After viewing segments of the video Take 20, I found that the most compelling and insightful part of what I saw was the opening comments about the teacher’s first experiences when teaching their own class.  I thought it was interesting to hear about their experiences, and relate them to my own personal beliefs and expectations for English teachers.  I enjoyed how they told the truth, and did not simply state that they new exactly what they were doing from day one and were extremely comfortable within the classroom.  It was very informative to hear the teacher’s responses, and I felt somewhat relieved after hearing that a lot of the teachers had no idea what they were doing during their first year!  It makes myself, who is a future teacher, feel more at ease in knowing that all teachers do no start out as phenomenal.  I know that it takes years of experience to truly establish a successful and motivational style of teaching, and by watching this movie it only reinforced my beliefs.  Although this segment did not show the names of the teachers when they were speaking, it did not matter to me in the slightest bit.  The only thing I was focused on was hearing the teachers express their emotions, concerns, and the necessary actions they believe should be taken to have a successful classroom.  One teacher spoke about the clothes she wore on her first day, and how all she wanted to do was impress her students.  Another teacher actually stated that she had no idea what she was doing, and that she clung to the textbook because she did not know what to do if she didn’t.  It was also interesting to hear a teacher say he was an “idiot” and that he is too embarrassed of his actions as a beginning teacher to talk about them.  By hearing the responses to this question, I feel that I gained some more confidence and shed some of the apprehension I feel towards the first year I will begin teaching.

When thinking about writing a thesis statement for an assigned paper, I feel that many students at the college level have no idea where to start.  I find it fascinating that so many upper level students have never been taught how to write a successful thesis statement to place in an assigned paper.  After having a lecture on how to write a thesis statement, I began to contemplate over why a large portion of college students are unable to write a thesis statement.  Is it because middle schools and high schools are not teaching their students this important aspect of writing during English classes?  Are they not teaching it in a way that students are able to grasp and understand?  When thinking about trying to teach how one should write a thesis statement as a furture teacher, I find this task to be extremely difficult.  It is not a simple thing students can read and memorize, or do examples of until they get that one correct answer.  It is something that students have to understand the importance of, and how they need to make a successful claim that a reader could argue with.  How do you explain to students, without losing their interest, that a thesis statement is not just a fact or statement, and that it must be something arguable?  By passing out handouts and giving them practice examples to read, I do not feel students will be able to read and completely understand how to write a thesis.  I also do not think practicing in their own writing is effective because students will not understand exactly why what they wrote in not a thesis statement.

       When thinking about the novel Bridge to Terabithia, I chose to look up information about the author Katherine Paterson, and learn some information about her history and background in the field of writing.  I discovered that she did not always want to be a writer, and that her childhood dreams were to become a movie star or missionary.  I found it fascinating that a random character may come to her mind at any time, and she will then spend years completely developing his or her personality.  On her website, I found her saying:

“But there are days when I wonder how on earth I got involved in this madness. Why, oh why, did I ever think I had anything to say that was worth putting down on paper? And there are those days when I have finished a book and can’t for the life of me believe I’ll ever have the wit or will to write another.  Eventually a character or characters will walk into my imagination and begin to take over my life. I’ll spend the next couple of years getting to know them and telling their story. Then the joy of writing far outweighs the struggle, and I know beyond any doubt that I am the most fortunate person in the world to have been given such work to do.”

          I found the quote to be very informative about Paterson’s personality in that I feel it shows that she is very down to earth, and truly loves being a writer.  She shows that just like with every career, there are good and bad days, and that she uses those to motivate and stimulate her writing.  By letting fans of her writing read her entry on her website, she informs them that she is determined, and will always produce her best work.  I like the fact that she works through any challenge that may come her way, and in the end is able to feel a sense of accomplishment.  This lets people relate to her, and see that if they struggle with their writing skills, to not instantly give up.  She shows that it takes time and patience in order to produce a well-written piece of literature, and that anyone can do it as long as they are in the right frame of mind.

Bridge to Terabithia, written by Katherine Paterson, has the potential of becoming a controversial story to have students in an English class read.  The first, and main issue in my opinion, would be the fact that Leslie dies at the end of the story.  She is one of the main characters within the story, and her death is rather tragic and sudden to readers.  I feel that many elementary students experience death in some way, either a family member, friend, or pet may have died, so I think a majority of students can find themselves relating to Leslie’s death.  On the other hand, some students may be shocked and feel disturbed by having such an intense and dramatic death in a story they are reading for school.  They may not know what to make of it, or understand why it had to happen.  Another strong issue that may come about in discussing this story in the modern age would be the idea of Miss Edmunds taking Jess on a “fieldtrip” with just the two of them.  Would students find this to be appropriate or awkward for both the teacher and student? Obviously in this day and age this type of field trip would be considered inappropriate, but would some students like the idea of it and would they do it if they had a chance.  Another issue would be the frequent discussions about ideas pertaining to religion.  It becomes very risky to discuss religion in classrooms, so would teachers simply ignore those pages and chapters, or would they have to find an appropriate way to discuss the material.  They would have to be careful not to offend anyone in the classroom due to religion being such a sensitive and controversial topic.   

