December already!

Wow, it is unbelievable how fast this semester passed by! Before we know it, we will be in front of classrooms lecturing and being TEACHERS! It is simply amazing how this course helped me establish that I DEFINITELY want to be a teacher. I had doubts but, I think I am pretty sure on my choice.

As for today's class, once again, there were three great headlines. First, No Child Left Behind.. an important issue that gets teachers and parents are both upset about, but is it good or bad? The ranking process of standardized testing can brutally damage a school's image. What is important.. Math? English? Should this test be taken in English?

The second article includes a VERY controversial issue on Japan's new idea of taking a college course via cell phone. In my opinion, this is a joke because there is no interaction nor learning process that is going on when taking a course over the phone or even the Internet.. in this case. I think that the whole purpose of higher education is to interact with the teacher and get a good learning experience - not to teach yourself via cell phone.

The last article deals with a major issue that I am probably going to encounter a few times within my career. Since I want to become an English teacher - especially for high school, the "Frightening Fiction," article really hit home for me. It is a scary thought to have to double check each individual student's work for emotional content as well. How do you know what is not acceptable for school or what is simply a fictional story?

As for the readings - I was especially interested in the steps to be a teacher. I think as far as we go, for now, we need to focus on the preparation and the sequence stages in school. It is important to know that this is what we really want to do with the rest of our lives. It is also important to take care of the first few years of teaching [by being totally focused, organized, and interested in the content]. Once tenured, the interest factor will probably not be an issue but there will be days we will want to quit. The frustrations and negativity of teaching shouldn’t stick with us as a problem. I think that before we are preparing to retired, we should all tell everyone that we truly LOVE teaching.