Amanda Rodriguez LSTU 300

Over my last few years at Longwood, I have taken many classes that will prepare me for the work force as an English teacher. Each of the classes that are listed below have morphed me into a well balanced expert in education with the concentration of English. My education courses, Human Growth and Development, Practicum, and Survey of Exceptional Children have taught me the best teaching practices for every stage of my student’s life. I took Psychology because it helped me get a better understanding of why certain human behaviors occur and it also hit on main topics such as human development.  Taking public speaking was one of my electives which helped me in many of my classes when I had to do major presentations. This class also helped me prepare myself when it comes to projecting my voice throughout a room filled with a lot of people which is useful in the classroom.  My Writing and Research class has helped me with my writing style and it has shown me how to conduct proper research and the methods. When I took World Literature,  it helped expose me to other parts of the world and how to analyze the texts from a different perspective. My Grammar and Writing Theory and Practice classes showed me the basic components of how to teach children the proper way of writing and when it is acceptable to codeswitch in writing. The Linguistics and Language course I have taken was one of my favorites. This class showed me the 5 components of what makes up a language and how people learn their languages, which is helpful if you have a student that is learning English as their second language. My other favorite classes I took at the same time were my Children’s Literature and Literature for Young Adults classes. In these classes I got to read popular literature for the appropriate age groups while analyzing the key components of what makes these good books to bring into the classroom and it even taught me how to host an appropriate in class discussion of the books.

Courses:

• Human Growth and Development
• Introduction to the Teaching Profession: Practicum
• Survey of Exceptional Children
• Psychology
• Public Speaking
• Writing and Research
• World Literature
• Grammar Theory and Practice
• Writing Theory and Practice
• Linguistics and Language
• Literature for Young Adults
• Children’s Literature