Learning Letter

I feel that the blog postings in this class were of a good length and regularity that I had time to think about each of our readings or assignments before we covered them in class, while leaving plenty of room to explore the readings in class and on our own. I also liked the open-ended nature of them, where the only requirements were a certain word count and completion, because it allowed us to bring our unique thoughts to our readings, similar to the discussion method of instruction discussed in this class. This is something that I would really like to incorporate into my own classrooms. Allowing the students to post to a blog allows them to use technology, which the middle school students I have seen really enjoy, and it also allows them to do so in the comfort of their own home, which many students are more comfortable with. I also like that it allows them to say what they want to say, which I can see for many students as something which is necessary to get them engaged in the class.

I was glad I was able to use the same book, The Outsiders, for most of this quarter. It made it easier for me to learn new concepts and see how they related to each other, and to see multiple ways of using the same text. I got to see the text used in my classroom, and this was very helpful when I structured my unit plan around the text and how it was being used to teach other concepts. The book talk was a useful assignment as it allowed me some time to think about how I would use this book before I did use it to help me construct my unit plan. I was able to develop my ideas for how to use it across the quarter. It was also a good way to hear useful information about the use and application of other young adult texts as teaching materials from my fellow students.

The mini lesson is the assignment that immediately felt the most useful to me as a future teacher, although the unit plan probably had more overall usefulness. I have enjoyed teaching the mini-lesson in this class and in my composition process class because I got to actually practice teaching a lesson, and then immediately receive feedback from my fellow teacher candidates about their experience of the lesson, and their range of ideas on how to improve and what worked well. It was also useful to teach a lesson which was shorter than the ones I am used to observing in an actual classroom, both to practice time management skills, and because there will be days in an actual classroom that are not the usual length, and I will need to learn to adjust as I attempted to do for the mini-lesson. I enjoyed working with the text that I worked with, and felt that I will have something I can base future lesson ideas on.

My unit plan was closely tied to my field experience this quarter, because it was either directly based on lessons which I taught, or adapted from lessons I had observed in the case of most of the lesson plans. I think this assignment was valuable because it is the only time that we have turned in lesson plans that we have gotten practice tying them in with other lesson plans in the context of a unit. While the lessons we teach in our practicum are usually isolated like the single lesson plans, this unit plan assignment was valuable to us as we get closer to student teaching. The most difficult aspect for me was being able to tie my lessons into specific research and theory. In our education classes, we have received a lot of textbooks and other examples of educational theory, but usually not in the form of specific academic papers. Our textbooks refer to these academic papers, but usually break down the research into information that is easier for us to absorb. I think for future teacher candidates, it would be useful to have practice connecting lesson plans to specific research in smaller assignments before we get to the unit plan, both in other classes and in this class.

The main educational idea that I take away from this class is the idea of changing the focus of teaching literature from giving students answers, or the "banking" method, into one in which students become involved in a discussion. I like that discussion allows students to provide their own answers, since they are so very unique. I like this idea for several reasons simultaneously. Many students like to talk about themselves, and using this approach is a great way to get otherwise off-task students like that engaged. This approach could be engaging to all the students because they are thinking and providing answers that have personal meaning to them, instead of just memorizing someone else's answers. I like that we were able to practice this approach in class, to get a preview of how it might look in our own classrooms and how we would use it.

I also appreciated how we were read to in this class, as it gave us time to relax but still learn at the start of class. As evidenced by my unit plan, this is something I plan to incorporate heavily into my future lessons in the classroom. This practice was used differently in my English placement classroom this quarter. There were some days when he would read to them for most or all of a lesson. I feel that having reading at the start, and at most the first half of the lesson, would be the most effective, because it still leaves half of the lesson for students to show their comprehension and complete other learning tasks, and it makes it easier to use the literature as a learning tool. I also think it will be good to read to the students at the start of the lesson, because as my English mentor teacher explained to me, leaving middle school students to read on their own at home results in all of the students being at different places in the book, and it is very hard to plan lessons around that. It is also useful to read to the students because it gets their attention and holds it very effectively, and can help students who have trouble with reading to comprehend the text and keep up with the rest of the class. The discussion method has been incorporated into reading to them in my English placement classroom, as the teacher will stop to ask students questions about what is happening in the text, and this is something I tried to include in my unit plan, and will try to do in my own classroom in the future.

