Discussion in a Democratic Society.....

I love a good discussion and getting students to take a look at their own values and opinions and have a forum where they can have an open discussion with only a prompt from the teacher and no bias as to the instructors feelings. I grew up in classrooms where discussions were not very prevalent and teachers had a way of throwing in their opinion to their out and influencing students. We never had a great venue to talk about issues and when the teacher would provide prompts for discussion it was to be written and not talked about.

When teaching lit to young adults there are always going to be subject matters that arise that are going to have varying opinions and where students will have questions and are looking to have meaningful talks. It is my desire for my classroom, whether it be Social Studies or English, to be a venue for discussion and debate. I feel that this environment is critical for student growth and development. I want to keep my views and opinions to a minimum and allow the students the opportunity to find their own voice. I hope that as in the case of teacher Steve, I too will be surprised and proud as my students pave their own way.

Pleased to meet y'all......

Good morning my name is Sean Pelfrey and I currently a student in English 493, fall quarter at Eastern Washington University. This quarter I am enrolled in 25 credits, in addition to 493 I am also enrolled in English 350 (Shakespeare), English 270 (Intro to Fiction), English 459 (Grammar) and CTED 300 which is for my CTE endorsement. This is my last quarter of classes before student teaching which I will be doing at West Valley High School. My major is Social Studies and I am also getting a English and CTE minor. I am very comfortable with my ability to teach Social Studies and CTE primarily because of my military and engineering background. English though, I will admit, makes me a bit nervous. I feel that I have a good grasp on the literature aspect, but even after taking my comp course, teaching the writing aspect still gives me a bit of apprehension. Growing up I enjoyed writing until I had a teacher who made me feel that my ability to write was sub-par, and I for one doe not want to do that to a student. Though there are some aspects of teaching English that have me cautious, I am looking forward to taking on the challenge. With this course I am really looking forward to getting some great ideas from my peers on good quality YA lit that I can introduce to my students and also looking at some of the mini lessons and also the 15 day lesson plans and stealing them for my own personnel toolbox.

As for the rest of my life, I was carer military for 23 years as a combat engineer in the United States Navy. I have traveled extensively throughout the world and have completed numerous combat tours. I am married to my wife who is a first grad teacher at University Elementary in the CV school district, I have an almost 11 year old son who is in the 5th grade, plays Lacrosse and is pretty fun to hang out with and loves going on random road trips and adventures with me. I have competed competitively in sports since I was about 10. I started out in martial arts and moved on to team sports such as football and baseball, I also steer wrestled and rode saddle bronc in the rodeo, played rugby and now compete in the Scottish Highland Games. I am a avid reader and am always looking for that next great book, and though I have read volumes and volumes, I have yet to find that one book that has given Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird  as my all time favorite book.

Interview with Anna Pabst

Today I was given the opportunity to sit down and speak with a local icon , veterinarian Anna Pabst. Anna is a third generation veterinarian following in the footsteps of her father and grandfather, and began her love of caring for animals at a very young age. In fact Anna feels that she was born to be a vet when I asked her how long she had been vet she replied "Going on 25 years". We discussed the pros and cons of being a vet and for Anna there are some very rewarding times especially when she comes across a difficult case and is able to help the animal recover. But she stated that there are some difficult times also and she doesn't like it when she has to put a family animal down. When asked about her favorite animal Anna told me "I love horses, they are relaxing and really help me unwind." Dr. Anna Pabst a local treasure who is ready and willing to care for the animals in the community.

Free Write

I love it when we get the opportunity to just sit down and write. No expectations, no themes, nothing holding us back except our own minds and imaginations. Unfortunetly this Monday morning I seem to be at a loss for words. It has been a long last couple of weeks and I would really love nothing more than to be back in bed only contimplating getting my ass up and motivated. The whole premiss of taking summer school was to get done a bit sooner so I could student teach this Winter quarter, but there are time that I feel that I am just exahsted and would like to take a break and hell even go back to work. I want to teach and I want to be able to say that I completed my degree but at times I am afraid that I have put myself in a hole that I will never get out of. I am tired of being broke and behind on all my bills. The fear of letting my family down just bites at me. It is not supposed to be this difficult at 44. I should be well into my career with money in the bank, the ability to take my family on vacation or to do things without worrying about how I am going to pay for it. I really hope that all this pays off in the end and I haven't made a major mistake in my choice of returning to school.
Whew, now that I got that off my chest I feel a bit better. I am doing good and I know that at times the anxiety is horrific but this is the right thing to do and I know that it is a means to the end and I will just keep moving along and keeping my head above water.

Weaver Chapter 6

What I liked about chapter 6 in the Weaver text was great overview of the different teaching tools or styles that can be used to teach grammar. She does a good job of breaking it down into various methods to teach students weather it is a whole class, small groups or even individuals. Each technique is written showing both the pros and the cons to that style and gives the teaching candidate some great incite as they develop their own style.

I was particularly interested in use of the Mini-Lesson, as it allows the students to develop their own style and has the teacher there as a guide. Great for small groups or individual instruction and does not take away from the students ability to write or develop.

Write about something that you think people should know about but don't

We talk about how great the US is and how we value our military service men and women, but there is a side to this that most people are unaware of. For most people the concept of the US is the 50 states and Washington DC, I think most people are unaware that the US still has teritories such as Guam, Puerto Rico, The Virgin Island and Northern Marianas. A territory is an area of land under the jurisdiction of a ruler or state: "enemy territory". Since these areas are under US control the men and women that reside there are able to serve in the US Military. The issue arises when the service member completes his or hers obligated service and wishes to remain in the US. They are allowed to stay here conditionally, as long they do not get into any trouble with the law. This can mean that even a simple speeding ticket can be turned into a reason for deportation as well as the loss of their military benefits. I have seen cases where men from the Philippines have served for more than 20 years and have retired from the US Navy and upon completion of their service have been denied citizenship and sent back to the PI

We are halfway through the course. What has been most valuable so far? What do you still feel like you need?

For me and my anxiety with sharing my writing, hell even just writing, the fact that we have had to share our work with others and revive feedback has been eye opening. Even though I have written stories, kept a journal, and at times just broke into random writing, I have always felt apprehensive about sharing my work. For me my writing is very personal and to allow someone else the latitude to read it and critique it is gut wrenching.  Having grown up in the days of the dreaded red pen and getting papers back that were unrecognizable because of all the marks and notes, I have always felt that writing was a chore and not fun.

As far a still needing, I am looking forward to sharing teaching ideas and concepts with my classmates. As we are almost all going into the education profession, I feel that it will be valuable to hear how they plan on teaching writing to their students and see if I can utilize any of their practices into my lessons.