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.