          When thinking about Freire’s ideas in the book Pedagogy of the Oppressed, I think I would have to be both the oppressor and be oppressed myself.  Due to New York State standards and curriculum constantly being made more difficult and demanding on students, I feel teachers become oppressed.  They are forced to cover a certain amount of information through the course of a year, and are pressured to ensure that their students learn and understand everything they are supposed to know.  There is no say in what they think students in their grade level should be learning.  I feel that I would be oppressed, in that I would not have the time to do all the activities and extended units with my students.  I hope to create a way to engage my students, rather than just lecture and constantly send new information orally to the students within my class.  I do not think that is an effective way to teach, especially for students in elementary grade levels.  They do not retain the information and easily become bored and restless.   

            As far as the students in my class go, I feel they would be oppressed in that they have no say of what goes on during their school day.  They are forced to quietly sit at their desks, raise their hand if they want to speak, ask permission if they can go to the bathroom or eat snack, and they must listen to everything their teacher says.  Their academics are planned for them, and they have to learn and understand all subject areas, such as math, science, social studies, and English language arts.  They are essentially oppressed, as they sit and just take information in.  When I become a teacher and have a classroom of my own, I do not want to oppress my students, but feel I have no other choice for myself but to be oppressed.  I can fight to make improvements within the system, but I feel it will take years to change. 

     In my opinion, Bridge to Terabithia is a heartfelt, childhood story that would be extremely beneficial for students to read who are in the fourth grade.  I think it contains relevant information and situations that pertain to the lives of these students.  There is bullying, sibling rivalry, family financial issues, the initiation of lifelong friendships, and also the use of ones imagination.  When reading about things that can actually happen in students lives, the students will most likely have an easier time connecting with the story.  They will also hopefully want to read the story, and engage in the corresponding activities presented whether discussions, projects, papers, artwork, or presentations.  It will make reading fun and entertaining for students, and possibly motivate them to choose other chapter books to read in their own free time.  The idea of using ones imagination is extremely important in that students at this age are constantly being creative in their endeavors while playing pretend school, house, store, restaurant, etc.  They go into their own world and forget about everything around them.  This relates to the story because Jesse and Leslie create a magical place just for the two of them to go to get away from the troubles within their lives.  They can stop thinking about their family problems, bullies in school like Janice Avery, or personal problems like Jesse’s secret love of drawing that he keeps hidden from his family (especially his father). 

For my literature circles, I am in the group who is reading Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson.  Although I have yet to start reading, I chose to look up lesson plans that I could find on the internet in hopes of gaining an understanding of what students learn about when reading the story.  In one lesson plan I found, I saw that students will gain reading comprehension strategies as well as practice in reading comprehension, they will learn about friendship and how to work cooperatively, they will learn several new vocabulary words and apply them, and students will build overall literacy skills.  I really liked an introductory activity I found where students will create poems about their best friends.  They will discuss what friendship is, specific characteristics of what makes a good friend, and what they strive to be towards their own friends.  Students will be encouraged to share and compare their poems with a partner, and then create a list of similar characteristics and qualities they came up with.  The class will then come together to collaborate and make a class list of what makes a good friend.  This will lead to a class discussion on friendship and its importance, and the teacher can then appropriately introduce the text of Bridge to Terabithia.  The teacher will explain to students that the novel will teach about friendship and growing up, and they should think back to their poems and class list on friendship previously created while reading.  I liked how students “will use paired reading, individual reading, summarizing, and various comprehension strategies throughout the lessons to better comprehend the meaning of the text.”
            By looking up lesson plans, I am eager to start reading the text because I love heartfelt stories for children.  I hope to think of creative ideas to use if and when I teach this text to students of my own.

Richardson states that his own reading skills and habits have changed drastically since he began reading more online content.  He feels he is a more active reader online, than when reading in print and I find myself to also be that way.  I feel that it is easier for me to comprehend written sources that are found online (such as in a blog) rather than through a printed textbook, and therefore agree with Richardson’s argument.  I also agree that people, including myself, have two different sets of skills: one for reading material off of the computer (webs or blogs) and another for reading and comprehending printed materials (textbooks).

In regards to using such technology in my own classroom, it will have to depend on what grade level I am teaching and what the content area is.  I hope to become an elementary school teacher (grades 1-6), and therefore do not plan on having my students create their own blogs or search through other people’s blogs for data or information, but I can use blogs for ideas and sources (such as lesson plans) for me to use within my classroom.  I feel that post will affect the way I teach in that I am brand new to the world of blogging, and am still getting used to it.  In my opinion web material is extremely important, so I feel that if I keep reading and using blogs, I will be able to feel confident with frequently using them as sources whether for myself or for students within my classroom someday.