in general, there is a reason friends who are "good listeners" derive such acclaim. It's hard to listen without anticipating speaking. We are all the center of our own universe and therefore selfish - which bleeds into our listening skills. It's okay, it's human, but we can't expect much in the form of listening from students unless we coach them and serve as a role model for good listening.
On the business side of things, propaganda is necessary for success. My dad owns his own business, and even as a child I observed his salesmanship and critiqued his overly abundant honesty about his products. I coached him not to lie, but not to be the first to point out the negatives either. Focus on the positive. As you take in different forms of propaganda, it is necessary to assess what you are being told versus what is being sold in order to come to a balanced evaluation of what is really going on...
As far as listening in general, there is a reason friends who are "good listeners" derive such acclaim. It's hard to listen without anticipating speaking. We are all the center of our own universe and therefore selfish - which bleeds into our listening skills. It's okay, it's human, but we can't expect much in the form of listening from students unless we coach them and serve as a role model for good listening.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Grammar
Being that I submitted my final observation results only seconds ago... it's all fresh on my mind.
I think the most significant thing that I took from the observation experience is looking at my cooperating teacher in her role as teacher for a second time - this time, after I've been in her shoes. I must say, I still think she is amazing! I also recognize that even amazing teachers have flaws. Or...rather, differing opinions.
I will be leaving Edu 300 with the question: How will I develop my grammar instruction? This was a significant thread in my reflections after observations and I think I am a little more decided, but I can't stop thinking that there has to be a downfall. I mean, why else would so many great teachers resort to such grueling methods of teaching grammar?
I think the most significant thing that I took from the observation experience is looking at my cooperating teacher in her role as teacher for a second time - this time, after I've been in her shoes. I must say, I still think she is amazing! I also recognize that even amazing teachers have flaws. Or...rather, differing opinions.
I will be leaving Edu 300 with the question: How will I develop my grammar instruction? This was a significant thread in my reflections after observations and I think I am a little more decided, but I can't stop thinking that there has to be a downfall. I mean, why else would so many great teachers resort to such grueling methods of teaching grammar?
Monday, March 30, 2009
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
I have mentioned my thesis a few times, but I think I failed to mention that I am doing my Honors research project on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Well, actually, I am focusing more on the 1939 film adaptation...but, for many, that is the only adaptation that exists.
Yes, there was a book. L. Frank Baum wrote it and it was published in 1900. I am utterly fascinated by the popularity and longevity of the film/story. The story, to me, is beautiful in its simplicity.
I intended to research the book so that I would have a knowledge base that would enable me to create a meaningful unit on it for my classes. Presently, I could talk about it all day, so I am glad that I chose the topic with that end in mind. I have coincidentally collected numerous artifacts that will be beneficial in the creation of a unit.
Because I want to be a positive adult in students' lives, I think The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a great way to start off the 6th grade year (crossing my fingers for a 6th grade position): it is a story everyone (yes, everyone) already knows; it's an easy read, but offers many insights; the theme is one that would most certainly set the tone for success, work ethic, and optimism in my classroom. Because middle school is a time when students often begin asking "Who am I?" the quest of Dorothy and her friends is all-the-more relevant.
I recently purchased a three disk DVD set that includes various adaptations of the story on film (before 1939), lengthy radio broadcasts advertising the debut of the 1939 film, documentaries, short (3 minute) segments about each actor in the 1939 film, and much more! There is so much that I can do with this resource!
There was even an oooolllld scholastic magazine replica included with the set outlining various teaching ideas for The Wizard of Oz.
As I was reading the book, the literary element that stood out most to me was irony. The Scarecrow believes he has no brain...but he is always the first to offer an intelligible solution for the problems that he and his friends face. Students could be asked to locate such instances for themselves and provide alternate outcomes that would not be ironic.
Okay. Out for now.
Yes, there was a book. L. Frank Baum wrote it and it was published in 1900. I am utterly fascinated by the popularity and longevity of the film/story. The story, to me, is beautiful in its simplicity.
I intended to research the book so that I would have a knowledge base that would enable me to create a meaningful unit on it for my classes. Presently, I could talk about it all day, so I am glad that I chose the topic with that end in mind. I have coincidentally collected numerous artifacts that will be beneficial in the creation of a unit.
