Okay, I have another positive thing to say, so I guess that I can't jump to my death after all. My CAPP report is green!! Yeah!! Now that I am officially registered for student teaching and have taken both of the workshops, all of the requirements for my degree are either completed or "in progress." The end is in sight! Assuming that I make it through the semester alive and pass everything, student teaching is right around the corner. Yikes! I don't know about you folks, but I'm scared. It's so much responsibility: young, impressionable mind under our complete control! Am I ready? Am I actually cut out for this?
As most of you know from Tuesday's class, I met one of my host teachers last weekend, and she seems pretty awesome. Jen Donegan teaches 11th and 12th grade at Westhill High School which is thankfully quite near my house in Syracuse. She is really energetic and passionate about teaching, and also really into mulit-modal literacy-- film, music, literature, internet, etc all included as legitimate modes of literacy to be studied. After only one meeting and an email, I can already tell that she is going to be totally supportive of me and great to work with. She was fabulous when I expressed apprehension about student-teaching, assuring me that it's "actually a positive aspect." She gave me a copy of "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" which we will be doing in the Murder and Mayhem elective (which Karen showed the Urban Legends podcasts from). Apparently the kids usually get pretty into it, even though it's "old," so that should be exciting. I'll also be doing the 11R class, and Jen said that I can decide if I want to do short stories or Macbeth. I'm leaning toward short stories at this point. I was thinking of trying to come up with a short story enhanced podcast assignment for them, since Jen is pretty into technology apps. After they read a lot of short stories, they can write their own and read it in an enhanced podcast with photos to illustrate it. Or something. I don't know, let me know what you all think. Suggestions are definitely going to be welcome.
Okay, I'm going to get back to my piles of books and articles on informal writing-to-learn now. But, I have to say, two blog posts in one night is a pretty impressive feat.
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4 comments:
I'm so jealous that you already know one of your placements! I'm more scared of student teaching than is normal, I think. I don't know if I'm ready for it at all! We definitely have to keep blogging so we can support each other and share ideas...
T, the short story podcast is a great idea. I would get a collection (from guess where) of short shorts...easy to "teach" and for kids to write--and such fun, and use them as models for a short story festival podcast.
A podcast needs to be short--esp. if the audience is other kids--and class size is an issue--when you will want to listen to all of them.
I think Jen D will love the idea.
I would also use some collections of YA short stories rather than the "classic" stories kids read in typical anthologies.
Not that there's anything wrong w/reading those stories--there's everything right about it--but there are some great new collections of stories for adolescents that will capture their attention and be good for inspiring them to write.
Two I like are "13: Thirteen Stories That Capture the Agony and Ecstasy of Being Thirteen," and One Hot Second Check it out. K
Tracy,
Green is good.
I think most of us are feeling apprehensive about student teaching. I don't know what to expect, don't know if I am ready, and I don't know if I will enjoy it. The scariest question I ask myself is this: if I don't like teaching, then what do I do?
Regardless of my preparedness, I agree with Karen when she says that the short story podcast is a great idea. I cannot offer many suggestions due to my lack of experience, but I can concur.
I think Natalie is right when she says that we have to continue to blog to share ideas and experiences throughout our student teaching placements.
I do know that our host teachers will make a HUGE difference in how we feel about teaching.
Well, I don't know Jack. My host teacher disappeared for 3 months--old days--only one placement.
A good host can be very inspiring, no question.
That's what I would wish for all of you.
A not so good host can at least give you freedom--one hopes.
There are so many answers to the question, 'if not teaching, then what?" Don't be discouraged if teaching does not seem the path to pursue right now.
Focus on your strengths, what you love do to do, when you're happiest "working," the r-brained characteristics Pink talks about--and begin to imagine a work"place" and set of tasks for yourself.
You can make so many things happen in the 3.0 world.
I think one of the major problems with a h.s. and a college, for that matter, education is that we do too little to bring the outside in, to help young people see what it is workers do in the world to make a living.
A former very bright student of mine who dropped out of teacher ed at Oneonta before her senior year--for reasons that made a lot of sense to me--including a too rigid "curriculum" at Oneonta (I'll bt that sounds familiar)--is now working for a magazine publisher in NY--right on Times Square--laying out and editing Vogue and several other major publications. She, too, was a small town girl, and she loves being in NY.
Yea, she started on the bottom, but there's an obtainable way up--
She wants to write for VILLAGE VOICE and I can see her getting there.
She has an Eng. degree from a SUNY school.
You can do ANYthing--know that. K
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