Semester 1 Professional Growth blog entry

                    Since student teaching, I've grown, but at what cost?!?!? (hair quantity and length)

1.  Think back (or revisit) the “Principles of Children’s Learning” or “Belief Statements” that you wrote at the beginning of this journey.

 a. What specific principle or belief do you most rely on as you interact with students each day?

I most rely on the notion that if I'm passionate, approachable, and well-meaning in my attempts to impart knowledge to students, that some of that will sort of seep into their sub-consciences and they'll get excited, or at least give some attention, to what I'm jabbering on about. Now, I know that that's a pretty big assumption, and I also know that no one can be forced to care about something without allowing oneself to (I'm not naive enough to believe that they all read the books assigned - in fact, in some classes, I'd wager it's less that 40-50% that really, earnestly read what they're expected to). However, I genuinely care about what I'm doing with my time and professional life, and sometimes, if I'm lucky, I get whole classes that buy into what I'm trying to do, and that's when teaching is the most rewarding for me. 

b. In what ways has this helped you reframe anxiety-producing problems into productive, solvable problems (maybe even opportunities)?

It helps reassure me that I am, in fact, accomplishing something when things do go well, or when students have particular success with a given essay, socratic discussion, speech, etc. When students match my efforts with that of their own, I really get excited and feel valued; that helps to cancel out the interactions that are less than fulfilling. One might say that I enjoy teaching when things are good, and students aren't challenging; I can't deny it! Some people thrive on the challenge of engaging the most disenfranchised, checked out students and getting them to care - I've had less of that in my career, to be honest, and that kind of challenge doesn't intrigue me much. 

2.  In what ways has your Semester 1 learning impacted your interactions with colleagues?

It hasn't impacted my interactions much, other than the fact that I now have terminology to explain in what state our department's (and faculty's) state is: Pseudo-community! Faculty-wise, I'm not really the guy to take us into chaos and beyond - I'm not in that type of leadership position. In my department, I could make the efforts, but we're not in a state of change yet; perhaps in time I will work to move us past pseudo-community - it's just not the right moment presently. I am, however, respectful and mindful of other people's perspectives, and shall continue to be - a position that was reinforced by what we've learned. 

3.  What new nugget of learning (or insight) has impacted your practice most?  What are you doing differently as a result of this learning?

That has to do with my Review of Literature - I've changed the terminology with regard to one of the practices that I want to do more of in my classroom - "Peer Editing" became either "Peer Review" or "Peer Response." The definition and expectations that goes with that term change is a big deal, and shifts the focus of the practice to "searching for errors" to "critiquing big ideas," such as the thesis statement, evidence, fluency of the writing, etc. I'm considering adding a bit to the peer review process and making it my big project, which will result in the most effective writing practices I've engaged in (hopefully!), and that's a big deal for my teaching and students. 

4.  What are you still wondering about?

What kinds of focuses we move onto as a community now that the first class is over, and what that'll look like. I'm also wondering about the workload with regard to the two upcoming summer classes happening in conjunction with our "main" course of study. It'll be interesting to see how much we're done with by the start of the next school year.