Overall Class Reaction

I really didn't know what to expect when I signed up for this class. I was curious to see how things were going to be set up, and how we were going to learn about teaching literature to students. After taking 4790, I wasn't entirely out of the loop, but was very excited to see how that class can be tied into 4800.

I am so relieved that we went over the literary theories and got to know them much better in this class. Although I am no professional, I feel like I've scratched the surface of what can become a great learning experience for adolescents. Additionally, I have decided to keep all three of the texts we had for this course. I sat in my room looking through each of them trying to figure out which one I could live without. Unfortunately, I couldn't find one that would not be useful for my in the future. It's definitely a good source to have but I won't be getting any money back in return for them. Oh well. I figured I would regret it later if I didn't take advantage of all the sources, activities, and information each of these books contained.

Overall, I feel this was a great experience for me as a near future educator. I glad this class was my last English course to take before my student teaching as well. This way, everything will be fresh and ready to use in the classroom I intern for.

Todd, you were also a great teacher. I like how you set up our classroom atmosphere and made it comfortable for everyone from day 1. You really treated us like professionals, and because of that we all were able to get as much out of your class as possible, and learn many new things to bring to the classroom.

The Giver presentation

I think this presentation went very well today. I thought our class discussion was very helpful and insightful to the novel, The Giver. This group's opening activity was very motivating and enabled the students to use their imagination. This is a great way to get students thinking about the novel and about their own perceptions of things as well.
My favorite part of the presentation was the Crossing the line activity. I was really intrigued when I first saw this done in the movie Freedom Writers. Actually doing this activity was fun and I felt a sense of connectedness with the rest of the class. I think this is a great way for students to open up to each other and to create a safe, comfortable, classroom atmosphere.
I also enjoyed the YouTube clip. The student who played out the ending to The Giver gave me hope for my future students to put just as much thought and effort into literature and the classroom.
Overall, this group's presentation helped me develop how I might want to teach this novel if given the opportunity in the future. I really liked the idea as a whole to provide the entire class with a Unit Plan to use when teaching each of the novels presented. These will serve as great resources for new teachers.