At the End of the Day...errr Semester

Throughout the course of this class, I’ve learned a lot about the kind of teacher that I want to become one day. I’ve always known that I want to teach, but I’ve never felt it so strongly as I do now. The whole process of learning is something that I want to facilitate in others. As a capstone class for the English Subject Matter degree, I expected more emphasis on various texts. With a course name like Multi-genre Literature through a Global Context, I expected more global texts. I was surprised to find that the real content of this course was examining the way in which media globalizes society. Though that is a worthy goal, I wish that there had been more emphasis on how this idea of global information should impact our teaching strategies, since the Subject Matter degree is aimed towards prospective English teachers.

Because this is how I went into the course, I had a bit of a challenge getting into the groove of the class. It took me a few weeks to reposition myself into the framework that was presented to me and change my expectations of the class. Once I did this, I was pleased to take advantages of the class discussions that we had over the course of the semester.

My favorite assignment, as far as the content was concerned, was the mythology portion of the class. This was the clearest example of how global texts can be brought into the classroom setting. I had so much fun examining different myths and formulating ideas about the cultures that created those myths. I really enjoyed leading a discussion on sacred places too. That was hard for me during the planning stages because I wanted to be careful not to let the discussion get overly religious which is difficult when discussing sacred places. I loved working with Michelle on the project and thought that we both brought some excellent insight into the specific mythology that we read.

Coupled with the media literacy assignment (which was my favorite assignment to present), I found that I am definitely a teacher who seeks out classroom discussion. Those presentations were much more fun once I was able to get responses from students—regardless of whether they were peers or not. I truly had more fun, learned more, and cared more when the presentations involved some interaction beyond reading off of a Powerpoint presentation.

Finally, the one assignment that I struggled with was the final paper. I had a truly terrible time reading the supporting articles and relating them to my life. Not only were they ridiculously dense, but I had a huge challenge seeing how they were necessary to an English Subject Matter capstone course. It made the movie much more difficult to view because I knew that the information I gathered was incompatible with the supporting material that I had to use as well as the future of my teaching career. I was able to get through it, and I’m quite proud of my final essay (the last essay of my undergraduate career!). I just had such a hard time seeing the initial point. Once I made my way through and received some clarification from Dr. Wexler about what was appropriate for the final work, I felt much more confident.

Ultimately, I’m truly grateful for the experience of taking this class. I really did learn a lot about how I desire to teach, as well as the wonder that multiple forms of media provide for classes. I was amazed by some of the cool ideas that other classmates brought from other classes that they either taught or sat in on. Whether or not it was the class that I expected when I had to register for it, I’m glad that I had the chance to interact with others and learn about a more globalized view of literacy.