Dear Sean,

            I am officially declaring Winter Quarter 2017 the toughest, yet most rewarding of my student career!  I had to dig deep this quarter to accomplish all of my goals and the two I am most proud of is completing a 19 credit hour class load, and having the opportunity to teach kids in a real classroom!  I think this quarter provided me with a glimpse of what the workload will be like as a teacher, and I am feeling more confident in my role as a teacher.  I appreciate the emphasis on being reflective and, I would like to share a few things that I have learned as I participated in English 493 that further developed my classroom philosophy.

            I think the most important lesson I learned this quarter is that even though I plan to be a History teacher, I have a responsibility to encourage my students to read and become proficient readers.  Allowing students to choose what they read is a critical component of sparking their interest in reading.  I need to be able to provide my students with some good choices and I have already started compiling a good list, thanks to our book talk activity.  The book talk activity also helped me formulate a process for sizing up a text to determine if it is something I should use in my classroom by considering its appropriateness, audience, lesson potential, and possible obstacles.

            My research this quarter has also made me realize the complexity of the reading process and that there really is more to it than opening a book and reading it.  Frontloading is a necessary strategy to help students engage with a text and it improves their understanding and comprehension as they read so, this is why I decided to construct a pre-reading activity for my mini-lesson.  I believe good pre-reading activities helps students understand the purpose for reading a text and provides them with a specific lens or focus to view the text, which helps them construct meaning.  The min-lesson also helped me be thoughtful about considering the amount of time an activity actually takes in a classroom.

            The three-week literature unit plan was daunting and in the beginning, I was not sure I could do it!  Well, I showed myself that I am capable of creating curriculum.  I think the most overwhelming aspect of this assignment was the amount of research I conducted (which made it difficult to decide the focus of the unit…..so many great choices!!!) and making sure I could justify the choices I made to ensure my students would be getting something of value.  I know that time in a classroom is precious and I want to use it wisely and efficiently.  The most important thing I learned from this process is that I can do it, and with time and practice, it will get easier.

            Sean, you provided us with some fantastic resources for theories and concepts and I thank you for building my personal resource library.  I had already determined prior to this class that I would incorporate quite a few cooperative learning activities in my classroom and I am grateful for the article “Discussion as a Way of Teaching,” because it provided so many different ideas on how I can incorporate collaborative discussions into classroom activities.

            Kelly Gallagher’s Readicide was also impactful.  I do not want to be guilty of committing readicide in my classroom.  I want my students to love reading, but I know many of my students will struggle with reading.  I know it is important for my students to learn reading strategies, but I also need to provide them with opportunities to get lost in books as well. I know students are not going to love everything they are required to read, but it is my job to help them realize the value in the texts I ask them to read.

            Even though I plan to be a History teacher, it is also my responsibility to teach reading too! In my classroom, I intend to help my students increase their proficiency in reading and build their comprehension by modeling reading strategies like reading closely and using essential questions.  I am a lifelong learner, and I want my students to develop that attitude as well. As I participated in this class, my focus kept shifting back to my future students and the importance of knowing them.  Building good relationships with students (and their parents) is the foundation for an engaging and warm classroom atmosphere.  Knowing my students means I know how they learn and that knowledge will help me know which instructional methods to employ for their benefit. 

Sean, thanks for a great quarter and thanks for modeling the skills of an effective teacher for me!  Hope you get to enjoy the slopes during spring break!

Shawna Nowels