I crave adventure. During college, friends scoffed at me when I told them I planned to head west after graduation. Many of them wanted to stick around and enter the fiercely competitive job market. Five years later, several of them are still subbing. More have finally left to take jobs in other states. That's not to say New York is a terrible place to live; I just wanted to explore and live and see the country. I was inspired by many of the stories I'd dissected in college, of protagonists who break away and embark into the unknown. That's why, five days after graduation, I packed up my car and spent my summer on the road. Since then, I've been trekking around the world, seeking out stories and meeting all sorts of characters.
Initially, I attended Geneseo because of its reputation for academic excellence. As a student teacher, I encountered many people who were impressed that I studied there. Funny enough, in 2010, I ended up in rural Nevada, and nobody had a clue how to pronounce the name of the school.
Despite the fact that I fled my home state, the lessons I learned at Geneseo still carry with me. My professors modeled strong teaching methods, engaging their classes with creative assignments and movement. Attending an English class was certainly not a scene out of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. It was intense. It provoked critical thinking. More specifically, my teachers recognized that for their students to learn, they needed to design activities that would put us in the driver's seat. We were not passive learners; we were expected to meet very high standards. This is the type of instruction I strive to incorporate in my middle school classroom.
Sadly, despite my high school's self-accolades, I don't think I had a true understanding of how to craft a strong paper until I took a writing class my freshman year with Professor McCoy. We analyzed controversial topics, engaged in writing workshops, and constantly revised for improvement. Likewise, Professor Rutkowski routinely wove in small group discussion, and she asked us to design and lead a lesson of our own to the class. It placed a lot of responsibility on us because we needed to quickly develop a sound understanding of the text, develop discussion questions, and think outside the box. These courses were focused on student creation, not rote memorization.
I took several courses by Professor Greenfield because he recognized the importance of creativity. He showed me that good teachers make connections with their students and establish a positive, encouraging classroom atmosphere. Furthermore, he applauded those of us who were entering teaching, inviting us to discuss our ideas and goals with him. In one class, he asked us future educators to lead a mini-lesson. He acted as a mentor and supporter, which I believe built trust with his students.
These experiences at Geneseo helped shape me as a teacher. While I also loved my education classes, I believe it was my English coursework that showed me how to teach effectively. In this changing world, many students respond to kinesthetic activities, and they need visuals and music. They must become immersed in the content to truly grasp it. Classrooms that solely require students to listen are not student-driven classrooms. Teachers are meant to model and assist students on their path, not take up all of the oxygen in the room.
Now I am in my sixth year of teaching middle school by Lake Tahoe, California. I am very fortunate to live in a beautiful part of the country, teaching English, Literacy, and Journalism. Even though nobody knows where Geneseo is, they applaud me for my ambition, the way I differentiate activities, and the way I keep my class an innovative, supportive place to learn. I've been complimented for significantly increasing the verbal scores of my Spanish-speaking students who partake in conversation, peer conferencing, seminars, and presentations when they enter my classroom. A quiet classroom doesn't necessarily equate to a productive classroom.
Most of all, I believe that instilling a love of learning is more valuable than the content itself. My students are always amazed that I moved all the way out from New York, but I've found that the more I share my adventures with them, the more inspired and confident they are to push themselves to succeed. Despite growing up in somewhat of a sheltered community, many of them excitedly talk to me about travel, writing stories for me that include heroes embarking on great adventures. I can only hope they ignore the naysayers and follow their dreams, taking some of the skills from my class with them.