Reflection on Course I

                I want to read something other than Lord of the Flies, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Animal Farm. I want to read like I did when I was in college. I want to read something to increase my own personal knowledge. As an English major I got to read all the time. Michael Cunningham, Nikki Giovanni, and David Sedaris were a part of my daily life. Now, as a mom of two and a teacher with 150 students, the time to read for pleasure has been taken away and I am left wishing that I had time to read that one book that everyone is talking about. I enter this program looking to become a student again. I want to seek answers not just to give them to my students, but to better myself as an educator and a person. I want to have time to be an intellectual again.

                My focus is going to be about teaching plays in an English classroom. I am thinking that I will create a unit that can be used before my honors students start Macbeth. Basically, I want to understand how to take a performing art and translate it into the English curriculum. I look forward to interviewing local actors and reading materials about drama and acting. The current push to make students “test ready” is taking away the beauty and power that can be found in a classroom that honors the arts. I still remember how I felt when I read A Long Day’s Journey into Night as a junior in high school. I remember thinking about the characters as if they were real people that I might run into on my way to my next class. The play came to life for me and 15 years later I still remember that experience. My focus for this program is going to be how I can successfully bring plays to life in my classroom. I want to ask actors for tips and research different methods that are currently used in Drama and English classrooms. I look forward to contacting local theaters such as Berkeley Repertory and the Lesher Center for the Arts and seeing what resources they offer. At this point, I am excited to really start my research. I have no doubt that allowing myself to become a student again will make me a better teacher, mom and person.