Genre Reflection 2
My Thoughts When I Was A Freshman in English
What time is it?
2:10!
How can I have only been siting here for ten
minutes?
Oh here comes Mr.
Irby…
That comb over isn’t
fooling anyone.
Sigh this class is so
boring…
All he does is drone on
and on and on and on and on
Oh what are we
learning about today?
Shakespeare? Snore.
WHO CARES ABOUT A
DUDE FROM HUNDREDS OF YEARS AGO?
Ohhhhh…. Megan Graber
is looking at me…. YES!!! She is beautiful! Her smile… am I blushing?
Those green eyes are
like sparkling emeralds.
Her blond hair looks
like silk, I wonder if it’s soft like suede? Maybe silk?
She just laughed!
It’s like sweet music….
I think I love her….….Sigh
Uhoh Mr. Irby is
looking at me.
“Austin, what do you
think?”
Uh-oh I wasn’t paying
attention…
Lord, I promise to
pay attention from here on out if you please don’t let me make a fool of
myself.”
“Austin! What do you
think Shakespeare is trying to convey here in this character?”
Oh crap, Megan is
looking at me…SHE’S SMILING!!! I gotta be smooth with my answer. I need to impress her! Was this why she was
laughing?
“Well Mr. Irby, is he
trying to convey that this character is a man?”
“No Mr. Mann, Juliet
is most certainly not a man…”
Well everyone’s
laughing….
I’m just gong to hide
forever, Megan will never talk to me now!
OK TIME HAD TO HAVE
PASSED…
2:11!!!!! This just
isn’t fair.
This is
a dialogue of my thoughts from when I was a student in high school. Freshman
year to be exact. This was Mr. Irby’s Freshman English class, and he was one of
my most boring teachers, or so I thought. I later had Mr. Irby again for Senior
English, but this time I paid attention, and I realized, I turned myself off
from learning because I didn’t give the subject matter a chance. It’s important
to get students interested in the material, but it is not always easy. Those
that did pay attention to Mr. Irby’s Freshman English class said I was crazy
for thinking it was boring, because he made the material fun and fresh. That’s
why this reflection means so much to me. I don’t want my students to tune me
out just because they don’t like the subject matter.
Great post, Austin! First of all, you have a beautiful head of hair, no student will be turned off by your comb over. This post targets the biggest fear of all of us nearly graduated educators. "What if I can't get my students engaged? What if I flop?" AS you made note, even the genius of Shakespeare could not get you interested as a high school freshman, Not everything that we teach will be interesting. Not every student will be interested in the material, or even in bettering themselves through success in our classes. That ability to get them to buy-in is so elusive isn't it? You are gregarious and interesting person. Your students don't have to care about the subject. They will be engaged because you will train them to be that way in your classroom. You will use what you have and it will work. It won't always work. NEWS FLASH- High school students will act like dopes some times. They won't always care. However there will be those that do care. There will be students that listen closely to your lessons. Those are the ones that will keep you going. There will be students who have questions that you can help them find answers to. You are going to make a difference in many lives in the coming years. Between your charming personality, your areas of expertise, and that great hair, you will be an epic educator. Keep up the good work, my man!
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