Week #2

   TE.402 is going to challenge me in the best possible way. Last semester, I was able to focus on my favorite subject, Social Studies. I feel I could create an engaging lesson for any group of students as long as I was addressing some branch of social studies. This semester, I should be able to rely some on my TESOL training to make connections with ELA. However, if there are two subjects that I am unsure of my teaching skills, they are ELA and math. With that preface, my goals are:
 - Discover my ELA and math teaching skills
 - Learn effective strategies for instruction
 - Use new information and details to help me expand my repertoire

• Type of school community = rural or urban
• I want to learn = how to bring students up to and beyond their reading level
• Type of teacher = I read Lester and Fleming because I see suburban life as boring and I wanted to learn about teachers who had experience in my communities of interest. I read these articles nearly word by word because I was so interested in the content. These articles helped me realize that I want to be the teacher that makes school interesting. These articles both suggest that to keep students engaged and interested, the content needs to be relevant to them. I need to be the teacher who recognizes students' interests and actively includes these interests in course material. This is just one step, but I feel it is crucial to relate to students on a personal level so they understand that I am there for their sake and that I value the students as human beings.