Demonstration of Illinois Professional Teaching Standards
 

• Unofficial Transcript
• Film Research Paper

            Before college,  I was always better at math and science.  However, I liked and still like the humanities so much more.  I've always read on my own but never felt confident about writing.  I always did well but never pushed myself until college.  I remember getting an A- in my first English class at U of IL and being disappointed but I knew I would work even harder.  I have gotten A's in every English class after that.  I have worked at writing and revised.  I have gone to office hours, asked questions, and went over papers at the Writer's Workshop.  My determination has really paid off.  Because of my perseverance, I can better understand what students who struggle with writing go through and what resources are available to help them with.  I know I can write solid essays on almost any subject matter.  Writing an essay on the relationship of politics and economics today led to an international business conference in New York City.  I've never taken economics and had only an introductory political science class on campus. 

Reading and writing are incredible assets in this Information Age and our "documentary" society.  I want to teach my students how writing is prevalent in our everyday lives from email to taking notes to making grocery lists.  I want my students to be able to read difficult classics and to come up with original interpretations.  I want my students to be able to sound academic and professional and be unafraid to introduce any idea in discussions.

As an English teacher, I believe in the interdisciplinary approach.  Literature often reflects not only the author's biography but the time period's history, government, ideologies, and culture.  Other necessary components is the incorporation of technology and speech communications.  Because we live in the information age, it is vital for students to become familiar with technology especially in navigating the internet which is full of free resources.  Communicating effectively is also necessary in order to express ideas and desires.  Performing literary works such as book excerpts, poetry, and short stories can really make English more alive.  I have included in this section:

1)      Unofficial Transcript

2)      My term research paper on the role of women in the film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore by Martin Scorsese

In the future I would like to be more familiar with literature that is not English or American.  I have taken one women's minority fiction class and took a Harlem Renaissance class this semester.  That is not enough.  I should also read more contemporary fiction such as Toni Morrison and understand the literary culture of my students who might read Steven King or other best sellers.  Literacy nowadays incorporates other mediums such as computer technology and graphics.  It's exciting to see how literacy can be multi-faceted yet fundamentally it remains the same because it stems from reading and writing in the schools.  I will also tie in other disciplines in my English classroom such as art, music, and history.  When I graduate I will also be endorsed to teach American and World history.  Also, I would like to be more versed in critical theory.  Right now I am familiar with the feminist, Marxist, Freudian, modernist, post-modernist, environmentalist, historical, and cultural anthropological approaches.  I do not know what else there is and am not familiar with deconstructionism or post-structuralism.  This perhaps would apply more to college level.