Who Am I and Why Am I Here

My name is Trent Baker and I am a senior at Lyon College majoring in English with a minor in Philosophy.  I have an interest in teaching English as a foreign language in Japan. 

Foreign language is an important part of any student’s college experience, but choosing Japanese was more of a personal decision for me.  Before attending Lyon I met a Japanese language student that attended Lyon who made a huge impression on me.  That student’s name was Josh Looney.  He was an English major but took Japanese as his foreign language while studying at Lyon.  I would talk with him at the coffee shop where I worked while he did his Japanese homework and I was thoroughly impressed with his retention of a language that looked so foreign to me.  After talking with him on and off throughout the school year he shared with me his future plans to teach English in Japan as a foreign language.  The idea of education, travel, adventure, and exploration intrigued me.  After meeting Josh, I decided to follow in his footsteps, not only by going to Lyon, but also in attempting to learn the language and culture of Japan in hopes of teaching there after graduation. 

Since being at Lyon, I took Japanese 101 and flippantly applied myself, not fully grasping an understanding of  language nor culture.  Then after a devastating house fire I had to drop Japanese 102 because the course load was too much for me to handle; I was bound for failure.  It was only after a Nichol’s trip to Japan this summer that my interest in previous goals was once again solidified.  I want a genuine understanding of the religion, culture, and language and am determined to apply myself in hopes of success in not only the language classes but also in my endeavors to teach in a country whose people I am extremely interested in. 

Why Tonya is who she is

I have always wanted to be a teacher.  I remember teaching my teddy bears and stuffed animals when I was in elementary school.  I also set up a horse riding class in high school.

My passion was science.  I wanted to be a biology teacher right up until Dr. Thomas showed me all the math involved in being a science major.  Not knowing what to do my concentration in, I chose the discipline that would only take me four years to complete.  So, here I am, an English major. 

During my past three years, Dr. Tebbetts and Dr. Boling has influenced me the most.  I learned I could write professionally through Dr. Tebbetts.  I learned I had a love for Shakespeare through Dr. Boling.  If I decide to specialize in an English subject, it would be Shakespeare.  I am excited the Common Core has a section on Shakespeare.  My current co-teacher has already told me she wants me to teach that section.

I plan to get my masters in something, but I haven't decided if it will be in English or teaching.  Maybe I will master both.  I eventually want to teach English in a 2-year college or community college or become a principal of a school.

I look forward to learning everything I can from Mrs. Gillmore.  She is so knowledgeable and has so much to teach us.

Why I Am Who I Am

First, welcome Jon-Micael, Tonya, and Wesley to the class and to this blog!
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Many people should be thanked for their assistance in my becoming who I am right now in my career, for as Hillary Clinton's book persuades...just as it takes a village to raise a child, so it takes a conglomerate of individuals to build a twenty-one year career.

First, to my high school English teacher Mrs. Smith, my heroine, absolutely without a doubt, I would not be an English teacher had it not been for the example she sat every day of every week.  She worked us, holding us to higher expectations than most of us wanted, yet she loved us, and we knew it.  

Second, to my college instructors Dr. Tebbetts and Dr. Wray...one being the extreme, energized, definitely a sage on the stage of my life, the other, solid, direct, forcing our writing styles to become what they were not. Because of them, I inherited a much more solid literary background, one recognized when I later attended grad school and was told that I must have graduated from Lyon (or some high quality program) because of the caliber of my work.  Yes, I stood a little taller!  Thank you, Dr. Tebbetts, Dr. Wray...and the late Dr. Oliver.

Third, to my peer Lisa Huff who shared her love of technology as a tool, which then began the big change in my presentation methods.  This blog (and several others) and multiple wikis are a testament to her. Professionally, I have grown and now freely assist my peers as they take baby steps, steps that, to them, feel like giant leaps at times, all in an endeavor to better prepare all our students for the "real" world or, as the latest jargon encourages, to be "college and career ready."

Many more names should be mentioned here, for I have many to thank for the gift of my career, for without them all, I would not be who I am today.

