The Process of Progress - Observation, Reflection, and Refinement

To think I was intimidated by all of this work that this class entails just a few months ago seems unreal. All of the readings and work that this class required were all really beneficial readings that provoked a lot of thought, and I wouldn't change the syllabus one bit. The class as a whole was really warming because of the open discussion that we dealt with each class meeting. It was really nice to hear each persons ideas about a certain topic and their insight or examples to better connect to the topics at hand. I really liked the class discussion, writing prompts that Shannon had us do and especially the blogging. I never blogged before, so it was a new experience and a good one! One thing that I will especially take away from this class is the idea of creatively making groups. Shannon showed us multiple ways that were cool ideas that I'd use in my classroom. I've learned through this class that you should constantly improve your techniques and always add new ways of light to the curriculum. By constantly changing your ideas and ways of teaching, allows for you to reflect on the things that work, keep them, adapt them and make them better as well as fix the ideas that did not go as planned. Since we hardly ever had a class of lecture, it was really nice to see the ways you can implement activities besides the traditional lecture. The gallery activity was a really nice way to allow us teachers to learn about our peers and their views of teaching Shakespeare, what we're afraid of and what we think needs to be implemented in the classroom in order to engage students. I think this was a fascinating way to get us intune with our thoughts of Shakespeare.

This being my first education at Shippensburg, (not all together) I remembered how much work it takes to be an effective teacher. Lesson planning is very time consuming but for the love of the students and the classroom it is definantly worth it. Something I will never forget is all of the advice that the teachers at the pannel gave us. It was extremely beneficial to hear teachers who have been in the game for a long time tell us things they wished they would have known, in order to help us become the best we can be. All of the notes that I took during this presentation were all very useful ideas and I plan on going back to them in the future. It is extremely important to spend time on your lesson plans in order for your students to get the most out of the assignments, just throwing a lesson plan together is not sufficient. It was really constructive to see our peers do the presentations because not only did it help them better understand but it helped each person in the classroom become a better informed teacher.

I think it is reallllly important to be passionate about the subject in order to make unique lesson plans and connect to your students on more than just a surface level. I've learned that it is really important to never pretend about something because students will be able to see right through you. I think it is a really big shoe to fill to be a teacher of English because so many students will rely on you to make them love the subject, and I am ready for the challenge! My passion is not about correct verb usage, MLA, Shakespeare or Chaucer (although always in my heart) my passion is to make students see what english/reading/writing/interpreting all have in store for them personally. I am a teacher of passion who is always learning new ways to implement new activites and engage my students, and this I will be even when I am in my profession. I plan on keeping teaching journals from the very start until the end so that I will always be able to look back on my teaching skills, my students progress and the development and improvement of my classroom. This class was a good start of getting out of the habit of thinking like a student, and transitioning to thinking like a teacher! As a teacher of English today, I plan on continuing to be open minded in order to learn as much as I can in order to be the best that I can be in MY classroom. :)