Learning Letter

1. Reflect on the work you've completed in the course.

     I was not sure what to expect from this course when I first registered for it, but I actually enjoyed the assignments and course as a whole. For the three text presentations, I picked out books that I was intrigued by or interested in and that made a world of difference when it came to reading the book and presenting on it. In terms of materials that I could see myself using in the future, all three books fall under that category. I found them useful beyond this class and in a classroom one day. Also, the content portfolio was very insightful in terms of reflecting on the assignments I have done and how they prepare me for teaching ELA to students. I found myself looking at the assignments and papers through the eyes of a teacher instead of a student and I saw the value and skills that I was taught through those assignments. The work in this class was beneficial to my preparation in becoming a teacher.

2. Reflect on the theories and concepts we explored in readings and discussions.

     During the course of this class, we mainly read from the NES textbook and the Common Core State Standards. This is the first quarter I have really looked into the standards and what I will be expected to teach so it was eye-opening for sure. I liked having the book presentations to supply us with tangible ways we could teach those standards in our classroom. It was nice to gather a lot of information about teaching reading, writing, and visual literacy without having to read twenty different books for each component. Overall, I think I would have liked to have more shorter readings like articles about implementation or strategies for teaching ELA instead of the NES text. I did not get much out of the NES text and think the course could have been completed without it.

3. Reflect on how you think your participation in this course has influenced your thinking about yourself as a teacher.

     By participating in this course, I have realized that I like ELA methods from college courses more than the traditional high school classroom. I like Socratic seminars, short stories, analytical essays, and student choice in deciding essay topics. This class influenced my thinking about myself as a teacher because it helped me realize that I can make my classroom more like a college ELA course by the way I teach the standards. I can use Socratic seminars and teach analytical writing as long as my lessons are standards-based. This class helped me to realize the amount of freedom I might have in my classroom one day.

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