Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Final Reflection


Where am I on the Map of English?

“I think I see her folks! She’s that tiny dot over central New York. Wow she looks so small on this giant map!

This is how I feel about the Map of English, like I’m some tiny dot on this gigantic map of the world of education and English. I feel like a small country, whose cities you can kind of make out but you’d need a magnifying glass to really read the names. This image of the tiny person (or wooden figure) also shows how I feel right now- very small.
Over the past three years, the first one being my undergrad English degree (36 credits in nine months) and subsequent work in the MAT program I have learned volumes. I have learned and realized (more) about a subject I have always loved. Like Ursula Kelly said, “The choice to teach is also, perhaps even more so, about an intimate, often passionate, relationship with English.” Much of the relationship I have to teaching English (and drama) came from my father. I watched countless hours of performances and rehearsals where he motivated and inspired his students. He’s had students go on to be teachers, Broadway and television actors, directors, and stage managers. Many of them have admitted to me that he changed their lives. I want to be that inspirational person for my students.

During the past three years, I have grown as a person and of course, realized my path in life. I have become an adult; I’ve gotten engaged and am preparing to have a job. I feel worlds beyond how I felt when I graduated in 2003. As my last few days as a student come to a close I am excited and sad. I love learning about new things, reading new books or old ones I never got a chance to. But I’m ready to be the one in charge. I know that a classroom doesn’t work if it’s treated like a dictatorship. There should be a balance of authority and collaboration. An English classroom should be a community of learning, where the students and the teacher decide what they want to learn about and what texts they want to read. My classroom will of course have aspects of performing and dramatics infused into it. As I sat taking my ATS-W over the weekend I drifted off thinking about what my classroom would look like. I can’t wait to have my own teaching/learning space. But I started thinking that I wouldn’t design it all myself. I’d let students help me each year. I’d put up a few quotations, pictures, and posters and let them do the rest. The most important aspect of teaching English that I gained is this: with English you can do anything. I will always remember the discussion in 506 about “Why English?” and Sarah’s comment that followed. I’m ready for this new journey that’s called teaching; it’s finally time. I’ve been in school for seven years, it’s definitely time.

English 506 has taught me how important technology in the English classroom is. I always knew it was, even as a student years ago, staring at a projection screen while the teacher wrote notes on an overhead projector. I’ve learned that an application, i.e. the podcast isn’t always going to turn out as planned. There are aspects of technology most of us can’t explain (wouldn’t it be great to have a techie that traveled around with you and helped with all your tech problems?!). Most importantly with the podcast assignment in mind, I learned that learning is a process.
That's all folks! I'm really looking forward to the presentations tonight.

Sunday, December 10, 2006

By request, pictures of Miss kitty...




Ethel being cute and innocent taking a nap on the couch.














Here she is IN the Christmas tree.





And here she is returning to the scene of the crime.

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Ethel the Cat Hates Chaucer

So I came home after Chaucer and set my gigantic school bag in the kitchen by the refrigerator like I always do. A little while later I notice our kitten had hopped in the bag. She's done it before, you know the general sniffing and exploring things cats do. Well I looked at how she was sitting in the bag and noticed she was kind of squatting. I pulled her off the bag and saw a wet spot on my Chaucer book. I smelled and sure enough- she peed on my book. I thought I had gotten to her before she really went fully. So I grabbed some Febreze and sprayed. No big deal it was a small spot.

The plot thickens....

This morning I was going through my bag looking for my glasses. I picked up the Chaucer book and realized it was still wet. "Oh wow," I thought to myself, "I must have really sprayed this good." Taking a closer smell I realized it wasn't Febreze that was soaking my book- it was cat pee!!! She really peed on my Riverside Chaucer and both notebooks for Chaucer and Restoration! This cat might be smarter than I realized............ except for the fact that I now have a smelly bag and books. I thought you all would get a laugh out of this situation.

Insert sarcastic comments here:

Friday, December 08, 2006

Just letting everyone know that I'm still alive...I'll blog once or twice before Tuesday and wrap things up. I'm just buried in work at the moment...

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Wiki question

Why can't I publish/post a list of information on the wiki? I put up a list of words originated by Shakespeare and it smushed them into one paragraph. What's the deal?

Monday, November 27, 2006

The Cortland Downtown Blog: Developing, Maintaining, & Trouble Shooting a Professional Weblog

Here is the abstract for our final project:

Title: The Cortland Downtown Blog: Developing, Maintaining, and Troubleshooting A Professional Weblog. On the day in which we are specified to present our project Ray and I will be able to perform in either lab; we have no preference.We will open up and travel through the Cortland Downtown website. We will be explaining the creation, process, and maintenance of the Cortland Downtown Blog. Most importantly we will discuss the possibilities that this blog could, and would have in a classroom.We have now been through the entire process of setting up and maintaining a blog which allows us to better prepare for interaction with this platform in the future. This fact will serve as another discussion facilitator throughout the presentation; we will have more knowledge as to some problems (and solutions!) that one might encounter when creating a blog.The technology we will be using basically speaks for itself. We will have to have access to a projector in order to present our blog for all to see.

See you all tomorrow night...

The Future is Now


This is what I read this weekend. I don't know if you'll be able to read it without logging in to The Ledger's website. But the article talks about a fifth grade class in Miami, FL that has gone paperless. The teacher, Judy Herrell has been implementing things like PowerPoint presentations and using websites instead of textbooks since 1999 when the school received a grant. The students love it, of course.
"Instead of writing with a paper and pencil and your hand getting tired, we can do it on a computer," said Robert Toledo, 10, as he reads a site about Abraham Lincoln. "It's faster and better."
This concept was so popular that Herrell's class was split up into two groups, morning and afternoon to give more access to the students. I can only dream of a classroom like this. Well maybe not only dream. I do dream about this but worry about achieving it. I know I could do it but it's school districts that need the encouraging. Herrell said she spends at least 10 hours a week looking for appropriate websites for her class. She also said that without an education her students will never have a chance at the American Dream. She couldn't be doing anything more right to get her students ready for the real world. Granted they are only 10 years old right now but she's preparing them for the rest of their schooling career and college.
My good friend Robin teaches at Marathon High School. She knows the woman I requested to student teach with. She said that she will often complain that her students don't want to work today. Apparently she's techno-phobic and doesn't expect much from her students. This could work to my benefit or be a complete disaster. I hope she'd be willing to let me incorporate some technology into her classroom, especially with her seniors who don't want to work. I can't wait to meet her 7th graders. If I am definitely placed with her that is. I observed her class once before and she has a great personality that students respond to. I hope her students trust her enough to welcome me into their learning environment. I know I can't adopt a paperless classroom overnight, especially not with student teaching. But I know there are some ways I can give them the technology they need! There is another English teacher in that department that uses technology, maybe I can get some suggestoins from her. Maybe I'll be able to use Jen Gee's YA lit site. I'd love to interview the students on my first days and ask them what they like to read. I want them to know that their reading interests are important to me. Reading is not dead and I don't want to treat it that way. Will Richardson posted literacy is changing for today's kids. I think we should be rethinking what reading literacy is. Paperless classrooms are one way to help students become literate today. If Will and Judy Herrell from Miami can do it....