Learning Letter

Dear Sean,

This was such a great class. I learned so much about myself as both a teacher and a student.
The work that we did in this class was really great. The book talks were one of the most beneficial things to me. I loved hearing about other's books and reading a book of my own. This gave me a chance to hear about new books that I will definitely be recommending to my students. I have so many new books to read and I could not be more excited. I also loved the mini lessons. These were really cool because they gave me a chance to see how different lessons could be taught. I absolutely loved Kylee and Jessica's mini lesson on Maus with the holocaust victims. I feel like this was such an essential lesson. I hope to use this lesson as well as others in my classroom someday. By seeing all these lessons and teaching my own, it really shows me how teaching can be extremely creative and personable. I think that coming into this class, I was in a weird mindset with teaching and I'd been almost trained to follow the common core to a tee.  However, after this class, I feel much more prepared and relaxed about teaching. Yes, there are still hoops to jump through and clamber over, but I feel like I am much more prepared.
I loved the blog posts. I feel like these are such a great use in the classroom. I would love to incorporate something like this in my classroom someday. All the reading we did was great. I think my favorite would have to be Readicide by Kelly Gallagher. This book opened up my eyes so much. Gallagher really hits it spot on when he talks about over teaching books and not encouraging enough reading in the classroom. This really hit home with me and I have a completely different viewpoint on how to teach novels now. I also loved reading Critical Pedagogy in an Urban High School Classroom. This article really opened my eyes to different ways of approaching education. This article gave great insight on how to help your students be successful. I loved all the reading in this class and I do not think that I would read anything different.
From this class, I definitely feel more prepared to become a teacher. The unit plan definitely helped me see teaching more clearly. I feel like because of that and the discussions in this classroom, I will be a better teacher now. Hearing what my peers have had to say about teaching and participating in discussions both in small and large group has really changed my way about teaching in some aspects. I can honestly say, that because of this class, I will be a better teacher. I learned how to be a better teacher because of this class and that's something that I rarely say. Thank you again for all the time that you've put into this class. I can truly see myself as a teacher because of this class. Thank you again.

-Hannah Kersey