Reading+Writing+Connection+Reflection

I've learned that a good dose of reflection will do anyone good, and so I'm going to write a short (hopefully) reflection about my experience in this class.

At first, I was extremely hesitant about some of the ideas that both Nancie Atwell and Carol Olson proposed in both of their books. I had tried group work before with decent success, but I found it difficult to imagine a classroom almost directly dictated by group work, conferences, workshops, and mini-lessons. I kept thinking to myself, "How in the WORLD is this going to work in the 'real world'?"

Well, I had one of my "Eureka!" moments: I can make it - all of it if I wanted to - work in my classroom by making it mine. Not one person, professor, principal, or professional has ever told me I have to do it their way or it's the highway, and I went into these texts thinking that very thing. But once I started making connections to some of the texts I want to expose my students to and the intense writing that goes on in the AP classroom and how beneficial workshops can be for students, I bought into it - I was hooked - line and sinker.

Now as I get ready to start my fifth (I can't believe it's been that long - my mom and I had a discussion about this last night) year of teaching, I'm more excited than I've ever been because I feel rejuvenated and refreshed - something that I desperately needed after a disenchanting year of school - and I'm ready to face the challenges that I will face in my classroom not only with a smile, but with a fully-loaded arsenal of ideas, inspirations, and innovations that will hopefully ignite and kindle my students' love for what I love - reading and writing.