I Believe:
I believe that teaching English is crucial to all aspects of school and life. Through English, I feel that students are given the tools to understand the language that infiltrates their daily lives. English teaches them to be able to read and understand what they are reading as well. For these reasons, I believe that English really makes up the framework that allows students to be successful in all aspects of their lives.
English is a very unique subject. It’s really a subject that is different from day to day. As students bring their own experiences to the material they read, they are helping each other to create their unique classroom experiences. Together, as a class, they decide how they will react to, and discuss, books and writing. It is also a subject that allows students to be creative. In an English classroom, students have the opportunity to write, explore, and create their own unique writing styles.
The English teacher is an integral part to this development. A successful teacher gives their students the tools to want to read, and be confident in their abilities to use their prior knowledge to understand what they have read. A teacher that can accomplish this opens up a world to students that shows them how to escape, or simply be taken into other places and perspectives, so they can better understand the world around them. In order to do this, it is important to address different learning styles in a non-traditional classroom setting, so the students stay engaged and connected. As an English teacher, I know that not every student will love the subject. However, I hope that by creating a constantly changing, and inviting classroom setting, my reluctant students might find an appreciation for the subject, which they might not have had before entering my classroom. I believe that the English classroom can and should be a place, where student and teacher work together, to constantly teach and learn from one another in a respectable setting.
