Final post of the semester

This semester has been such great preparation for teaching language arts in the elementary school. Throughout this semester I have learned such a great variety of ways to teach the different elements of l.a. that I am very excited to try in my own class room--in a year and a half!

I found the mini lessons to be a great tool for not only use in my future classroom but also in teaching our class. I also really benefited from learning different ways to teach things that I struggled with in elementary school, such as spelling!

Who could forget the phonics vs. whole language "war"? I now stand firm in my belief that using both is the best way to teach; however I could only form this opinion after not only learning about the two options but seeing one or both of them in action during my field experiences.

I feel that this semester I was provided with the knowledge I need to successfully teach language arts. Mind you I am holding onto my book because it is such a great resource, but so much of what I learned this semester was from class discussion, activity, and spending time in the actual classroom.

Now I must speak about the blog. At first I was mortified that I would have to write in a blog; I have an absurd and almost debilitation fear of stalkers. However, once I over came the irrational nightmares that involved someone tracking me down with a printed copy of my blog in hand, I found that I really enjoyed writing in it.

This blog has really helped with my writing. As you know, in college you write paper after paper with more cited sources than fingers and toes, so a chance to discuss what I have learned without having to site the copy write year, authors last name, and page number was incredibly refreshing. The other thing I really loved about the blog was that, after a while, I found a way to portrait who I am in my writing. Being able to express myself in this blog has not only improved my writing on papers ( I have found they have become more interesting and less like a carbon copy of every other college paper), but it has also made writing more fun for me. Writing in this blog was also greatly helpful in preparing to write my book.

Since I am someone who has tried, and failed, to keep a journal since I could write three words I cannot say for certain that I will keep writing on this blog; but I hope I do. Sure I will never add any personal information in my profile, but maybe one day I will throw up a picture of my beloved dog (after I overcome my fear of his being kidnapped) and write about my experiences in the education school and the classroom. After all who doesn't want updates about cute students who are mistaken for my children? Besides my boyfriend, that is.