Learning Letter

            This course has opened my eyes to so many wonderful new books. The book talks were my favorite part of this course by far. Not only did I love to hear about so many new books that will be added to my reading list, but also I enjoyed writing a book talk on The Secret Life of Bees and A Thousand Splendid Suns. The Secret Life of Bees was one of my favorite books that I read in high school. It was wonderful to come back to it after many years and reread it and reflect on the book in a way that I hadn’t when I read it in high school. Writing the book talk also helped me to begin to look at books through a “teacher lens.” This is something that I haven’t done before. Instead of looking at the book for its worth to me, I had to think about how it would benefit my students. With A Thousand Splendid Suns, a different process took place because I had never read it before. So, while I was reading it, I constantly thought about how students might handle a certain situation, if they would enjoy reading this book, what they would think of certain characters, etc. It was very interesting to do this with a book I had never read, unlike The Secret Life of Bees. I think that from now on I won’t be able to escape the teacher lens when I read. I will be constantly questioning and thinking about if my students would like the book I’m reading, what lessons I could pair with it, etc. These book talks have helped me organize the questions I need to ask myself when I am choosing a book for my classroom. It’s not as simple as “will the students like it or not?” You have to ask yourself the age ability, the obstacles, the rationale, teaching ideas, and so on.

            The different articles, chapters, and miscellaneous texts we read were very helpful in many different ways. Each had something to do with the classroom. Many focused on how students could be assessed, the pre and post reading process, many helpful tips, methods, and so on. Reflecting on these was very useful, and many influenced the way I think about myself as a teacher and my philosophy of teaching. I gained many helpful tips and new teaching methods/activities from the different texts that we read. One of my favorite texts included numerous ways that discussions can be successfully used in the classroom. The author shared in detail many great different discussion methods that can be used for different types of lessons and outcomes. Successful discussions can be hard to achieve in the classroom, but by using any of these methods described in the text, I am sure to have a better chance at having a meaningful discussion.

            The unit plan was he hardest part of this course. So, so much time and effort was put into the unit plan. In the end, I am pleased with how it came out. I don’t know if I will be able to use it in the future at my placement, but I at least know that I have a fairly solid unit plan that I can use when I have my own classroom. After finishing the unit plan, I already knew there were many things I would change about it in the future. I was not pleased with the lack of creativity in the plan, and I would have liked to create something that would make the students excited to come to class. Also, I totally went about the unit plan all wrong. I started with the unit timeline, and that was a big mistake. After working more on the plan, I realized that the unit objectives would have been a much better place to start. Because of this mishap, I had to completely recreate my timeline. In the end, this wasted a lot of time for me. I am thankful for this opportunity to practice creating curriculum because now I know that I am able to write curriculum if I need to in the future. I also think it is pretty cool that I have created something that could be used in the classroom. If I had more time, I would go through the entire plan again and try to add in more activities that involve creativity and movement throughout the classroom.

            Banking is one concept that was discussed and greatly influence the way I think about myself as a teacher. While I never pictured myself using the method of teaching that is banking, I was never fully aware of the harm and damage banking has on students. When I think back to my high school years, I had quite a few teachers use the banking method throughout their class. I always hated when they tested my peers and I over definitions that had no relation to my real life. Even though I was aware of the idea of banking, I never fully realized what it was until I read Paulo Freire’s chapter for this course. As a future teacher, I never want to use this type of method in my classroom and create an environment that gives the vibe that the students are inferior to me and they have to look to me for all the knowledge. That is the opposite of what I want. I think the banking method is the easy way out for teachers, and that is very unfair to the students.

            Another important takeaway I received from this course is the ways that we can assess our students. There are so many more ways out there to assess students than to ask easy, true/false-based questions. The true assessment occurs when students are thinking critically and doing something more than just testing for the facts. Fact based tests do many negative things in the classroom. First, it gives the students the idea that their grade is dependent on the “right answer” and that there can only be one “right answer.” Fact-based tests also don’t give students a chance to apply their knowledge. There are many alternatives to a fact-based test. You can use journals, blogs, projects, tests that ask open-ended questions, etc.

            Using pop-culture in the classroom is a genius idea, in my opinion. We talked a lot of what kind of pop-culture is appropriate for the class and how incorporating it can increase student interest in the lesson. There are many benefits to using pop culture in the class. Some of my favorite teachers from high school used pop culture often. I think these teachers were my favorite because they were the most relatable. Often students look at teachers as some alien life who is present only to assign homework and give grades. Teachers who make the effort to show themselves as real people in front of the students create the opportunity for connections and relationships to be made. Using pop culture can also help students who resist school become more involved and want to succeed. Overall, pop culture is a great tool to use in the classroom, and I plan on using it whenever I can as a teacher.

            Discussing everything we read for this course first in small groups and then with the class as a whole was something I took a lot from. First of all, this method proved how wonderful and how helpful discussions are in the classroom. Every time we had discussions, I gained new insight on things I had not thought about when reading the texts. It was always amazing to me how I would think through everything we read so critically, and then come to class to find out that my group mate had thought of something that never crossed my mind. Participating in these discussions greatly influenced not only how I think about myself as a future teacher, but also how I will use discussions in my own class to increase critical thinking and engagement with peers.

            Overall, this course has influenced the way I think as a future teacher, the methods I will use in my classroom, the ways I can assess students, the diversity I need in my curriculum to keep students interested, and so much more. I have gained new ideas that I will keep with me to use in the future, new methods I will try out when I teach, and new ways of thinking when it comes to my future students.