My participation in the class has influenced how I think of myself as a teacher in three main ways. First, it has made me more conscious of how I prepare for and respond to my students. I had not realized at all during my mini-lessons that I had made their answers sound obvious or easy, but that was the impression that I created. I think I am usually careful to praise student answers in actual middle school classrooms, but since I was not aware of the impression I created in this class, this will be something I pay more attention to in the future.

The second way in influenced how I think of myself as a teacher is that it has made me aware that it has been a while since I was regularly reading young adult literature, especially since I have been so occupied the past couple of years reading history books for my social studies major. I will need to expand my library of young adult literature so that I have more that I can use in a classroom, and this class has helped me to do that. The book I would be most excited to use, as a middle school teacher, is American Born Chinese, since the comic book format is a great way to lead into more complex, and purely text-based literature. I also felt the presentation of the material would be the most accessible to middle school students while still challenging them with important and complex issues, and being a quality piece of literature. I would also use the Old Man and the Sea text, but there were other examples of text used in the class provided by both the teacher and my fellow students that I am not sure I would use as a middle school teacher, at least not without consulting carefully with parents and administrators first.

The final way the class has influence the way I think about myself as a teacher is that I will need to do more research into the scholarly literature regarding teaching. I think I can use the references in my textbooks as a great place to start, but I will need to do more exploration from there. Up until now I have relied on my classroom experience and what I have been taught in my classes in the education program, as well as my experiences as a student, but I will need to be more familiar with educational research so that I can really understand and therefore better plan for and execute my lesson plans and instructional strategies. I will also need greater familiarity with the research so that I can bring my own approach to teaching and lessons that will work best for me as an individual.

Night

This was easily the hardest book to read of any we have read in this class. It is a painful and terrifying thing to imagine. There are many descriptions in the book of children dying, and each description was as or more horrifying than the last. The one that was most disturbing to me was the hanging, when the small child who had the angel-like face, was killed.

A major theme in the book was the lost of this particular child's innocence. He frequently became angry with God when he wondered where he was and why he did not put a stop to any of what was happening. The clearest image of this for me was when he saw the smoke and fire where children were being burned, and how this first started to drain away his faith on the first night.

In the English classroom I have been placed in, they are reading the Diary of Anne Frank, and most recently they have been watching the movie as well. So lately I have gotten a double-dose of this event in history as described in literature. The loss of hope and faith in this book contrasts with the majority of Anne Frank's story, in that she spent most of her story telling others to continue having hope. She was a strong, optimistic child, while the child in Night frequently had thoughts of despair and suicide. Eventually though, Anne Frank also became overwhelmed with despair when she believed that her parents were already dead, when in fact her father survived to make sure her diary was published. This story also took place at a different camp, so the exact conditions experienced in each was different. Anne Frank's came experienced a much more slow suffering and death through the spread of disease, while death in this story happened more quickly, usually at the hands of those who held them captive.

I can tell from reading this story and even from watching the Anne Frank movie that this will be a very difficult subject for me to teach the kids about, as it remains something very difficult for me to process. I personally would not use this book in a middle school, and I would even feel hesitant about using it in a high school setting.

Romeo and Juliet

The last time (and the first time) that I read Romeo and Juliet all the way through was last quarter during my Shakespeare class. Like many of Shakespeare's plays, it seems to me like a lot of problems would be avoided if the characters reacted in less extreme ways to things. There never seems to be much of a passage of time between when something bad happens, and when a character in a Shakespeare play decides to resort to suicide or murder. The only time when there was a lot of hesitation in carrying out one of these acts that I can remember is in Hamlet, and that was the focus of the entire play.

Like with the other stories that I read last quarter, I came to appreciate Shakespeare more than I had in the past. The difference in the way language was used then compared to how it is used now creates a barrier for many younger readers, or at least it did for me, but I was able to appreciate it much more here in college. When I had attempted to read this and other Shakespeare stories in secondary school, it had seemed over-dramatic, and confusing, but this time I was able to see that Shakespeare was really a genius with language, and was extremely witty. I was also able to pick up on how he would play against the norms of the time, and propose challenging ideas. For example, introducing humor in tragedies.

