Fox Mid-Semester Summary, Entry 5

 
Dear Dr. Jones, 

Now that we are at the semester's midpoint, I thought I would share with you some of the things I have learned. Overall, I feel the course is going well, and I am excited to come to class each week. I love being exposed to so many texts and immersing myself in various types of literature. I like how each week we are asked to read from either the Muhammad text or the Tompkins text alongside other articles that relate to the readings from those texts. I am not so surprised about what I am learning. I am rather grateful for the opportunities I have had to read a text such as Cultivating Genius and learn, as a future educator, how to be historically responsive and culturally competent. Coming from the CSD program, I had little knowledge about being culturally competent and what that meant, but I am now learning how to do that in a classroom setting. I feel that the topics we are covering in this course are foundational for me as a future teacher. How we engage in learning allows us to reflect on what we are reading and learning and make connections that strengthen our understanding. I enjoy the readings that connect to the textbooks and the deeper dive discussions we have been doing. These ways of learning allow me to draw connections and have conversations about what we have learned and what we think of the texts. I enjoy it when we can have conversations and share ideas, as I believe this is a great way to engage in learning and learn from each other. I believe that each component of this course allows for a deeper understanding of the topics we are covering and teaches us how to be successful educators in the future.
I am looking forward to doing my deeper dive discussion as it relates to phonics, and having a speech background allows me to compare and contrast what I already know with what I am learning from the Tompkins text and the article I chose. It will also enable me to share some of the knowledge that I had before entering this program.

I believe that since beginning to take this course, I am much more aware of my literacy habits. I had never been introduced to the SQ4R method and enjoyed using that while reading texts. I believe that a strategy like this allows me to organize my thoughts about what I have read and quickly reflect on it. I also like how the deeper dive discussions are guided by a reading guide provided by you or the student leading the conversation. This also allows me to pay attention to what I am reading and reflect on it critically. I also like how I am now more conscious and intentional about my reading and writing and focusing on what is most important and what I am learning from each text.

I do not feel I am having any struggles with the course currently, and I believe that the amount of work we receive and the assignments we do are balanced and have a purpose. I believe that I am managing the amount of content and assignments well.

 

Sincerely,

Amanda F