Lesson Five

After watching the videos on Language and Reading, how does this information impact you as a teacher?

I have wanted to teach High School English ever since my own freshman year at Bloomington High School. Throughout that year, I developed a serious case of hero worship for my teacher, and wished and wanted to be exactly like her when I grew up. She showed me that language could be beautiful. She inspired me to read things that made me think about life in a way that I never had before. She made Shakespeare seem easy!

I want to do those things for my students. I want to help them to increase their speed, fluency, and comprehension when they read great literature. I want to excite their minds, and get them pondering the big questions, the ones everybody asks but nobody can ever truly answer. In order to do that, I will have to use language. I hope to build on the skills they already have. I will introduce new vocabulary, help them find ways to make those words their own, and encourage them to independently explore the richness of the English language.

Lesson 4

What does it mean to be relational as a teacher? How will you interact with your students to accomplish this?

A teacher is being relational when they are relating to their students. In other words, when a teacher seeks out things they have in common with the student, and uses those things to build a cordial, friendly, welcoming relationship with the student, they are being relational. 

I have seen some teachers go out of their way to connect with the students in their class by decorating their room with their favorite sports team memorabilia, funny sayings, or posters of fuzzy kittens and puppies. It's nice to take a few moments before and after class to connect with small talk, and to greet each child with a smile and eye contact when they enter the classroom. I want them to know that I am happy they are there, and that our class would not be the same, or as great, without them.

Lesson 3

After watching the videos on Attention, Emotions and Learning, describe how this information impacts you as a teacher.

I have three children, all of whom have either a learning difference or an attention deficit diagnosis. I have spent years learning about special needs children, and I love when I get the opportunity to substitute teach in a self-contained special needs classroom. Because of these experiences, I already knew most everything in these videos.  

I view my job as a teacher as one where I first need to set up an environment where a child is capable of learning, and second need to teach them what they need to know. Helping them to be physically and emotionally ready to learn comes first. No matter how much they want to be a "good boy" or "good girl" if that Cortisol is pumping through their brains, they can't pay attention and they can't learn. 

There are hundreds of exercises I can try to help my special children in my classes to focus better and learn more. My obligation is to build a toolkit of those helpful methods and break it out every single day.