Selina+O'Leary

I used "word photos" to describe the first week of my experience in the classroom. We used this type of writing in our 3310 class. My Genre Reflection is attached to this post!

Genre Reflection #2

Dear 2nd period,

I could not have asked for a better class to begin my experience as a student teacher. Every morning, I wake up smiling, excited to drive to your school and see your precious faces. Although some days you guys can get a little loud and crazy, I always leave your class feeling great. Between your endless compliments, your drive to learn, and your desire to do the best you can, you make the hard work of writing lesson plans and keeping up with TOSS all worth it. You all have showed me that teaching can be very fun and rewarding. Thank you to the girls who constantly ask me if I can get a job at your school and teach 8th grade so that I can be your teacher next year. You have no idea how inspiring those simple words are to a young TOSS student. Thank you to the boy who sits in the back and writes notes to me, telling me that I do a great job when I'm nervous because my supervisor is observing me. I often hear teachers complain about grading papers and reading what their students have created. Before this experience, I feared that I would feel the same way. Your class has taught me that 7th graders have powerful imaginations and wonderful abilities to produce excellent writing. I was a little worried that some of you may not put a lot of effort into the first piece of writing I assigned. I was not sure if you would like the prompt and care enough to produce your best work. My apologies for being so pessimistic! You were asked to write a short story, re-telling a fairytale from the antagonist's point of view. Using persuasive techniques, you did your best to convince readers that your side of the story is the true side. I literally laughed out loud when I read your stories! Not only did you come up with great supporting evidence to justify your claims for the "bad guys", but you all included humor in the details of your titles and stories. I could not pick a favorite, although I loved "Little Red Lying Hood". What a creative title! All of your stories proved that you really thought hard about the persuasive techniques we discussed in class. Thank you for sharing your stories with me! I look forward to the last 2 weeks of my time with your class. I will be very sad on the final day when I have to say goodbye to all of you. Although saying good-bye is never easy, I hope you all know that each and every one of you has inspired and convinced me that teaching is the right profession for me. I can not thank you enough for such a wonderful experience!

Sincerely,

Ms. OLeary

Genre Reflection #3 []