With this play, there is usually the question of whether Romeo and Juliet were really in true love, or just puppy love that they reacted to too strongly because they were just kids. Based on modern sensibilities, I would say they were just infatuated kids, but taking into account how other Shakespeare characters reacted to similar tragedies, and how people would get married much younger in Shakespeare's time, I think it is very likely that Shakespeare intended for the characters to be seen as in true love.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

This book reminded me of the Outsiders in that it did an extremely good job of telling a story from the perspective of the protagonist. It did so while creating a very realistic portrayal of the kinds of thoughts a young man would have. Even though the story was told from only one character's point of view, it was easy to relate to other characters in the story because their own faults and vulnerabilities were made plain even though a young perspective. It was also easy to root for the main character, because even though he was pretty hard on himself, he did legitimately face a great deal of challenges that many people in life to do not overcome. He also showed great bravery in the book, such as when he stopped, afraid to go to into the new school, and when he could have turned around and returned to his old school, he moved into the new school. Even though he thought he was just obeying the rules of behavior, it was also brave to stand up to a kid much tougher than him when he was getting bullied, although there were probably wiser courses of actions he could have taken.

I do not think I would use this book in my own classroom because there is some material in the book that could be considered problematic by administrators and even more by some parents, such as sexual content and language. I say this largely because I am in a middle school classroom. In a high school classroom, the students might be considered old enough that such material would be more of a non-issue, but I would still be wary of it because of parental concerns. I felt that it did a good job of addressing important issues such as race, socioeconomic status, and bullying, but there is other literature that addresses these subjects that do not bring with them such potential problems.

The Unparalleled Adventures of One Hans Pfaall

This story was unlike anything I've ever read from Poe before. I would not have been able to guess the story was by him if his name was not on it. Usually, his stories are written with an eerie, mysterious tone. This story was written in a lighthearted and even humorous tone. The way the people of the town acted seemed like it was designed to cause people to smile or laugh. The man from the moon had more of a funny appearance than a scary one. My previous awareness of Poe was that he wrote horror stories, but this story did not have that kind of feeling at all. As it says in the title, it was an adventure story, so it contained mystery, but not of the terrifying kind in his usual stories. This story seemed to rather be a kind of humorous science-fiction story. I do not know if that kind of story existed before this one, but it seems to me like it would have been one of the first of its kind.

It was not the easiest story to read. The sentences were very long and wordy. Sometimes it seemed the story went into more detail than necessary. I think Poe improved as a writer in his later works, since from what I looked up about his story, it was written when he was young and before he became popular. There was a part of the story that was humorous for me that Poe probably did not intend to be funny, which is his description of the science and technology involved in reaching the moon in a balloon, and what space and the moon would look like. I do not know how much of this was intended to be seen as clearly fiction, and how much would have been considered plausible at the time the story was published.

Readicide

Some of the problems pointed to in the book were problems we have been made aware of in the past. The biggest example of this is the problem of teaching students to a test. While I had known before about the negative effect this has on students, I did not know about the impact it was having on reading. Most of all, I did not know that students were being denied interesting reading materials because of the focus on tests. I noticed standardized testing having other negative effects when I was in school, but I never noticed a lack of interesting books in English class as a result of that. I found it interesting that the book recommended using books that were "authentic". In this case, that meant books that were applicable to things going on in the real world, things that would have an impact in some way on the student's lives. This goes back to our discussion of the requirements of the TPA in class last Monday, when we talked about how to connect students to their community. It is good to see that there is a way to do this that will also improve their skills as readers at the same time.

I also found it interesting that students are being denied novels in favor of shorter materials because it helps in test preparation while not necessarily preparing them as actual readers. This was something that I did notice while I was in school. Many teachers did not want to bother with whole novels, often telling us that we just didn't have the time, and opting for shorter works that could be printed out. Novels were saved mostly for the AP English classes, which always sounded more interesting to me than our regular English classes. I found it interesting that solutions in the book often centered around teachers taking extra initiative to bring better reading materials to their students. The focus on reading skills also seemed in line with the CCSS.

Differenciated Instruction

The article I used in my research on differentiated instruction was called Teaching Vocabulary Through Differentiated Instruction: Insights from Multiples Intelligences and Learning Styles, by Parviz Alavinia and Sima Farhady. The article focuses on a study looking at whether using differentiated instruction would have a positive effect on the ability of a mixed group of students to learn vocabulary. The participants in the study were all female Iranian learners from the ages of 15-20. All were given a Preliminary English Test, and all those that were included in the study were those who scored one deviation above or below the mean. The participants were also given a multiple intelligences test and a learning styles test. The participants were divided into two diverse groups, one of which received differentiated instruction, while the other did not.

The results of the study showed that differentiated instruction had a significant difference on the ability of the students to learn vocabulary. The authors of the study also cited a large amount of research, mainly previous studies that also supported the existence of positive effects when using differentiated instruction. Together, this study and the ones cited by its authors show that differentiated instruction has a positive effect on learning across multiple subjects and grade levels.

