Blog #10 Morgan Minor
Whoa! What a great semester this has been. I can truly say this has been one of my favorite courses taken thus far. This class was different, in the best way. I never dreaded going because I really enjoyed what I was learning, how the class was set up, my peers, and especially you Kim. I feel as though this is one of the most applicable classes to my career. I learned things and gained resources I will actually use. I didn’t just have to memorize facts on random stuff to pass a test, I was genuinely learning, which was a great lesson in itself.
As I read through my blog posts I was reminded of how much we really did in this class and how much we covered. We learned about poetry and how it isn’t as point blank as we learned in school. I learned some amazing ways to challenge poetry and spark it, rather than just struggling through it. The book Love That dog was one of my favorite parts of the class because it showed me something so cool that I could relate too. As I’m sitting here in the library preparing for finals and finishing up my last minute work, I remember the poem I wrote for the blog about poetry and I feel it is pretty applicable.
“So much depends
upon
this one piece of paper
printed front to back
ink
pencil
answers
a score
that will determine so much” (Morgan Minor).
Now onto another topic, our reading! I loved most of the things we read in class and really found them helpful. Normally I sell back my books but not for this class. I will use all of them again. I am really proud of how much I have actually read in this class. Normally I am lucky these days if I get two books in outside of textbooks but I have read so much in this class. I want to start up a reading log like in Reading in the Wild for myself. That is something I will definitely use with students as well.
I also learned a ton about fairytales and ways to teach them to children. Looking back to the fairytale section of class I realized we spent a while on that. I am really glad we did though. I feel like I learned a lot and learned great teaching techniques to go with it. For example, looking back at blog post #2 when we did the riddles to go along with our reading of Bluebeard. That is a great example of something to do that is fun for students and gets them to interact with each other. I will, depending on my grade level, teach a lesson about fairytales.
This class is really focused on literature which is such a big part of elementary school to me. Reading is one of the main focuses. There are book fairs and clubs and reading competitions and trips to the library, etc. that is a crucial point to me for helping kids to become “readers” and to love reading. I feel this class has shown me the importance of that and has helped me to be able to find those good books and resources that kids will truly enjoy. I love and will definitely adopt the “if you don’t like it after you try it, put it down” idea. That is so good to me because it is unnatural and kind of painful to force your way through the end of a book you literally dread. I understand some books, even if we don’t want to or may not love them should be read. However that concept to me is huge in making people want to read!
I don’t necessarily wish I would have learned anything more specific, I just wish I could have learned more. I wish this class was longer. I loved it and truly learned so much I can use. I just wish we had more time.
One of the main things I have learned from this class is that everyone is different. Everyone thinks differently and have different levels of comfort, interests, skills, etc. WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT AND IT IS BRILLIANT! Half of the things people came up with in class awed me! I would have never thought of that! That is why we need to use each other; bounce ideas off, collaborate, etc.! These differences also mean as teachers we need to be prepared for and have many different ideas and challenges for our students. Some things will work and some won’t. We just always need to be adapting and changing and try our best to help and recognize each student. Our differences make us beautiful and special and I plan to emphasize that in my future career as a teacher.
Thank you for an amazing semester Kim, I know I’ll be seeing you because you’re kind of a big fucking deal!