Spending an entire semester thinking about and researching one topic has opened my eyes to all of the things that teachers should be doing in their careers. Before this I always thought that professional development that is set up by the school was where we should be learning about the things we should be doing, but now I know that is not necessarily true. Professional development from the schools is certainly a good thing, but there is no reason not to grow on your own. It also influences how you teach. 

As a future teacher of reading and writing it seems absurd that I also would not be reading and writing as well. I think it is so important for our students to see that we read and write and it can be enjoyable. We should love what we teach because if we can’t love it then why should our students. I think with an older grade a year long project where students researched one topic and wrote about it would be so interesting. As a future teacher of Language Arts it also is important to read and write about new ways to teach our content. Books are constantly being written, and it is so important to know what your students are reading and what they are interested in. 

At the beginning of this semester I still did not really love writing, and the thought of a daybook that I had to write in all the time made me want to scream. However, as my friends and my tutee will tell you, I have almost filled the entire thing. I have started to write everything, and I love it. I have notes from class, notes to myself about lesson plans, ideas for summer camp I plan to pitch to my boss over break, I even planned a couple of bible study sessions in it for an extracurricular event. My daybook has started to travel with me as frequently (if not more) than my laptop, and I do not leave without my laptop. I would say as a writer I definitely grew, and I don’t plan on stopping.