Late Learning Letter

This quarter was an enlightening one, and English 439 was a good chunk of that enlightenment.

Of the major assignments we performed in this class, each one had its merits and pitfalls. The Unit Plan was... strenuous. The biggest challenge was in dealing with the 15 edTPA longform lesson plans. They're time consuming, and time is precious. Not to mention that once on the job, edTPA lesson plans will be irrelevant. My mentor teacher literally jots her lessons down on a yellow legal pad. But I digress. The book talks were fun, and I learned about a lot of young adult/teen literature that I might otherwise have overlooked, and it's been helpful so far in my placement classroom. I saved all the handouts I got, as well, should I ever need to reference specific books. In such an instance, it would be nice to have those handy. I'll be honest and say that I have no idea what the "mini lessons" are.

The theories and concepts we discussed in class that I think will be most advantageous to me are the discussion methods (I tried once to employ them, bearing no fruit) and the idea of using graphic novels as a way to coax hesitant students into literature. They're very likely ideas I'll put into practice. Also there was something Dr. Sean mentioned about how when you're getting into the "difficult" topics, those are likely the important ones to explore. And that really resonated with me. If we avoid difficult conversations, we end up with a group of people who don't know how to handle strenuous situations in their daily lives, and that, to me, seems more a dysfunction than a boon.

I'm usually pretty good with participation. I'm loud, outgoing, and vocal, and will scarcely shy away from being in front of a crowd. And I also try to use humor to punctuate those skills. When we had our round-table discussions on things, I tried to offer what insight I could, sometimes in the interest of playing devil's advocate. I'm the sort of guy who will take a stance for the Aristotelian practice over whether I necessarily believe in what I'm supporting or not. It makes discussion much more interesting, in my opinion. If there was anything I think I could have done better, it was likely being organized. I've struggled with that this quarter for some reason, and I need to get back on top of it.

In the end, this class taught me much that I hope to employ in my classroom. And I hope I didn't get this in too late to at least get half-credit or so. Somehow I missed that it was supposed to be in at noon. To that end, I'll reap what I sow. Thanks for a great quarter, Dr. Sean. You're a bro.