Choosing to add a major in English was something of an afterthought for me in college, but I am grateful that I chose to add it. I had always loved reading, and English was historically always my favorite subject every year in school. When I discovered that I had room to add the major, I jumped at the opportunity. I figured that adding this new major on top of the other two that I already had would not be too great a challenge, since at that point I had already figured out how to write papers in such a way that professors assumed I knew what I was talking about (even when I probably did not). In other words, I enjoyed writing, thought I was good at it, and thought that I might be interested in teaching English some day. If I had not made this choice, Teacher Corps would not have even been an option for me.
Below are sample paragraphs from papers that I wrote during my final year in college, both incidentally dealing with the topic of English and education. I wrote my thesis on education and feminism, and later realized that many of my previous papers in the major also related to these topics while I was compiling my senior portfolio. The other sample is from a class I took during my final semester, titled "Grammar and its Teaching Methods." This class was not needed for my literature concentration, but I chose to take it because I pretty much knew that I wanted to teach English in some capacity after graduation. I was devastated that I was not going to actually be able to teach grammar, which is so very needed at NPJH, but I am pleased to see that my philosophy regarding grammar and reading have remained unchanged after reviewing the paper I wrote.
Below are sample paragraphs from papers that I wrote during my final year in college, both incidentally dealing with the topic of English and education. I wrote my thesis on education and feminism, and later realized that many of my previous papers in the major also related to these topics while I was compiling my senior portfolio. The other sample is from a class I took during my final semester, titled "Grammar and its Teaching Methods." This class was not needed for my literature concentration, but I chose to take it because I pretty much knew that I wanted to teach English in some capacity after graduation. I was devastated that I was not going to actually be able to teach grammar, which is so very needed at NPJH, but I am pleased to see that my philosophy regarding grammar and reading have remained unchanged after reviewing the paper I wrote.
Incidentally, my students were not about to share my love of literature, and so I would need to take a different approach to teaching English. Some of the topics I enjoyed teaching were passages that dealt with specific places (such as historical fiction or modern-day inventions that the students found interesting), as well as language skills. I enjoyed teaching skill-oriented topics, because they are more measurable than reading standards. Below are some examples of slides I have used to teach English skills, followed by my certificate for this subject area.