Reflective+Essay

Of the six courses I have taken this semester, I don't hesitate to say that this one has been my favorite. I was always eager to come to class and think of new ways to approach reading in a way that will make students excited to learn. I have learned through many of my projects this semester how to connect themes, ideas, and books to different types of media and real world situations.

With my B Project, I was able to take a unique and popular literary theme like time travel and explore how different authors use that idea to question problems within society as well as just the mere technicalities of how time travel would work. I can extend this use of themes to other big themes in literature. I can connect themes like prejudice, acceptance, and family values through television, movies, graphic novels, children's books, and poetry.

With my Reading Partner Project, I was able to make pedagogical connections from educational textbooks to a student who had volunteered to work with me. I was able to see theories and practices first hand to get an idea of what works, what does not, and what changes can be made in a reading classroom to help all levels of students.

Finally, my A project taught me how to incorporate the other branches of my English focus into the classroom readings. I focused on how I could use the canonical texts required in the classroom to teach grammatical ideas and help students improve their own use of mechanics by viewing the canonical texts as mentor texts.

This semester, I have learned how to make connections. I believe it is important for students to understand why what they are learning matters so that they will be interested in learning and retaining that information to apply it to other situations in their lives.