Thinking Thematically

Almost two weeks after finishing my thematic unit on The Color Purple and culture, I am still reeling from the experience. I was so absorbed into the process of integrating so many different subject areas and cultural studies into one cohesive unit, that I didn't realize until I was done that I was having fun. I had read the novel several times, but I really don't think I got to know the characters until I finished writing activities and finding articles for students to read so that they could get to know the characters better. I learned in education class that the best way to learn something is to teach it, and I think this rings true even for lesson planning. Getting to know the music of the era, the fashion and the art was a real tool that helped me to understand the novel better. I loved assigning an essay that criticized the novel in order to give students a chance to look at it critically and make up their own minds. After learning how to write a thematic unit, I can't imagine ever wanting to teach literature another way. In the Lyon education program, we often talk about educating the whole student. The cross-curricular lessons I planned for the unit on The Color Purple are the first I have ever written that I think really do that. Now that I have learned how to do this, I am excited to put it into practice in the classroom, especially since I learned from my mentor teacher that I will have the opportunity to write two thematic units this upcoming semester!

What have I learned?

Looking back on this semester, I realize I have been exceptionally hard on myself. It's easy as a student teacher to hold yourself to the same standard as your mentor teacher, who has significantly more experience teaching. Sometimes I think I forget the "student" part of my title. But looking back, I realize that my experience this semester would be much more successful if I framed it differently. Rather than focus on the things I have done wrong, I think I should focus on what I have learned. My education has been plentiful. I have learned simple things like classroom housekeeping, how to keep grades in a grade book and work simple classroom technology. I have learned about cross-curricular lesson planning and integrating the liberal arts into the English curriculum. I have attended professional development classes and learned about the CORE curriculum which is replacing Frameworks in Arkansas. I participated in the planning of a long-term activity in the form of the Renaissance Faire that my mentor teacher puts on every year with her AP and tenth grade classes, and in her annual study of a Victorian Christmas. Having access to several very successful high school English teachers, not only those in the school I student teach at, but Batesville as well, and also several former English teachers, I have learned how to take bits and pieces of what all of these capable teachers do and make it my own. This is probably the most important lesson I have learned. Nothing under the sun is new, but finding ways to present the same information differently, and possibly more effectively, has been a very valuable lesson, and the contacts that I have made have helped me to form valuable connections in the education community before I even have my own classroom.

Content students, or content areas?

This week we are beginning a unit on A Victorian Christmas, and we began this by decorating for Christmas. I was really impressed by the way my mentor teacher approached this. She set up a roaring fire with Christmas carols on the DVD player, and encouraged the students to come in and help decorate. I was amazed when the students got excited and jumped into the festivities. A few students needed to be encouraged, but most of them were engaged right away. Before long we had students decorating, setting up the tree, stringing lights, singing along with the Christmas carols, and pouring apple cider. This really impressed me, because this same group of kids was all full of snarls and sarcasm two days before when I tried to encourage them.

This situation caused me to reflect about the parts of teaching that have nothing to do with content. Yes, our content areas are important, and if we don't teach them, we are not doing our jobs. However, students' overall well-being has to be taken care of before they can learn. This is something I learned in Practicum. But I never would have thought of decorating for Christmas as a means to ensuring my students' well-being. I would have thought of it as extra, something nice, but not necessary. With CORE Curriculum banging at the door, and state visits, it is easy to overlook the smaller, more subtle needs that our students have.

The difficulty for me lies in knowing when something is extra or frivolous, or when, like the Christmas celebration, it is something crucial that is needed to get students in the mood for learning. I suppose that this is the kind of thing that teachers learn with practice, and get a feel for as they get more experience in the classroom, but it is so frustrating when you watch seasoned teachers make these decisions so easily and effortlessly. It makes me wonder if I will ever have that ease of giving the students what they need without wracking my brain.

School Spirit

Throughout the school year, students have asked me to come to their sports games, and since I've been in class most evenings, this has been impossible. I really wanted to see my kids in action, so I was excited when one of  the seniors came in and told me there was going to be a game on a Saturday about a month from the current date. I was actually surprised he was so interested in me attending; before this time my rapport with the seniors wasn't very strong. In many ways I was more of an observer than a teacher in that class. But he definitely cared, and he checked back with me about once a week, reminding me about the game.

Last weekend the day arrived and my husband and I went to see them play. I knew the kids would be excited to see me, but I had no idea how excited I would be to see them. I was surprised by the sheer number of my students on the team. I knew many of my students were on the team, but there were really only one or two students on the team that I didn't know. The kids made the word "teamwork" sound like an understatement. Knowing, as I do, that they have grown up together since they were very young, I shouldn't be surprised, but it was almost as it they read each other's minds. I was proud to see them so passionate about something, and so successful, but the experience left me with one question-- how can I make them feel that way about English?