Because I want to be a positive adult in students' lives, I think The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a great way to start off the 6th grade year (crossing my fingers for a 6th grade position): it is a story everyone (yes, everyone) already knows; it's an easy read, but offers many insights; the theme is one that would most certainly set the tone for success, work ethic, and optimism in my classroom. Because middle school is a time when students often begin asking "Who am I?" the quest of Dorothy and her friends is all-the-more relevant.
I recently purchased a three disk DVD set that includes various adaptations of the story on film (before 1939), lengthy radio broadcasts advertising the debut of the 1939 film, documentaries, short (3 minute) segments about each actor in the 1939 film, and much more! There is so much that I can do with this resource!
There was even an oooolllld scholastic magazine replica included with the set outlining various teaching ideas for The Wizard of Oz.
As I was reading the book, the literary element that stood out most to me was irony. The Scarecrow believes he has no brain...but he is always the first to offer an intelligible solution for the problems that he and his friends face. Students could be asked to locate such instances for themselves and provide alternate outcomes that would not be ironic.
Okay. Out for now.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Progress
Well, my last post got me moving.
Sunday was a day well spent on the research of schools around the area that I intend to live. I found one school that appealed to me more than the other 20 that I researched, but I found it hard to judge the schools by their incomplete websites. Maybe it is a good judge? We are, after all, in an era of technology...
On Friday I sent that thank you note to the Henderson County Personnel Director. I feel like my motive shines through as a antic to get my foot in the door, when, really, I was thankful that he showed up at the fair and felt that he should be encouraged to continue doing so. So I had TWO motives; one more genuine than the other.
Also, I started filling out my general application for employment as an NC teacher. Thankfully, it is a handful of redundant questions. Progress! I'm making progress!
Sunday was a day well spent on the research of schools around the area that I intend to live. I found one school that appealed to me more than the other 20 that I researched, but I found it hard to judge the schools by their incomplete websites. Maybe it is a good judge? We are, after all, in an era of technology...
On Friday I sent that thank you note to the Henderson County Personnel Director. I feel like my motive shines through as a antic to get my foot in the door, when, really, I was thankful that he showed up at the fair and felt that he should be encouraged to continue doing so. So I had TWO motives; one more genuine than the other.
Also, I started filling out my general application for employment as an NC teacher. Thankfully, it is a handful of redundant questions. Progress! I'm making progress!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Teacher Freeze. Rant. Stress. Rant. Breathe.
I'm getting nervous.
I know I should have so many forms filled out, and so many cover letters hot off the press, in sealed envelopes, ready to mail. But I don't. Threats of teacher-freezes (who even knew that they could throw that term out there like it's a bi-yearly problem?) are leaving me with sweaty palms and an uncertain view of my next few years. I'm frantically trying to begin writing my Honors thesis, a whopping 30 pages, while the stress of getting a job is knawing at me. I feel like the end of my student teaching was a pause on my teaching career, at least until I tie up the loose ends of my English major. At the job fair, a few weeks ago, a nice man from Hendersonville told me that I needent worry, that counties didn't even know what was going on yet. It was assuring, momentarily. He was the personell director, and he shook my hand three times and told me to be sure to call. Does he really care if I call? What would I say? "Hi, you shook my hand three times and told me to call. Can I have a job? I'm a Teaching Fellow. Surely that should get my foot in the door? At least that's what they say when you sign your life away to them..."
I had a great teacher in High School who mentored me through my successful attempts to be an over achiever (that began to display itself physically through various symptoms of stress); she used to say: "Breathe."
Breathe.
I know I should have so many forms filled out, and so many cover letters hot off the press, in sealed envelopes, ready to mail. But I don't. Threats of teacher-freezes (who even knew that they could throw that term out there like it's a bi-yearly problem?) are leaving me with sweaty palms and an uncertain view of my next few years. I'm frantically trying to begin writing my Honors thesis, a whopping 30 pages, while the stress of getting a job is knawing at me. I feel like the end of my student teaching was a pause on my teaching career, at least until I tie up the loose ends of my English major. At the job fair, a few weeks ago, a nice man from Hendersonville told me that I needent worry, that counties didn't even know what was going on yet. It was assuring, momentarily. He was the personell director, and he shook my hand three times and told me to be sure to call. Does he really care if I call? What would I say? "Hi, you shook my hand three times and told me to call. Can I have a job? I'm a Teaching Fellow. Surely that should get my foot in the door? At least that's what they say when you sign your life away to them..."
I had a great teacher in High School who mentored me through my successful attempts to be an over achiever (that began to display itself physically through various symptoms of stress); she used to say: "Breathe."
Breathe.
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