Some teachers are concerned with differentiated instruction because it sounds a lot more difficult than just teaching using a one-size-fits-all approach to instruction. However, included in the information from the other studies was the fact that teachers tend to find classes where they have used differentiated instruction to be more engaging and rewarding. Teachers who prepare to use it are better able to connect with their students, which makes learning more enjoyable, and most importantly of all, it increases student success. Therefore, the rewards far outweigh any potential downsides.

I Read It, But I Don't Get It.

I found this book to be easier to read, aside from its length, than the articles we have read previously. I liked the way the author would make frequent references to real world applications of the concepts she discusses in the book. I found it helpful to see these constant practical examples of what people do when they are failing to really read, and what successful readers do. I also found it useful to see these concepts explored both in the form of real-world stories, and also in occasional bulleted lists. This method of repeating the important information helped make it easier to remember. I also appreciated the samples of actual work the students could see that were provided at the back.

I also liked the way that the author described relating to her students as a former bad reader herself, and how the students responded when their expectations of her and themselves shifted. When I started the book, I thought that her personal examples from teaching would stop as she shifted into a discussion of the teaching techniques, but I appreciated that she continued to use them throughout the book. Often in the course of our education classes, we get real-world examples but soon switch to dozens of pages of educational theory without getting to see the practical side. I think I can speak for many teacher candidates when I say that we often want to know more about what to expect when our theories come into play in actual classrooms.

I also like how the book walked through the different stages of responding to and helping someone who is failing to really read. It was useful to see ways to identify what the exact nature of the problem is, and then go about fixing it. The description of comprehension strategies also caused me, as someone who has never had a problem with reading, to be more reflective about what I'm doing when I read, which will help me to apply those strategies when helping my students.

A Response Based Approach to Reading Literature

This article builds on previous articles in which teachers are encouraged to use discussion as part of a more open-ended approach to teaching which incorporates the voice of the students more than traditional views of teaching. This article focuses on using this method for teaching literature. I think I would prefer this method greatly as a student. When I was in school I always found that I enjoyed reading outside of class much more than reading inside of class, because rather than exploring a book it felt like I was trying to figure out how to arrive at the conclusion the teacher wanted me to. I really like the idea of a horizon of possibilities, which sounds much more exciting than searching through the book to answer the questions about the reading that the teacher had assigned to us from the beginning.

I also think using this method as a teacher will be more interesting because each person brings their own backgrounds and ways of thinking to a piece of art, and getting all the students adding their own approach to the material as part of the conversation could lead to me and other students seeing it in ways we might not have on our own. It will also be another opportunity to learn more about the ways in which each students is unique, and this will also help me to be a better teacher to them by responding to them as individuals instead of just more students. I am also interested in this approach because of the emphasis on helping students to "experience" the reading instead of just reading it and trying to remember it. This will no doubt make lessons more interesting for me as the teacher and for the students, and more importantly this will also help the students to learn about what we are reading. The information will matter more to them and stick with them much more.

"Teaching for Social Justice"

The article I found was called "Teaching for Social Justice: Translating an anti-oppression approach into practice" by Deirdre Kelly. Kelly's reason for writing the article was that she feels that schools have long failed to benefit students from diverse backgrounds equally, and also because the definitions of teaching to social justice have been different among different teacher education programs, and is therefore vague and difficult to implement. Kelly feels that while most teachers are good at recognizing the differences among their students, more needs to be done to recognize the different social groups in their backgrounds that created those differences.

She feels that both students and teachers should learn about times when one group has been oppressed institutionally by another in history, and learn how to be aware when it is happening and how to respond to it. Social justice, according to Kelly, is an ever evolving concept as we become more aware of the suffering of other groups, and adjust our exact pictures of right and wrong. Her writing seems to be based on the ideas expressed in our previous readings. She feels that social injustice can be imparted on students through the institution of school itself, and that in response to this, schools have a responsibility to teach students the skills of inquiry and critical thinking so that will be able to question and improve upon the institutions which deliver social injustice to them, both inside and outside of school.

