Learning Letter

Overall, I feel really proud of the work I have completed in this class. The book talks were my favorite part of this class because I learned about various different books that I have made note to read in the future, and to have available in my class for my future students. The book talks also helped me further understand how I can incorporate young adult books into my curriculum.  I was also really proud of myself for keeping up with the reading. There was a lot to read in a short amount of time, but I'm very glad I prioritized my time to make sure I accomplished reading the assigned young adult book because I really enjoyed the books we read, especially The Round House. The work that I am most proud of for completing was the unit plan. At the beginning of the quarter I was STRESSING on how I was going to complete this, especially because I've only ever completed on lesson plan ever!! I would have liked to put more effort and time towards it so I could really perfect it, but I'm very proud of myself for fully completing it to the best of my ability. It also has been such a huge help for me to better understand what works well in a classroom.

Each discussion we did helped me better understand theories and concepts that are useful to me as a future teacher. I really liked doing the discussion posts because it helped me reflect on what I learned from my reading, and it also helped open new ideas by reading an discussing about what my peers learned about. To me, the most beneficial reading was the short book we read, I Read it but I Don't Get it. I thoroughly enjoyed this short read because it provided me with so many different techniques I can use in the future to help my students understand their reading. I also found the EDTPA articles really helpful, especially when creating my lesson plans because it helped cleared up some confusion or parts of my lesson plan, and provided new ideas that I could incorporate into my lesson plans as well.

My participation in class has taught me the value and importance of discussion! We had some form of discussion every class period, and I was influenced and I learned so much from my peers. For instance, when we would have discussions about our lesson plans in class, I was able to incorporate new ideas into my own lesson plans, while providing feedback or new ideas for my peers as well. This makes me want to keep incorporating discussion in the future whether it's with other teachers or even just in my own classroom. This class has taught me how importance it is to discuss with others because it helps reflect on your own learning, but opens our mind to new ideas as well.

The Oval Portrait & The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allen Poe

              I am an overall big fan of Edgar Allen Poe's work, but it's challenging to read and comprehend. Most of the time while reading Poe's work, I'll read it a few times myself and try to come to an understanding, but sometimes I have to search for someone else’s analysis or interpretation to help me come to a greater understanding. I chose “The Oval Portrait” and “The Masque of the Red Death” both by Edgar Allen Poe because I have heard of both these stories, but I have not read them myself. However, I loved both these stories because they allow for readers to come to terms with their own interpretation. Both these stories give the plot of the summary, but there are context ideas and clues that lead to the reader’s own assumption about what is truly happening. For instance, in “The Masque of the Red Death”, I came to the conclusion that the person who killed everyone was actually time himself.

              I would use Poe’s work in my classroom because it’s unusual, intriguing, and captivates readers when it is comprehended, but it can be a challenge for not as advanced readers. So, in order to incorporate this into my classroom, I would have students read independently at first. There are also various YouTube videos illustrations/narrations of most of the short stories, so showing this to students can help connect the words to images of the story, so my next step would be this. I think the use of graphic novels can be incredibly helpful for Poe also because it has the same effects as the YouTube videos would be. Finally, I would have students engage in discussion on any of Poe’s stories because it can help every student gain a new perspective they might not have thought of.   

Night by Elie Wiesel

              Night by Elie Wiesel has been probably my favorite book this quarter, and what I think I liked about it the most is that the main character, Eliezer, is based off the author himself. I did some research about Wiesel, and he had his 3 sister and his parents, but his youngest sister, mom, and dad did not survive the Holocaust. However, in an interview with Opera Winfrey, his primary motivation for trying to survive Auschwitz was knowing that his father was still alive, and he said, “I knew that if I died, he would die.” This book gives readers basically a first-hand glance what it was like to live under Nazi control. I also really liked this book because WWII was one of my favorite wars to learn about in high school, and this book has great connection to this war. With that being said, I think this book is very appropriate for high school readers, especially those learning about WWII and the Nazi Regime, however I think this book is filled with a lot of sensitive material as well, such as the hanging of fellow prisoners including children in the court yard, and the abuse and harsh treatment of the Jewish prisoners. It may be hard for some readers to comprehend the horrible conditions that Jewish suffered through, but that’s why it’s important to not shelter our readers from material like this, so they understand and see why Hitler and the Nazi Regime were so terrible. What’s also incredibly about this book is the author himself. Wiesel is can be looked at as such an inspirational figure. It’s amazing how he suffered through loosing most of his family and his identity, but was able to survive the holocaust, and become a successful writer and professor.