English Educator Autobiography

         I would like to be an English teacher because I believe in the power of words. As cliché as it sounds, words have been very powerful in my development as an adult woman and I think it is one of the greatest tools used in our society, intentionally or unintentionally. I also see a lot of room for change in our society and have this undying belief that change starts with the youth. Thus, my goal is to use words in all of their glory to inspire our youth to change something about the way they think, their lives, somebody else’s, or even better, something about our society.

Sometimes the most powerful words are hidden and the most vulnerable people are robbed of ideas, histories, truths, and hope. This is very personal for me because I am a part of arguably the most vulnerable group in our society. Black, female, poor. I have been working to change that one aspect of my vulnerability that is changeable through education and building my self worth by learning about my past and myself through these hidden words and I hope to do the same for any young person that crosses my path.

I am not merely guessing that words are powerful; I’ve experienced it myself. At the end of my junior year at the University of Florida I decided to intern at a non-profit organization for “underprivileged” teenagers. The director gave me the freedom to do whatever I wanted with them, and so I introduced them to all the poetry and books written by minority women and men that had been influential to me up to that point. Their response was striking and this is where I discovered my interest in not only English but English education.

Like them, as a child I was also greatly touched by words. A series of regrettable circumstances led me to books, poems, and short stories by Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, Zora Neale Hurston, and Maya Angelou. For reasons I can feel more than I can articulate, those words meant so much to me and even more when I was reintroduced to Black writers while working on my undergraduate degree. There I fell in love with Richard Wright, Richard B. Nugent, Countee Cullen, and many more. My point is that these authors and pieces of literature have had a tremendous impact on how I see myself and the world, literature has led me to who I am, and that is powerful.

As for what role English education should play, I can’t say that I have a definitive answer. At this stage, I am not even completely sure what my classroom curriculum would look like. I am still learning.

However, I think English education should be meaningful. The name of the subject should change completely, because I think it is misleading. I like Language Arts so much better (or maybe Language Studies), because that’s some of what I think we should do, study and critique language. With language comes people, societies, ideas, conflicts, beliefs, culture, all of which should be analyzed and critiqued in the English classroom.

            I know that I want my class to be colorful and loud. And when the year is over, I want my students to be different than when they walked in. I want them to have a position about something, I want them to appreciate different cultures, I want them to love themselves, and I want them to be empowered. I don’t know how I’ll do that just yet, but I’m working on it.

1/28-Back at it!

             Reading the introduction of both Bomer and Christenbury’s texts this week was a nice mix because both authors do a great job at illustrating what an English classroom should look like and what an English teacher should be. Although I do not think their ideas are without flaws, at the moment, they work very well for me as a developing educator.

Last semester we spent a lot of time on the English classroom and the English curriculum and still, I am madly in love with everything Bomer highlights in these first three chapters. For me, what stands out is that the English classroom is a space for people, who naturally are not empty but filled with the intellectual wealth and wisdom they have acquired from their cultures, communities, and life experiences. Thus it is imperative that we “appreciate their existing knowledge, believe in their competence, and build upon what they already know, do, and love”. This was groundbreaking for me because as a student my intelligence had never seemed to be appreciated by any of my teachers. To think you knew as much or more about something than your teacher did was could be viewed as blasphemy to some. I think Bomer’s way of thinking and structuring the classroom makes the learning experience much more comfortable and less demeaning for the learner. 

Christenbury’s ideas serve students in the same way as she urges teachers to be compassionate, and center instruction on the ideas, and personalities of their students. Furthermore, I think it is equally important to have an idea of what the English teacher should look like as well, although I never actually thought it isn’t something I’ve thought about before.  I liked how descriptive Christenbury was in her examples of what good English teachers should be like and certain types of students we might encounter as English teachers. I think this was very helpful and important because it shows how teaching goes way beyond the content and the subject. The personalities and the relationships between the teacher and learner are equally important, and deserve attention as well. All in all, I appreciate that the obvious concerns of both writers are the students. And whether we’re discussing what the English classroom should look like or what the English teacher should look like, it remains that the most important thing is both are at the benefit of the students involved.

As for the field, I am really excited to be at Reagan this semester. The students (especially the lil’ black boys) seem to be very happy that I’m there as well. These kids have so much more personality and I can’t wait to get to know them. They also seem so eager to learn, and that puts me at ease because I feel like they will be open to the lessons I’ll teach in the coming weeks.

As for my CT, I really like her. I think she’s very sweet and talks to me way more than my CT did last semester which also makes me feel much more comfortable.  We had a great conversation at our first meeting and I think we are on the same page. However as a CT, there are some things I am leery of. First, I think that she doesn’t put much thought into her lessons or plans them before hand, which scares me a bit. I don’t think she is sure what direction she is going or where she wants the students to go, which I think is very important. In a nutshell, I think she just goes with the flow (lol).  I don’t want to knock anyone’s style, but the lack of structure might be hard for me as an intern to follow. Second, I think, (well I sort of know because she told me) that my CT is having a really hard time as a teacher and doesn’t really like her job at the moment. Again, as an intern that may become a problem, BUT it’s all good. Whatever happens I’m sure I can learn from it, so I’m just excited to experience the good and the rewarding as I am the bad and the highly uncomfortable.