Hi! I'm Sharon McClintock, a student in English 493 at EWU. Like all my colleagues, I am a teacher candidate working on an endorsement in English (and in Social Studies). This class will be about the philosophy and practice of teaching reading in the classroom. In my current placement, the entire school is working on raising student reading levels. Sadly, a huge percentage of students are at least two grade levels below what they should be. Therefore, we teachers, student teachers and support teachers are working on finding books that are interesting and challenging but attainable for every student in our classrooms. We assess their reading level with several different tests. My hope is that this course will allow me to help my students meet the goals set for them. I cannot tell if my coursework before this point are relevant to this course other than that they have taught me how to read better and have provided a variety of texts which could potentially be used in my classroom.
   I have only been in a classroom for about a month. My master teacher has allowed me to try out my wings with a few of his lessons and continues to give me more opportunities to find my niche as a teacher. I am continually working on my patience in the classroom and my ability to teach well. I want to create engaging lesson plans that allow my students to experience class time more like how they want to experience life. It is difficult to be kind to a student and get to know them when other students are rude or disruptive. However, I think being personable might be one of my current strengths. Most of my students trust me and feel like they can talk to me about whatever they want. As a potential teacher, I think another one of my strengths is my creativity. Currently, curriculum is fairly regulated. But I think I can fit in creative and fun activities to facilitate the learning of the set objectives and learning targets. (Example: Simon Says- Prepositional Phrases).
   By the end of this course (English 493) I would like several things. One, I want to have a really great unit plan ready for my spring student teaching. Two, I would like to comprehend how to teach and encourage reading to my students. Three, I would like to gain a range of methods and strategies of teaching reading literature to students at a range of reading levels and interests. I believe that we can do better in our classrooms. I do not want to be the teacher who does district prepared activities just because it is easy. I do not want to bore and frustrate my students. Instead, I want them to feel that my classroom is a place where they can learn about ELA, because I care about each of them and provide them with what they need to succeed.