I particularly enjoyed Ms. Emlynn DesGannes coming to our class to speak. It is interesting to see a play and then hear the directors take on it afterwards to see if their vision came true. She gave me a lot of insight about teaching after hearing her experiences counseling young women. She said that as a teacher it is very important to watch your actions at all times, and to make sure you are being a positive influence to your students. She said that being a young teacher in the teaching world would make the students want to know more about us, and if they look up to us, would imitate our every move. This comment really hit home because I really looked up to one of my Spanish teachers in high school, and I believe she had something to do with me wanting to become a Spanish teacher. I want to make sure that when I enter this profession that I really try to monitor my actions and make sure I am providing a positive example for my students. Her speech also got me thinking about what kind of teacher I want to be. As a student, it is obvious what teachers care and what teachers may be in the profession for the wrong reasons. Hearing Ms. Emlynn’s experience with the young girls and their writing, I smiled because she said that she would make them rewrite their writing pieces even if it was something as small as sloppy penmanship. This small gesture shows that she knows they could do better and won’t settle for anything less than their best. I believe this strategy is effective because it shows the students to never settle for anything less than the best, and to always push themselves to do better.
As far as Friday’s class, the presentation about the Achiever’s Academy Profiles really made me excited to meet the student I will be working with and make the video. I was nervous because I don’t know much about video equipment but I was assured that the library has all the resources we need to get the job done. After seeing video’s such as hoop dreams and the video about how money affects a student’s live, I’m excited to see how my video will turn out, and I hope that the student I am working with will be just as excited.
