Revisions for "Encouragement to Dream"

Authors note: The revisions for this week didn't really make a lot of sense to me this week, so I'm not sure if I've done it correctly. While I may be confident in adjusting something from passive to active voice, identifying the passive voice is something I'm still not really sure about. I hope I did alright! 

I was raised in a home that constantly had papers to grade, parent phone calls to make, and lesson plans to be designed. I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly of education and still I pursue a degree in English education with all my heart. Both of my parents, retired after 30 years in the field, worked in the public education system, as do many of their friends. These connections, GIVEN TO ME BY FATE, [noun absolute]   have offered me a backstage pass to see the late nights, the lost causes, the love of seeing a student succeed, and the amount of responsibility that is placed on a teacher to educate a child.

            It is my belief that young adults-- the future of America-- are not given enough credit for their creativity, passion, and energy that can be put into the classroom. Their energy and youthful enthusiasm, driving their creative output, can really make a change in the classroom, school atmosphere, or community at large. By giving them opportunities to discover themselves, relate to the world around them, and connect with people on a peer level, I can help students blossom into active, healthy, successful adults: contributing members of society.

            I am passionate about both my content areas of English and theater and I enjoy working with people of all abilities and ages. I aim to encourage students to try something new, push the boundaries of what they know, and use classroom activities to enhance their education not only about literature or drama, but also about themselves. I will bring enthusiasm, knowledge, and the ability to listen to my classroom. I will provide fun, encouragement, and a positive attitude to my school (a community in itself). I will add experience, leadership, and involvement to the community I live in.

My classroom, comforting and warm, will be a safe place for students of all backgrounds. Literature and drama, the stories of generations past and present, can relate to students on a very personal and emotional level, and I will attempt to give them an outlet for sharing and contributing to classroom discussions. My classroom will not only be a place of learning, but a place of love. I hope to provide them with encouragement and care that they may not receive at home, and I hope to push them further than they every thought was possible. I want to believe make my students that it is possible for them to dream.

Encouragement to Dream: A Purpose Statement for the WSU College of Education

I was raised in a home that constantly had papers to grade, parent phone calls to make, and lesson plans to be designed. I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly of education and still I pursue a degree in English education with all my heart. Both of my parents, RETIRED AFTER 30 YEARS IN THE FIELD [past participle], worked in the public education system, as do many of their friends. Through these connections I have been offered a backstage pass to see the late nights, the lost causes, the love of seeing a student succeed, and the amount of responsibility that is placed on a teacher to educate a child.

            It is my belief that young adults-- THE FUTURE OF AMERICA-- [appositive] are not given enough credit for their creativity, passion, and energy that can be put into the classroom. Their energy and youthful enthusiasm, DRIVING THEIR CREATIVE OUTPUT [present participle], can really make a change in the classroom, school atmosphere, or community at large. By giving them opportunities to discover themselves, relate to the world around them, and connect with people on a peer level, students can blossom into active, healthy, successful adults: CONTRIBUTING MEMBERS OF SOCIETY [appositive].

            I am passionate about both my content areas of English and theater and I enjoy working with people of all abilities and ages. I aim to encourage students to try something new, push the boundaries of what they know, and use classroom activities to enhance their education not only about literature or drama, but also about themselves. I will bring enthusiasm, knowledge, and the ability to listen to my classroom. I will provide fun, encouragement, and a positive attitude to my school (A COMMUNITY IN ITSELF) [appositive]. I will add experience, leadership, and involvement to the community I live in.

My classroom, COMFORTING AND WARM, [adjectives out of order] will be a safe place for students of all backgrounds. Literature and drama, THE STORIES OF GENERATIONS PAST AND PRESENT, [appositive] can relate to students on a very personal and emotional level, and I will attempt to give them an outlet for sharing and contributing to classroom discussions. My classroom will not only be a place of learning, but a place of love. I hope to provide them with encouragement and care that they may not receive at home, and I hope to push them further than they every thought was possible. I want to believe make my students that it is possible for them to dream.

Exploring Dora

The story of “Dora” and her experiences of learning how to write were very interesting for me. I am an only child and as such, I had a lot of educational focus placed on me. My parents taught me how to read and write before I entered kindergarten and because of this, I don’t really remember a lot of techniques or experiences I had while learning these skills. I also didn’t have any younger siblings to watch as they learned how to write, so I have very little experience in the writing process. A vast majority of what I do remember has more to do with structure, organization, and content which I learned more in middle school and high school rather than the basic sentence formation from elementary school.

Reading Dora’s story provided me with basic understanding of the process of how one student learned to write, but one thing I thought should have been addressed is why Dora was making those decisions. The explanations that were given were the rationale of a young learner, but I feel like I don’t understand the developmental processes or WHY Dora made those choices. Did anyone else have questions like this?

I also felt a little dissatisfied in our discussion about why this information is important to secondary majors. We touched on the idea that this gives us a bit of history about how students have learned to write, but it’s only one example; there are plenty of other ways that students have learned to write. I guess the most important thing that I got out of it would be that there are different stages and comfort levels that students will reach in their writing skills, and that will hold true whether they are just starting to learn about writing or exploring the intricacies and nuances of writing. As teachers, we need to keep this in mind and encourage our students to step outside their comfort zone and try something new with their writing no matter what level they’re at.
Question of the Week: I'd never heard of a broad reference pronoun before class and it intrigues me that there are so many other things that I've thought were wrong but aren't, and this is something I've thought is acceptable, but it turns out I'm wrong. So, When is it acceptable to use a broad reference pronoun?