Responding to reading.

Happy fall, y'all. Hope all is going well for everyone.

I just read about 60 pages of Peter Smagorinsky's Teaching English by Design in one sitting, and became really engaged. So much so, that I forgot to write down any notes but still highlighting away. So now, as I am going through it a second time, I thought I would write something on here as I write my notes.

Peter Smagorinsky, I would like to applaud you for writing a great Methods Text. For the most part, over the last few years, I have thought of reading my method's books as a task that needs to be completed, but have not really been excited by what I was reading. Aside from Tom Romano's writing about the multi-genre project, which I absolutely adored and still do. Isn't it ironic that I, a pre-service educator of the English language, was forcing myself to read books? Isn't that exactly what will happen with my students in the future? Hah. Well, back to my main point.. Smagorinsky's book has a lot of gems in it.

While some of the points brought up in the text are "duh" moments to me, and I brush over them pretty quickly, I still think it is a good reminder to think about these aspects of teaching. Maybe it is because of where I currently am in life (a struggling adult that isn't quite just a student anymore, but not quite a teacher yet), but I think this text is really useful. What I really appreciate about Smagorinsky is his inclusion of resources. I don't think this happens enough in textbooks. Most authors seem really vain, and ask you only to read more of their work, but these wide-spread resources are exactly what many of us are looking for before we have our own classroom for the first time.

A lot of the points that I have been reminded of by Smagorinsky make me think a lot. Which is amazing. I feel really engaged with a methods text for the first time since Tom Romano's Blending Genre, Altering Style. Some of the things I have taken away from the middle of the book, after reading today, include:

• teaching of language should be malleable and flexible,
• I should always be prepared to be able to eloquently justify what I want to teach and why,
• though we sometimes sneer at "teaching to align with standards," it is necessary sometimes, and
• I really need to consider time management more in the classroom.

Sure, some of these things (or all) I should be thinking about anyway. But it is so refreshing to be reminded of what I should be remembering. As pre-service teachers, most of us have days longer than 12 hours. We work close to full time in order to be able to save money for student teaching because in some cases, we have to quit our jobs in order to ST. We have a full course load that includes classes beyond just our English Education courses. We are just stressed! There are a million things running through our minds: will I be able to handle teaching, will I be a successful teacher, what kind of teacher will I be, what's for dinner? And sometimes we forget really important things. Or maybe, I'm just talking about myself and  am stressing myself out. I guess I don't really know... But what I really have taken away from Peter Smagorinsky is: keep your eye on the end goal and just make sure to consider these little details to be able to make it to the end in one whole piece.

Enjoy your weekends. I know I will.

Alexandra K. Wiesyk