WESTERN MULTIDISCIPLINARY CAMPUS
ENGLISH LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT
DEL3-G1-2014
BLOG ENTRY # 1
I.
Write a
personal statement trying to express what is at the heart of your life as a
future teacher. Consider the following
questions: Why do I want to become a teacher? What do I stand for as a student
teacher? What do I want my legacy as a
teacher to be? What can I do to keep track of myself, to “remember” my own
heart? When did you first realize that you wanted to be a teacher? What were
the circumstances of this realization? How close are you to those feelings
today?
II.
Palmer
writes: “ My ability to connect with my students and to connect them with the
subject, depends less on the methods I use than on the degree to which I know
and trust my selfhood—and I am willing to make it available and vulnerable in
the service of learning” (p.10). What does it mean to rely on your selfhood
rather than methods?
III.
Reflect on
your earliest encounters with teaching. If
you are drawn to teaching, when did you first feel drawn to it? What was it
that drew you? What within you was evoked by teaching—its values, its methods,
the way it names and frames reality? What does the nature of teaching reveal
about who you are? If you aren’t, share a story about one of your favorite
teachers. What do you recall most
vividly about that teacher? What was his / her relation to the subject taught?
What was the ethos of his/ her classroom?
Jane Tompkins discovered that her goal as a
teacher had been to put on “performance,” thus distancing herself from students
and subject (pp.28-29). Do you identify
with her self-criticism? If so, do you share Tompkins’s diagnosis of fear as
the driving force behind this distancing? In what ways other than “performance”
do teachers set themselves apart?
Why do I want to become a teacher?
I
want to become a teacher because I like to transmit the knowledge that I have
to other people. It is not only to transmit knowledge; it’s to enjoy what I do
at school. I like what I do while I’m teaching; therefore, I think that the
most important thing is that I teach from my heart because I enjoy teaching. I
feel motivated for teaching not because of the money. If the money were my
motivation, I would be only one more teacher. I want that the students remember
me when some years have gone, and they can say that they learnt something from
me even though if it were just a little bit. But I feel good when students
learnt new things and I could contribute to those things that they learn.
What do I stand for as a student teacher?
As
I said, I want that the students learn new things from me. I want that Ss can
go in the right way of their lives; furthermore, I want to be the one that
guides to the Ss in the right way. I mean that they can succeed in their lives.
I said that because when we are teaching the Ss are our responsibilities, and
we have to know what their needs are. For giving them a good education, I
think that when we are teaching them; we become their second parents.
What do I want my legacy as a teacher to be?
I
want that Ss remember me as a good teacher, and that I could contribute to the
knowledge that they acquired when I taught them. I feel happy if Ss learnt one
new word every day because that’s what a good teacher has to do all the time.
Teaching is our philosophy, and also we as teachers learnt every time from the
Ss too. The human beings never stop learning new things every day.
What can I do to keep track of myself, to “remember”
my own heart?
I
have to work hard every time when I am teaching. I mean that I have to pay special
attention to the identity and integrity that I have with the Ss because
identity and integrity are the main parts of being a good teacher.
When did you first realize that you wanted to be a
teacher?
Being
honest, I did not like the idea of being a teacher. I decided to study this
major because I wanted to learn more English and speak as a native person does
(thing that I haven’t improve yet), but when I took the English Didactics 1
everything changed because I really enjoyed giving the first class. It was a
wonderful experience for me because all the children were paying special
attention to me in the class. So, I realized that I wanted to be a teacher when
I started the second year of my major.
What were the circumstances of this realization?
The
circumstances were that I did not want to become a teacher, but when I put in
practice what a teacher does I realized that it was not very bad as I thought
before. It was a good experience because I learnt that I have not to judge
things if I haven’t put into practice yet.
How close are you to those feelings today?
Now,
I think differently because 3 years ago I said that I did not want to be a
teacher. As I said before, that feeling has changed a lot. Now, that feeling is
stronger because I teach from my heart. I mean that is a good experience that
other people learn new things from me. That’s what motivates me for becoming a
teacher.
II. Palmer writes:
“ My ability to connect with my students and to connect them with the subject,
depends less on the methods I use than on the degree to which I know and trust
my selfhood—and I am willing to make it available and vulnerable in the service
of learning” (p.10). What does it mean to rely on your selfhood rather than
methods?
I
understand this question that we have to trust in ourselves for giving the
class than the methods. It is true that the techniques help us a lot every day
in class, but first we have to know who we are. I mean that we know our
identity, and we have to have such as a connection between the Ss and the
subject for giving excellent classes. Another important thing is that we
have to create our environment in the classroom so that the Ss can feel
comfortable. Creating a good environment depends a lot from the teacher. I know
that we can have the best techniques for applying every class our class could
be good; however, if we have a good personality our class could be wonderful.
All the different kinds of methods are pretty useful for us, for we have to be
aware that not all the methods will work with all the Ss.
III Reflect on your earliest encounters with
teaching. If you are drawn to teaching, when did you first feel drawn to
it? What was it that drew you? What within you was evoked by teaching—its
values, its methods, the way it names and frames reality? What does the nature
of teaching reveal about who you are? If you aren’t, share a story about one of
your favorite teachers. What do you recall most vividly about that
teacher? What was his / her relation to the subject taught? What was the ethos
of his/ her classroom?
When did you first feel drawn to it?
I
felt drawn to teaching 2 years ago when I took English Didactics I. I had to
deal with children. It was a good experience because I could teach them
different kinds of topics. I remember that I was nervous the first class, but
when I started the class, I got in the mood.
What
was it that drew you?
It
drew me the Ss because they put me attention all the time and we could have a
ball in the classroom, and also I liked the idea that they learnt different
kinds of topics.
What
within you was evoked by teaching—its values, its methods, the way it names and
frames reality?
I
did not feel evoke by teaching because I thought that the role of a teacher was
not interesting. But now I think differently because I have developed the role
that a teacher does. Actually, I feel drawn for a style of teaching that a
teacher has in the university. I would like to have that style because he is
not only wise but also humble.
What
does the nature of teaching reveal about who you are?
The
nature of teaching revels who am I because when I am teaching, I do not only do
put in practice my skills for teaching but also my personality.
Jane
Tompkins discovered that her goal as a teacher had been to put on
“performance,” thus distancing herself from students and subject
(pp.28-29). Do you identify with her self-criticism? If so, do you
share Tompkins’s diagnosis of fear as the driving force behind this distancing?
In what ways other than “performance” do teachers set themselves apart?
Do
you identify with her self-criticism?
I
do not identify with her because she thinks only in herself. She concentrates
on showing how smart she is, knowledgeable she is, and how well she is prepared
for the class. She worries about what her Ss would think about herself. That’s
why I do not identify with her.
Do
you share Tompkins’s diagnosis of fear as the driving force behind this
distancing?
I
do not share Tompkins’s diagnosis of fear because I do not have the same ideal
that she has by teaching. It is true that a teacher must be
prepared for every class, and has so much knowledge about what she is teaching.
But first, she has to be aware that she has to share the things that she knows
with their Ss.
In
what ways other than “performance” do teachers set themselves apart?
It
could be when they don’t have a good relationship with their partners because
they think that they have more knowledge. For example, a teacher told us in
class that he had five mates at work, but one of them told him that she did not
want to work with the other 3 anymore because they had graduated from
profesorado in English and they 2 know more than them because they are licenciados
in English already. So the teacher told him that he was not in agreement with
him because they could be profesores, but they have different skills. The
teacher told us that actually that man is not his friend anymore because of
that comment.