She advocates a number of approaches for giving students the skills to create social justice, both in the classroom and beyond. One of these is actively opposing cultural imperialism, where minority cultures are forced to accept and adopt the customs of a majority culture. Students and teachers can do this by learning about minority cultures and celebrating them. By learning about minority cultures, Kelly feels schools can also counter marginalization. As students growing in understanding and empathy for those with different cultural backgrounds, Kelly feels this will lead to a reduction in violence between people of different backgrounds. By giving those students from minority cultures a voice, she also feels this will cut down on exploitation of them, as well as feelings of powerlessness among them.

Again, this reading continues to support the idea of education as a tool for student empowerment and questioning of traditional practices and power structures in society. This time, however, the focus shifts to what kinds of text to use to educate and engage students, and why they should be used. I liked how in this reading the author talked about how any text can be taught in a multicultural way depending on how the lesson is taught. I agree with the author that a good story can have positive lessons to teach to almost any person who reads it. I like the idea of students looking not just for differences but with similarities between themselves and the authors or characters of stories hundreds or even thousands of years old, and using is as an opportunity to get them used to considering those different from themselves.

I like the idea of using popular culture to engage students. As a student, I always found class more interesting when something relevant to my personal interests was included in instruction. By looking at many different samples of popular culture in an organized, critical light, students can learn to better see the cultural forces that are acting on them, and learn how to participate in creating the culture that they want to live in.

Certain works in popular culture, particularly fiction, can serve to inspire people, and I liked the part of the reading where, through making connections with modern popular culture, students could see that they are not alone in whatever difficult situation they find themselves in, including poverty. Perhaps even more importantly, they could see that there are ways that they can get out of those situations, or at least they can be inspired to hope and try to find such a way. I also enjoyed the part where the author discussed the intelligence of students who were assumed to be unintelligent when adults actually bothered to look at the areas of a students life that they were interested in, in this case, their preferred variety of music.

Peter McLaren: The Critical Pedagogy Reader

The reading this time seemed to me to continue with some of the philosophy of education that was discussed in the previous article, in particular the notion that school is a place where students are to be empowered. This paper was also concerned about the larger concept of society and how school prepares them for that society, including the notion that school can do this in a negative way. Both the writer in the previous reading and this one are concerned that improper education can leave students without the critical thinking skills that they view as vital to an empowered student and human being. Both writers felt that it was in fact the role of good educators to facilitate the empowerment of their students. An idea that was strongly expressed in this reading was that schools pass on culture to students, but they have a responsibility to do so in a way that frees them from oppressive forces within that culture. The best way to free these students is to teach them to be curious, and to always inquire about the status quo, particularly that of the powerful classes or groups in society.

I found the distinction between macro and micro objectives to be fascinating. As a students, I found the macro type of questions to be more interesting, and I suspect that those answers will be far more interesting to read as a teacher, exactly because they are more interesting for students to write. If the kids feel something about what they are writing, which is hard to do through rote memorization of facts, they are more likely to remember it and continue to think about it.

Finally, while we as teachers are taught to try to remain as objective and fair when teaching our students as possible, this paper acknowledges that knowledge passed between people will always have ideological underpinnings, which in the classroom results in hidden curriculum. I found it fascinating that the paper didn't suggest trying to eliminate all of those idealogical underpinnings because it would be impossible, but instead try to understand them and counteract any negative effect they would have.

Paulo Freire: Chapter 2 Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Paulo Freire seems to be someone very proud of his vocabulary. This was a difficult read, but after slowing down to figure out or look up some of the words, it is clear that he has some useful things to say about education. The part that I found the most interesting in this chapter of his work was what he had to say about when students are "receptacles" of information, instead of truly active learners. Memorization seems to be such a large part of the fast-paced learning here at college, but I have found that a lot of the time information can be quickly forgotten after I have finished taking a course. Throwing information at younger students is likely to have the same effect, and that's why teachers should keep in mind that students will continue to grow after they leave that teacher's classroom, and that students are being prepared for that time.

I identify strongly with the idea that education can be liberating for students. I believe that the more informed people are, the more power they have to create the kind of life they want to live. Students are often concerned that they won't use everything they learn in school and that they are wasting their time. While it is true that they probably won't use everything, everything they learn gives them more options, more areas they could pursue later in life if they choose. The more options they have, the more free they are. Contrary to what some people believe about teachers, I am not joining this profession to exert power or control over students. While discipline is unfortunately part of it, I want to be a teacher to help kids discover their own abilities and increase them. It also makes sense to me to see support for a view of education in which students and teachers have conversations with each other, because in my time in the classroom I've noticed that those are the kinds of lessons where students learn the most.

