Going back to Janet...

Because I'm behind in posting, I am only going to address the questions Janet has posted...

I like grammar; I like teaching grammar; and I like diagraming sentences. I want grammar to be a decent part of my future teaching. I think it is important for students of all ages to have somewhat of an understanding about the terminology, usage, and context. I have not yet worked in a middle school class or with a middle school studnet; but, I think that grammar needs to be approached from a baby step system. For instance, learn the terms and definitions then move on to identificiation and usage.

I am not for sure whether teaching reading and writing in middle school is going to be that much different in teaching in high school. I guess the students' abilities will be different so a teacher will have to adjust the material used; but as I think back to my middle school years I don't remember many dranstic differences between high school and middle school reading and writing, just maybe the degree of difficulty of the text.

Teacher identity is not something I have had to address quite yet because I have not spent a considerable amount of time consecuatively in a classroom, but it is something that crosses my mind. I get the feeling sometimes that teacher are expected to keep their personal lives completely out of the classroom and to just be "teacher." I will not be able to accomplish that; I may be quiet when people (students) first meet me, but once I am comfortable I find it hard not to make converstation about the weekend, what I do in my own time, my family, etc. Personally, I think that is what makes a great teacher; one a student can relate to. I worked with a teacher, my favorite mentor teacher thus far, that would take time every Monday morning and ask her students what they did over the weekend. She would allot for this casual conversation in her lessons, and I think it was important because the student became comfortable with her that if they did have a problem with school or question about an assignment they would not feel intimiated to apporach her. As a first year teacher, I do not foresee being able to give the first half of every class on Monday to casual conversation, but as I mature as a teacher I hope to incorporate something of the like. Just as I ask the students about their weekends, if I am asked I want to feel comforable enough that I can talk about my weekend (short, sweet, and discreet, as to I know students who take advantage of teachers who get off topic) so I can keep my personal self, or the person students see outside the school walls, consistent to the person who stands in front of them for 50 minutes every day during the school week.