blog 4

I kept asking myself throughout this section and afterwards, why are we learning this? Should I be making an outline, a cartoon, staging a boxing match between Rousseau and Descartes?

Who are we as educators? For those of us entering the education field in a short time, this is a question we are formulating answers to at this very moment. I think the last two sections are integral to our research as we begin to answer this question within a much larger framework.

Teaching is not an individual sport, thankfully. Just as we support certain factions with our dollar, our dress, etc., our teaching methods will reflect our beliefs. In order to form teams, we must know where we fall. I could see myself aligned with another teacher for the WAC framework, since I like help in solving problems and find technical writing fascinating and instantly rewarding (I'm a pro at getting interviews for anything.) Somewhat off the WAC mark, I had a group of co-teachers for my fifth grade class and found the teamwork approach made every day a fresh experience. One of my friends recently started teaching kindergarten as a co-teacher. Her transition as a first year teacher was smoother and more enjoyable than some of my other friends' first year experiences.

I found the idea of revision and rough drafts to be the closest to my own strategies for writing. It amazes me that before 1960 the idea of writing a single draft was not only acceptable but commonplace. I know this is still common practice amongst even skilled writers, but I believe firmly their planning and rough draft stages must take place solely in their heads. I understand that too much grammatical instruction is overkill without the essential idea. But, to me, grammar is really interesting. Grammar lessons should be short and well timed just as when I learned scales on the piano as a part of learning a whole piece of music. I would play the entire piece and then focus on bits and pieces.