Farewell to my favorite college course, ever.

I sincerely mean it when I say that this has been my favorite course I have ever taken at Chico State.  I’ve known for quite some time that I want to be an English teacher, however, all of the previous classes I have taken have been a total bore, until this one.  Kim, I cannot thank you enough for creating this class and teaching it in a way that nurtures, yet challenges us students as we begin our journey into teachers ourselves.  When I heard there wouldn’t be any grades or tests, I thought this class would be a joke, yet somehow this class became the one that I put all my effort into and saw the most results.  I’m an outgoing and funny person, but I have always been more introverted during class discussions, but this class changed it all.  I finally felt my opinion and thoughts being valued for once in a college setting, and for that, I am forever grateful.  To all of my fellow classmates, thank you for listening and for creating such great discussions that allowed us all to develop and grow as future teachers.

In the terms of literacy, being someone who is so interested in ESL and ELD students, I learned so much about what literacy really means and how we can help others attain it.  Until I stepped foot into this classroom I had never thought about sponsors, or pedagogy, or multiliteracies, but after I learned how all of these tie into literacy, it became so obvious to me why I want to be a teacher.  I want to be that bilingual teacher that can help her students develop literacy in maybe not only one language, but two.  After my article group, where I read Just Girls by Margaret J. Flinders, I was able to see how literacy can be used as a form of power, and then being able to research that topic more in my keywords assignment, I realized how regardless of where I’m teaching, or what age group I’m teaching, literacy will always been seen as power.  I hope to break down the walls that so many students build up, and be a teacher like Rafe Esquith in the Hobart Shakespeareans who turns literacy into a beautiful means of power.

I was lucky enough to intern in Cindy Duchala’s class at Chico Junior High School for over 4.5 months, and I learned more than I would have ever imagined.  Although I was not actively teaching, I was observing, grading papers, tutoring, and even putting my Spanish skills to use.  I felt so at home in her ESL/ELD class because I was working with my dream students.  Cindy conducts her classroom in such a positive manner that it makes all of the slower learners WANT to try because they want to understand and be able to move on into regular English 7 or English 8 classes with their friends.  Cindy does this interactive reading that I will definitely implement into my classroom someday, and because of it, her students comprehension levels have sky rocked and Cindy won ESL Teacher of the Year for the district.  However, my favorite part was working one on one with two boys, Angel and Valentine.  They both just moved to the United States two years ago, and they are both still developing their English skills.  In the beginning, Cindy would force them to come work with me, but in my last month of interning, Valentine would ask to come back and work with me because he enjoyed getting my help.  Cindy said that Valentine knew he could do better, but “with your help and patience, he is finally putting his skills to use, and he should graduate from ELD next year.”  I can not explain the love I have for students, but I sure can tell you that I cannot wait to start teaching.

THANK YOU ENGL 332 for an incredible class experience, I’ll miss you all!