Next up? Find a job. I am hopeful for an opportunity, but I realize that I will need to add an English as a Second Language (ESL) endorsement to my resume before I get a job. That's fine. I expected as much.
I've been teaching through my field placement and stayed on as a volunteer in a Fairfax County, VA high school. It has been enlightening. I learned early that I have some natural abilities in the classroom. Strangely enough, my years in theater helped me out a bit as well. Stage fright can happen in front of a group of students, too. Lucky for me, no problems there.
What have I accomplished? Hard to say. I've managed to build a rapport with a bunch of teenagers. This is no small feat, considering the age and cultural differences that exist.
I can see how the country's educational policies have served our youth. I cannot say that they have been well-served Our kids cannot think critically. Granted, those processes are likely still in the early stages of development at the ages of 14-18, but I see it in communication. Kids also hate reading. HATE. IT. This is a disappointing and devastating revelation. As a kid who grew up hiding in books and spending summers at the library, I have a hard time understanding the hatred of books.
Vocabularies are shallow, general knowledge is non-existent. Kids will only read under threat of testing. Teachers are encouraged to use "alternate texts". Anything to get the point across other than the printed word. Reading is in such danger, that becoming a "literacy specialist" is a highly-sought endorsement. I'll probably do this. Every teacher is a reading teacher. This has become a necessity because reading is dying. It's a dying skill that is becoming less mandatory no time soon.
How rapid is the death of reading? Accelerating quickly. There was an article on line a couple of days ago eschewing the necessity of the apostrophe. Thanks to texting and laziness, people believe that the apostrophe is unnecessary. I will never believe this. I believe those who wish to discard it are simply too lazy (or stupid) to get a grasp on its usage. It is THE SIMPLEST of punctuation marks outside of the period, question mark and exclamation point. This leads me to my larger distress -- the demotion of intelligence by general society. Being intelligent now makes you an elitist. Celebrating intelligence? You're a show-off, know-it-all. Big deal. It's more important to be attractive - who cares if you're smart?
Never read the comment section after an online article. You will be the dumber for it, believe me. It is in these little gemstone pockets of opinion that you can gauge the basic knowledge of those who respond. I could teach a grammar do's and don'ts course by just using the comment section of an online article. More concerning than the bad mechanics (!) is the level of anger. This country is full of poorly-read, ANGRY people. There is no more agree to disagree. Differences of opinion lead directly to personal attacks that contain absolutely no exchange of manners or respect. I really don't know to what I should attribute this anger? Lack of intelligence? Lack of self-respect? How do you teach decency?
I can teach reading. I can teach grammar. I can teach literature. Can I teach decency? I can try to demonstrate it. I can encourage debate, but can I teach people how to not be angry?
This post is all over the place, isn't it? Oh well, if you don't like it, you can go to hell.
Just kidding.
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