Chapters 1 & 2 of Bridging English emphasized self-reflection heavily, which seems to be a recurring theme throughout both teaching and pre-service teacher education. This is a practice with which I am very familiar, having had it in both secondary and undergraduate courses. For that reason, it was easy for me to dive right in to the reading, and the inviting for reflection from the chapters.
To begin, I will discuss the positive memories I have from English classes. I honestly can't remember a time when I did not enjoy English class, but the particularly wonderful memories come from secondary and undergraduate courses. In high school, I began my freshman year with a new teacher, young and spunky, who had a passion for her content area, and for reaching us all in our own individual ways. We completed personal anthologies of writing, which of course fulfilled the state requirements for Ms. Slagle's teaching but also fed our need to express ourselves in very unique ways. She put a cool spin on what could have been very boring. We spent the entire school year working on the project and I still have my anthology on the book shelf in my bedroom because it meant so much to me.
In this freshman Advanced English course, I also became acquainted with a specific author that has continued to inspire me throughout my life. My teacher had the "How to be an Artist" poster on one of the classroom walls, and after I read it, I became obsessed with quotations that I felt spoke to me. Ms. Slagle helped me to develop this passion for uncovering interesting quotations, and she loaned me her books by the same author who published the poster I love so much (SARK). This personal interaction that I had with her made me feel special at a time in my life when my home-life wasn't so good, and she rescued me from the depths of newly-teenage hell. For that I will be forever in debt to her. She helped to inspire me to teach, and I truly hope that I can be what she was to me for other students in the future.
In college I had many courses in English that came and went without significant positives, but I had several instructors that helped to renew my commitment to be a teacher of the subject. These instructors helped to illuminate classical literature, to bring to light new things I had never read, and to teach me the ways in which I could interpret texts in ways I had never thought possible. I learned how to use the internet to create websites on which to publish my thoughts on texts, to communicate with other students, and to present projects for the courses. I learned how to utilize outside sources correctly to aid in my studies, and how to navigate the library. I acted out plays, met in literature circles with other students, did a practicum for the teaching of writing to high school students, created visual representations of concepts and even went on field trips at times. These experiences, once again, helped to further my love for English and to affirm my career choice.
Delving further into the reading, I must also address a few of the more practical issues in the teaching of English. First, I believe that English education should include the student's interests, language skills, writing skills, communication skills, the social/cultural lives of the students, and also good, old-fashioned fun. Without one of these things, there are gaping holes in the education I would offer my students, and within the use of each of them, I can address KY Core Content and Program of Studies requirements, as well as CATS testing material.
As far as the set up of my classroom, I want it to be conducive to learning, and appropriate for the community of learners I hope to create. For this reason, I would choose groups of four throughout my classroom if I had the choice, which doesn't always happen. If I get the chance to teach at the school at which I most wish to teach (Fern Creek), space will allow me to set up my classroom in this way in almost any classroom in the building because it is an older building. I love the group set up on page 5 of the text (figure 1-1) because it puts my desk in a place at which I can see what is going on (if I ever sit that is!) and also puts students in a positions where they can all see one another and me at all times. This is important to me.
My philosophy of teaching includes many of the ideas that I saw in the first two chapters. Based upon my experiences with teaching, the things I have learned as a pre-service teacher, and my experiences as a student, I hope to combine some aspects of direct instruction with many more of student-centered instruction, which is highlighted in Bridging English. One particular section spoke to my beliefs: "learning is an active process of constructing meaning by taking in new information, connecting it to prior understandings, and then testing the new knowledge by applying it. Learning is not waiting for the revelation, but making it, not uncovering knowledge, but creating it. Learning is active and productive, not passive and receptive" (Milner 7).
I also see that the teacher needs to be willing to evolve in her methods of teaching and to be more of a coach than a facilitator. I want to maintain order and safety in my classroom and stand apart from students as the teacher, but I want them to have an active role in defining our goals as a class, thus taking responsibility for their own success. For this reason, I love the axioms for student-centered classrooms on page 11. These are practical little tidbits that I know I will use time and time again. Reading it was almost like a little pep talk; don't be afraid to make mistakes, but learn from them and move on to bigger and better things!
Moving on to language itself, I value language for its ability to help me communicate with others effectively and I appreciate it in written form much more than in spoken form. I simply have a much easier time loving the beauty of written literature than listening to someone speak. For this reason, I value the study of grammar and the proper use of language in my classroom. This is not to say, however, that I discount cultural vernacular or slang because doing so would immediately alienate half of my students, perhaps more. I mean instead that as I intend to set my student up for success, I will absolutely insist that they learn to use correct spelling and grammar when it is appropriate. This is a necessity for success in American society, whether the student chooses to attend college and work in a professional atmosphere or not.
The brief history that follows this discussion of language and linguistics is much appreciated and I am happy to have it as a reference in the future. I can see myself referring to Chapter 2 when teaching certain periods of literature in order to add historical background (pages 16 - 24). The instructional debate that ensues next gets at the heart of the previous discussion of my thoughts on grammar, but I must admit that I don't exactly on which side of the dense I belong: prescriptive or descriptive. Again, I absolutely see room for change in our language and feel that it would be very detrimental to our culture to discount slang and other comparable forms of vernacular completely. However, the quote included from Samuel Johnson (Milner 25) made me think about the fact that if our language continues to change, who is to say that one day we won't understand our own Constitution? The allowance for constant change makes it hard to communicate with one another and doubly hard for English teachers to bring the students up to speed. I guess this is one of the reasons why this debate is a "war that never ends" (Milner 25).
The section on language instruction was particularly useful because it presented many different methods for my consideration. This got the wheels turning in my own mind as to which method I prefer for my classroom approach. The only conclusion I came to was that I see good things about them all, particularly the contextual method. I will just have to learn from other teachers and by trial and error what works best in each of my classes, because my ultimate goal is to teach them all in a way that they can learn the most. I want my students to be successful writers, readers and communicators, which will in turn help them score well on state tests, portfolios and to be successful in life.

Whew! That was a plethora of information to receive tonight! Luckily, I am not easily stressed or intimidated. I got a renewed sense of why I think I will make a great teacher with the introduction to all of our projects this semester, however. I wasn't overwhelmed by it, I was intrigued and excited to get started. I literally couldn't wait to get home and tell my boyfriend Jason, who has taught for 11 years, all about what we did and to read my syllabus. I can't wait to find out where my field placement will take me and to begin working with students face-to-face. I am even excited about everyone bringing snacks (I love to do that kind of stuff, too!). I think I am just happy to know that I am in the right place at U of L, in JCPS, and hopefully I will feel the same way soon at the high school at which I wish to teach (Fern Creek).