So.. hello classmates. My name is Casey Van Attenhoven. This is my last semester in earning my BA in English Education with a minor in Creative Writing. I hope to continue my education by either going through the Rise program or the credential program here at Chico State. I was originally a Zoology major and wanted to work with the rehabilitation of elephants, but realized my brain is not cut out for science so I went back to my first love, teaching. Some information about me personally: I have a black cat named Jack Daniels, I’m obsessed with cows, I make the best homemade chocolate chips cookies, and I’m a huge SF Giants fan.

 

I really like the idea of communities of practice everywhere. One of my favorites things the reading said was “in spite of curriculum, discipline, and exhortation, the learning that is most personally transformative turns out to be the learning that involves membership in these communities of practice.” (6) I think that being aware of communities of practice and the learning going on outside the classroom is important as a teacher. It can help you make connections to your students if you relate in a way that they know and understand. It also helps you as a teacher to understand your students and what types of things they are learning outside the classroom by what they are involved in. It also broadens the idea of learning. Most of the time when you think learning you think classroom, but this reading talks about how there’s so much you can learn outside the classroom.