Learning Letter

Dear Sean,

            Woo! Done! Finally! This has been the literal quarter from hell! I’m not even sure where to begin with my complaints and where to direct my pent up frustration! Like, when I finally turn in my unit plan, I’m driving to the top of Mt. Spokane, hiking to the top, and yelling at the top of my lungs. I’m not sure for how long. Maybe an eternity. Most likely until I pass out. I have never reflected on myself so much until this quarter. Not that there’s anything wrong with reflection, of course, but I’ve just never done it so much. I didn’t realize how much I could actually reflect, you know? I reflected after papers and after lessons and after teaching… it never stopped! I wanted a chance to breathe. I’m not sure I would change any of it, though. This has been one of the hardest quarters (y’all weren’t lying when you said not to take 408 and 493 together…) of my college experience, but also one of the most rewarding. I’m finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel; I’m getting to the fun stuff, where it’s not just reading and writing papers – very soon, I’ll get to apply all of that reading I’ve been doing for a million years at this point. I’m going to be an amazing teacher, I like to think, and I know it’s because of classes like 493 (and 408).

            About being a teacher: I’ve realized I’ve got a long way to go. I’m not ready (obviously, considering this was the closest thing I’ve had to an education class so far…), but, beyond knowing I’m not ready, I know that it won’t be very long now until I will be. This class instilled a lot of confidence in me, making me excited again to be a teacher. I was admittedly getting kind of burned out on just taking my English classes… This class has also been helpful in preparing me to take on a lot of work seemingly all at once; I’m a ridiculous procrastinator, and it almost bit me in the butt several times this quarter. Uhhh… it could still probably bite me if I don’t get on with finishing up my unit plan. But this class, especially the unit plan, has helped me realize that I really do need to slow my roll with the procrastination. There were a hundred times this quarter where I could have easily been working on something that was due at the end of the quarter e.g. my unit plan, but I chose to veg and watch nine episodes of House of Cards (the new season was like just days away and I had to play catch up) instead of doing what needed to be done. Hopefully I’ve learned my lesson, because I’m pretty sure I’m literally dying at this point; my body is running on Red Bull, coffee, and these really tasty chips we sell at work now: they literally taste like corn chips with spicy nacho cheese drenching them. Oh they’re so good.

            As lazy as I can be, I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished this quarter, with and without my group mates. I think Ryan and I worked really well together for our mini-lesson. The book talks were also nifty and RIDICULOUSLY handy. Seriously. I bought, like, seven of the books people talked about and I want to buy more. It was also really cool because I hadn’t read most of the books we chatted about; not saying that I’ve read a lot of books, but it was cool that people weren’t choosing the more “mainstream” books because I now know about a lot of really cool books that would be nifty to use to teach to students. And as much as I whined and moaned about my unit plan, that has also been ridiculously useful. Before this class, I had never even seen an edTPA, let alone filled one out. This, I’m sure, has prepared me for when I finally go onto my Masters program. The unit plan has shown me just how lazy I can actually be – let’s not lie, I’ve still got a couple lesson plans to write, I still have to print off everything, I still have to whip a self eval, and make everything look pretty… like, what am I doing with my life? I’m insane. Glutton for punishment, I suppose. The unit plan has also shown me just hoooooow much reflection and how much consideration goes into a lesson. It’s been a great eye opener, but also incredibly stressful (again, that’s partially my fault…probably like all my fault).

            This class has been fantastic. Like I said, it’s been incredibly useful, not just in the actual course content (as far as our articles to read and such), but in the books we read, and the activities we did. The mini-lessons were an excellent way to dip your toes in the waters of teaching, and the book talks introduced the class to several new novels that they could potentially work into their curriculum. All in all, I’m incredibly happy this is one of the required courses for English teachers. I sort of wish it was required for everybody, but that’s asking a lot.

Sincerely,

Marah Nekich