My undergraduate education program at Boston University prepared me for teaching with frequent opportunities to practice the craft and to be present in more than one classroom environment. I was trained well in classroom management and for the many day to day roles that a teacher must perform in his or her career.
In terms of content to teach students, the literature I learned about was very prescribed by the Western canon and the writing instruction was based on ensuring that students would be able to produce clearly structured essays on teacher-prescribed products based on the Common Core standards. In the NLGL program at NC State, I was able to greatly expand my knowledge of technology, the importance of teaching global stewardship and ethics, the impact of allowing students to drive the choices made for reading and writing, and the power that I have to ensure that all students become digitally literate, morally upright, and critically contemplative young adults. I am gratified to discover through this project that student choice does not mean abandoning our state standards and any teacher, regardless of how their school community evaluates students, can engage students in choice writing and meaningful resources while ensuring that they meet our state standards. |