Dear
Sean,
This quarter has been long and challenging
to say the least. However, I am not
deterred from becoming a teacher. The
course overall gave me many different tasks to help me become more focused on
my goal to become a teacher.
Through the work we’ve completed in class –
the book talks, the mini-lesson, and the unit plans – I feel like I have more
understanding of what it takes to become an educator. I’ll never be the perfect educator; however, I’ll
continue to put one foot in front of the other and give it my best every
day. From the book talks, I do get now
that you can’t just pluck any young adult novel off the shelf and expect that
it is going to be teachable or appropriate for your class. A teacher has to be knowledgeable about what
he or she believe is going to be the beset novel to introduce to their
class. There may be some red tape for
teachers to get through before being able to introduce books such as The Boy in The Striped Pajamas to their
students. But, the research put into
looking for a quality book for students to read can add to your own personal
library.
The mini-lesson was helped me gain an
understanding on how to use time wisely.
Most of my peers in this class have had some high school teaching
experience because of their majors as secondary educators. However, I do not have that same experience
with professional instruction. The
mini-lesson demonstrated that teaching students even for 30 minutes is not as
easy as it seems. The preparation it
takes in order to lead instruction takes a while.
From the books we’ve discussed and the
lessons they contained, I’d have to say that my favourite two books would have
to be Cris Tovani’s I Read It, But I Don’t
Get It and Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of
The Oppressed. The knowledge in
these books were incredible. Freire’s
Pedagogy helped me mold my teaching philosophy.
As a future educator, I plan to keep Freire’s book as a pedestal to help
remind me that students are more than just canisters to be filled. To treat students as such is an insult to both
the students and to my own philosophy as a teacher that students should be part
of an open atmosphere that encourages students to ask questions and really look
into what they’re being taught. Overall,
I really enjoyed this class and I look forward to putting what I’ve learned
here into my future as a teacher.
