Reflection on the class...

I can't believe that we are at the final class! At the beginning of the semester it seemed like we had so much material to go over and I had no idea how we were going to get it all done! I have learned so much and I've really enjoyed taking the class. Before the course I had kind of assumed language arts was all about reading and writing... I quickly realized that that was NOT the case! There are so many other facets that go into teaching and learning Language Arts. I know I raved (a lot!) in my last blog about how much I enjoyed my observation component of the class, but I really did love getting to know my Ms. Bradley and her students. It was also so beneficial to get a first hand look at the concepts we discussed in class.
Two things I definitely want to take into my future classroom are the writers workshop model and literature circles. From what we learned in class and from what I observed in my placement class I have seen how well these two practices can work. Students seem to love the self-directed learning that comes with literature circles. I also especially like the idea that students can move more at their own pace in writers workshop. Additionally, both of these models are flexible and can be adjusted to better fit the classroom's need.
It's kind of bittersweet that the course is over, but I'm proud of what we've covered this semester. It's really added to my excitement of what's to come in the future! :)