4/20/10

Chapter Three: Little Iowa Schoolhouse

In the middle of an overdue homework project, I've decided it's high time to start the third chapter of this blog (the first two chapters being my summer in DC and my semester in Denmark). This chapter will be dedicated to matters closer to home (I both live and attend college in small-town Iowa) and will focus mostly on my thoughts regarding education as a third-year English and Secondary Education major planning to teach in a public school in the near future.


The basis for this "chapter" comes from a practice I've already been doing for the past two or three years: I occasionally journal my thoughts about how I want to set up my future classroom, values I have as an educator, ideas for possible class projects, discoveries I make about pedagogy, turning points in my own educational philosophy, etc. Most of these little journaling bits are sparked by specific conversations or events, and many posts will be directly related to classroom discussions and personal experiences or observations; however, I will try to maintain as much anonymity as possible, both with people and sometimes places as well.


I can’t promise I will update frequently, but I will try for a short post about once a week or so. As always, feel free to leave comments; I love reading them and I’ll try to respond promptly. I also love outside-the-blog discussions if something really piques your interest--most education-related topics are complex enough that I can’t say nearly everything I want in one go, and everything is basically related anyway, so I always welcome more questions and dialogue. (Side note: I’m really happy to find that I’m at a point where I really do have a lot to say about most educational issues that come up, as opposed to times in the past in which I’ve wanted to know more or prolong the discussion, but didn’t know enough about the topic to contribute much input, or even know what kinds of questions to ask.. that's changed).


For now, I should probably go work on that homework project I keep delaying (which, ironically enough, is about blogging)...


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Quotation Granola

  • "There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives." - Audre Lorde
  • "Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it." 
- Talmud
  • "True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
  • "What we call the freedom of the individual is not just the luxury of one intellectual to write what he likes to write, but his being a voice which can speak for those who are silent. And if he permits his freedom of expression to be abolished, then he has abolished their freedom to find in his voice a voice for their wrongs." - Sir Stephen Spender
  • "To love another person is to see the face of God." - Victor Hugo
  • "We care what happens to people only in proportion as we know what people are." - Henry James
  • "Hope is knowing that people, like kites, are made to be lifted up." - Anonymous
  • "And in each person I catch the fleeting glimpse of something beautiful, and swear eternal friendship with that." - George Santayana