Learning Letter

Throughout this quarter I have completed two book talks, wrote fifteen blog post on separate readings six of which are full-length books read over the course of the quarter, and wrote a full three-week unit plan.  The two books talks that I completed were literally as far as apart as possible within the quarter. My first was the first day of book talks while my second was on the last possible day for book talks within the quarter. Since my book talks were so spread out I had the opportunity to look at and learn from everyone else’s book talks in order to build my second book talk as well as the feedback from my first book talk. My first book talk was over Patricia McCormick’s Sold and I did the talk itself by the seat of my pants just winging it and hoping for the best out of the talk itself. My second talk was over Cornelia Funke’s The Thief Lord that was far less by the seat of my pants and little more structured and thought through but I also had less fun giving the second book talk. My second book talk felt like less of me was put into the overall presentation, I think that finding a place in between my two book talks would have been optimal for my presentations. The books and blog posts that I wrote throughout the quarter I felt were far more useful than the typical discussion posts that are required in English classes. Since the posts were used as blog posts and not discussion board posts it felt as though the posts could be a little more personal in my responses than I would normally be posting on discussion boards. The unit plan was a beast in and of itself that I didn’t think that I was prepared for coming into the class. But after working on and completing the unit plan I’ve learned that I am capable of writing and completing a unit plan. While I don’t love my completed unit plan I have proven to myself that I am capable of writing a full unit plan and understanding the elements that are involved in writing a unit plan.

Throughout this quarter the theories and concepts that we read about are going to be very influential in my future classroom philosophies. The multitude of discussion strategies given in “Discussion as a Way of Teaching” will make an appearance in my future classroom, and even played a part in my unit plan. I had no idea there were so many different ways to hold a discussion within the classroom, I had previously only had experience in a few discussion methods. The ideas on assessments that we received were also nice to have because assessment is still an area that I struggle with in teaching because I don’t feel like I have a stable grasp on assessment within the classroom. Every piece of information on assessments that I can have is valuable in my further development as a teacher. The two textbooks that we read in class are also valuable in my further development in my teaching methods. Gallagher and Tovani present ideas and teaching methods that help students re-engage with reading and literature. I know that as I continue to grow as a teacher I will be referencing back to the readings from this class in order to build lessons and develop my personal teaching philosophy.

Throughout the quarter I feel like I had good participation throughout the class and the discussions that were held in the class. When I had something that I felt was worthwhile to say I would do my best to speak up in class. Even when I wasn’t speaking in discussions I would stay engaged and actively listen to my classmate’s input during discussions. For the readings throughout the quarter, I did my best to stay on top of them but I will admit that I didn’t get all of them read to completion throughout the quarter while trying to balance everything. But during the creation of my unit plan, I went back and read the pieces that I didn’t finish and read them more fully in order to incorporate them into my research and theory sections of my lesson plans. After participating in the discussion as well I feel as though I have a more stable understanding of who I am as a teacher in regards to teaching literature. By discussing and talking about my beliefs on teaching and why I want to teach English specifically has helped me feel more confident in my choice of future career. I have also developed a better understanding of who I want to be as a teacher from this class and the discussions that we have had. I know that as I continue to teach and work with students and read more theory and methods for teaching I will develop a deeper understanding of  who I am as a teacher.