Common Core State Standards

The more familiar I become with the CCSS, the more I like them. When I originally found out about them, I was concerned that the standards were too similar to nationalized curriculum that would not be able to account for the range of backgrounds and experience across the country. But as I've learned more about eh standards, it is becoming clear that they leave teachers plenty of freedom to decide on their own curriculum, and what is needed to bring their individual and unique students up to the standards. People in some parts of the country might feel that they value different standards then the people in a different area. But standards being applied everywhere are important in the modern, interconnected, and globalized world. Students might need to communicate, cooperate, and compete with students from any and all parts of the country and with counterparts from around the world. Holding students across the United States to these standards will help them to be able to navigate this environment successfully.

When reading through the standards this time, I spent more time looking at the elementary standards than I had in the past. I was more struck this time with how the standards build on themselves year after year, so that students are brought up to the final standards in a reasonable manner. I was also surprised to see the map of which places have accepted the CCSS this time. I had underestimated how many states had accepted them, but I was more surprised to see that a couple of places like Guam had also accepted them. This showed me how useful the standards to get the new, interconnected world of students on more equal footing as they leave school and move into the workforce.

When I began working with the English teacher I was placed with last quarter, I asked her about the standards and whether she liked them for herself and for the students. She liked them because they consist of skills that are good for students to know, and were structured in a way that would be brought into curriculum without too much trouble. She also felt that they would be very beneficial to students who start with the standards from the beginning of their schooling. However, she felt that it would be difficult for students who switch to the standards several years into their schooling. They will have to adjust and get caught up on the skills in the CCSS without having the foundation properly prepared for them. She feels that there will be a few years of students caught in the transition that might not do as well because of having to adjust.

Discussion in a Democratic Society

I felt that the paper make a very good argument for why discussion should be included in the practice of teaching. The example at the beginning was a helpful look at how discussion can be both unexpected and beneficial. The list of benefits that students gain from discussions as well as their explanations was very convincing, and the detailed description of what a classroom discussion would look like had a lot of practical value for teachers. Personally, as much as I enjoy storytelling, I am also someone who does not like to get up and talk too long or too often. I have interesting facts to share with the students, but I am more interested in letting the students discovery interesting things for themselves, from each other whenever possible. I think that discussion will help the students to feel that the information we are learning in class is more real and tangible than it would be if it were just a list of facts I read to them everyday. It will help them to be more engaged if they can participate in a discussion by interacting with their peers. The middle school students I work with love to talk amongst themselves, and there are many lesson where it feels like the lesson is spent fighting against that. A discussion would be a great way to harness that energy the students naturally bring to the lesson and use it for productive ends.

I have noticed that discussion of this kind has been almost absent from my college classes, out of my education classes. When teachers attempt discussion, it is usually superficial, as the goal is not really to generate a democratic process of growth and understanding. The real goal is for the students to agree with the professor or to bring up a topic for him or her to talk about. In my public school classrooms before college this kind of discussion was more common than in college, but overall still quite rare. The focus was usually on memorization as we rushed from one quiz to the next. I think that both social studies and English will have many opportunities for students to have a discussion about the complex issues and works brought up in both subjects.

Introductory Letter Assignment

I'm Kevin Hunter, a social studies major and an English minor. I chose those subjects because they were my best subjects in school, I enjoy them, and because I really enjoy stories, and both of them offer opportunities for storytelling. I am in Education 341, and in my English minor I have only the Brit/American lit class and the capstone left to take after this class. I am in the second quarter of my practicum at Cheney Middle School.

My strengths as a potential teacher are that I enjoy the subjects I teach and I feel confident that I will be knowledgeable in my subjects. I am also usually well-organized, and I am good about carefully planning ahead for things. I am also observant enough that I think I will be able to recognize when a plan isn't working and make adjustments. One of my weaknesses is that it is difficult for me to get very enthusiastic about the level of the material being taught in the middle school classes I have been placed in. I am not very interested in memorizing names and dates in social studies, and grammar is mostly boring to me. This suggests to me that a high school might be a better fit for me in the future, but until then I want to make sure I can still make these basics interesting to the students. Also, it is difficult for me to connect with a classroom of 30 people, and it is a challenge not to make lessons seem too impersonal without focusing too much on some students over others. I also want to improve at checking to see whether students understand instructions and the material they are trying to learn.

My goals for the course are to learn how to make a full unit plan and also hopefully to be able to work on my ability to clearly give instructions and expectations during the mini-lesson. I am also looking forward to integrating literature into my lessons.