It's not the end...just the beginning.

I have always hated the endings to good things...and I am really unhappy with this semester ending. I have come so far this semester as a future teacher and a student. I have really enjoyed my time as a student in my Intro to Language Arts class. I will admit I didn't have high hopes for this class at first because of the lack of good quality language arts teachers in my life. Don't get me wrong, I had a few, but not enough to brag about. But I was excited about having my advisee's faculty advisor as a professor. It simply meant we all had something in common this year :)

As you know, I have always been a chatterbox and a writer...therefore I'm pretty positive you know what my decision about the blogging is. I'm going to continue to write in my educational blog (so keep following me). It gives me a few moments to flush my academic thoughts and embrace a fresh new start for the week. I also must admit, it makes my day for my readers to add cute little comments too :) I'm glad that people actually care about what I'm learning in my classes and my reflections about it. I'm very thankful for my wonderful professor who actually came up with the idea. I believe it connected our class together in a way that no other class at Meredith College has allowed me to. I would sometimes find myself procrastinating my homework just to see if some of my classmates had posted their new blog. I was eager to see what their thoughts were on the topics covered in our previous classroom.

My favorite part of this class would definitely have to be making my own digital storybook. Thanks to my tech-savvy professor, I have finally made a way for my study abroad experiences to come to life this semester. I was a little worried about the final outcome of it at first because I had so many memories and thoughts about Costa Rica. I was truly worried about not being able to include them all without writing a novel and putting everyone to sleep. Let's just say I want to personally thank the cool person who came up with the writing process...because it saved my life with my digital storybook. I was able to successfully organize all those adventures and crazy memories!

Just a few things that I will definitely hold on to when I finally have a class of my own:
-Blogging or Journaling (It connects the teacher to the minds of the little ones)
-The Six Language Arts (It gives everyone a chance to shine when used correctly)
-The Publishing Stage of the Writing Process (I absolutely lovvveee seeing the big finale of students' work. Not to mention...It's a great self-esteem booster)

A few things I'm a little hesitant about:
-Reading Aloud to ESL students (I really do not know how to approach this one as far as book selection. I would love to choose something that everyone could understand, but the book may be too easy or boring for others. HELP PLEASE)

I just want everyone to know that really enjoyed this class. I was recently talking to my mom about how much I fell in love with the classes I was taking this semester. The reasons for them was:
1. I'm actually interested in what I'm learning now. (Thank God I'm done with that awful general education component)
2. I'm making connections with things I'm learning and reading about and taking them back into the classroom.
3. The professors and classmates that I have shared my semester with. I love you all.

In closing...go ahead and roll out the carpet for the best semester award...because my FALL 2009 classes rocked it out (shout out to all my corn-shuckers there). I have enjoyed being a part of this wonderful journey of language arts. It's not the end my friends...but just the beginning.