Educating Esmé Codell: Textual Analysis

Every year teachers in the school tried making reading fun by incorporating fun games or activities that introduced a book of choice. They would go as far as creating activities that continued all week or until the book was finished.

TEACH LIKE YOUR HAIR’S ON FIRE: ANECDOTAL WISDOM OF AN EXPERIENCED EDUCATOR Teach Like Your Hair’s On Fire by Rafe Esquith is a book, where one finds pieces of wisdom of an experienced educator on how to become a better teacher, parent and person and also a student (prologue). By sharing such wisdom extracted over the years and inviting teachers to a difficult self-training in the shape of “true sacrifice, mistakes and enormous amount of effort,” (prologue) instead of providing them with “simple solutions to complex problems” (prologue), the author intends to map out the terrains of possible problems and suggests strategies for dealing with them. As the book shares such wisdom in anecdotal form, it is easy to apprehend what the author makes of a particular experience, therefore user-friendly as a guide not only for many teachers in need, but also parents.

Michael Henry’s article “Whats with This Summer Reading” has readers pondering why summer reading has students “moving one step further from reading.” Michael Henry explains that one day he saw a teenager becoming very frustrated with the book he was reading. He asked why the young man was reading the book and the boy said, because it was a summer reading assignment. This made Henry think and he began to research summer reading assignments. He wanted to find out what was causing so much frustration.

Reading is the beginning of every child’s learning. The basis of education begins with learning to read. Short (2010) explained that literature acts as “an inquiry to life” and a “way of knowing” (p. 50). However, in order to support children’s learning, it is essential to show children that learning is interesting from a young age. When Short first began teaching using worksheets and a basal reading program, she wrote, “I often felt that children were learning to read in spite of me” (p. 49). The students were not learning to think critically. However, when she began introducing literature circles to her students, she saw them “critically exploring their understandings with each other” (p. 49).

Each of the concepts in the article, “Books for Young Readers” addresses the goal of student interest and engagement in reading. The section, “Ways of Reading” talks about balancing the personal and pedagogical responses to reading, which is not easy to achieve. Laura Jimenez and Kristin Mcilhagga are refreshingly open and honest in discussing their lesson on children’s historical fiction where they used the graphic novel, Storm in the Barn, by Matt Phelan. The book served their pedagogical objectives, but neither Lisa nor Kristin liked the book themselves and their students noticed. When asked if they liked the book, they had to admit that they did not. Educators must put themselves in their students’ position when seeking interesting and

Facilitating a foundation in academic or philosophical pedagogy can help form a path for the educator, a path to better understanding teaching, education, learning and learners. Often, most of the programs designed for learners and the curriculum is often derived from theories. Understanding theories can help guide a teacher through their education journey. Sometimes, teachers may struggle with classroom organisation or implementing the curriculum in a considerate, all-encompassing and engaging way, especially if you are a CRT or Graduate Teacher - and often these concepts can help inspire and encourage teachers. To be an empowered teacher means your classroom and students will be empowered learners, and that is the best type of learning. There are many theories that have contributed to education as a body and has many of these theories help educational departments plan curriculums to benefit not only teachers but also all students. What makes for a great teacher is considering the characteristics of the local community as well involving students’ families’ in the school body. Influences that help shape a teacher’s identity can include…

A Hope in the Unseen by Ron Suskind is an amazingly touching story for any future teacher. It gives hope to every student who is trying to make it in life. It enforces the importance of teacher expectations, human capital, and cultural capital. It touches on funding issues and the irrelevance of standardized testing. Cedric Jennings' life was everything but easy. He never had the opportunity to take the short, easy path, instead always being forced onto the long, winding road; in Cedric's case it gradually led to a world of success. Everyone, future teachers and others alike, should take the lessons in this story to heart, both as an example and as inspiration.

Sometimes it gets to the point that people get too attached to books, a bibliophile per se. Those who are not too fond of books, might find one novel that they grow to love. Literature tends to spark emotions in someone which makes them keep reading. This is something that this class does as well. Talking about a book with peers, gets you excited to keep on reading.

I am Elisabeth Ocegueda, a freshman at Harrisburg High School with a, hopefully, bright future. When I first met Mr. Hartzler I was a little, lost twelve year old girl in middle school who didn’t quite know were she belonged. Mr Hartzler was one of the first teachers I had come to know that had enough energy to make an English class fun. Mr. Hartzler let me express myself and even though he might not know it, he is one of my favorite teachers because I knew that in contrast to other teachers, he actually cared about me and my future. I was never judged in his classroom and I was slowly but surely able to find myself. Over all, Mr. Hartzler will always be a teacher that I respect and that I will remember for my whole life. Thanks to him, I know who I am and what is right.

“If you don’t turn in your reading logs on time,” cackled my 2nd grade teacher, who will be addressed as Mrs. N, “You’ll have to turn your sticks, and you will have to stay in from recess and read The Boxcar Children.” This was blasphemy. Was there no safe haven from the evils of reading? This was the third recess of the week destroyed by those vile compositions. My love of reading had been torn to proverbial shreds, until 7th grade, when it was reborn with the help of a creative, inspiring teacher named Mrs. Caudill.

Throughout this last semester, I have been student teaching at Shawswick Middle School where I was able to take a critical look at myself as an educator. Though the teacher and I did not see eye to eye, this disagreement helped me to better form my own pedagogical beliefs and establish confidence in myself as an educator.

The book Lives on the Boundary, written by Mike Rose, provides great insight to what the new teaching professional may anticipate in the classroom. This book may be used to inform a teacher’s philosophy and may render the teacher more effective. Lives on the Boundary is a first person account composed of eight chapters each of which treat a different obstacle faced by Mike Rose in his years as a student and as an educator. More specifically in chapters one through five Mike Rose focuses on his own personal struggles and achievements as a student. Ultimately the aim is to highlight the underpreparedness of some of today’s learners.

I have taught students ranging from five years old to nineteen years of age. Hence, being an educator, I have learned that learning is always shifting, therefore I must keep improving with the incessant changes. As a little girl, I have always dreamt of being a teacher and I have carried out that dream. My career journey started as a substitute teacher, a floater between classrooms, an assistant teacher, a teacher, a center supervisor, and an educational supervisor. I presently work as an Educational consultant for Danya International LLC. As an Educational Consultant, I able to review and aid with the learning environment of teachers and educational management in a school

The twenty-five stories that are contained in the book, My First Year As A Teacher, are about real teachers and their experiences during the first year of teaching. Each story is different. Some are about memorable students while other stories are about some of the hardships that are encountered as a novice teacher. The diverse sampling of stories in this book gives insight of what kind of problems one might encounter as a teacher, yet they also describe how rewarding the profession can be. I found it rather difficult to choose only ten stories as my favorite but after much consideration and rereading I decided on the following stories because in many ways I could relate to the students as well as the teachers that are given life in these stories.

As a student, I have been inspired by a few teachers at both my primary and secondary schools to seek an interest in the teaching profession. One year after finishing secondary school where I obtained most of my passes I took some time to reflect back on my twelve years at school and the few critical incidents that have cultivated my thinking about teachers and teaching. Some incidents were positive and others negative, but all assisted to shape the type of teacher I want to be in the future! A few critical incidents that shaped my thinking were the first time I came first in a class, the evening I approached the lackadaisical teacher and the day where I was escorted out of class.