Vanessa Pulkrabek Methods of Teaching English Paper One 09/16/04

It wasn't more than two weeks ago that I sat at this same computer brainstorming about my past teachers. Only, before it was all teachers that I was open to thinking about rather than just those that opened my eyes to the wonderful world of English. Now, I must admit that I had a hard time thinking of teachers from the past in the a fore mentioned paper, but now, I am really struggling to pull some names out of this little brain of mine. Perhaps I should address that right off the bat.

Why do you figure that I have a hard time remembering specific teachers that have crossed my path? Is it that they weren't any good? Maybe that they weren't really involved in neither my life, nor me in theirs? I don't know. I know that while in school growing up I wasn't involved in extra-curricular activities involving the English department but at the same time I have never been one to withdraw in class and try to remain unnoticed in the back of the room. All this evidence leads me to believe that though I did not have over-the-top-knock-your-socks-off English teachers, they must have been good enough that they didn't leave some horrible experience in the depths of my brain only to be discovered by a therapist that in turn would discourage me from going into the field myself.

There are two exceptions to all this talk that I've been doing above. I have in clear memory (because it was in the past few years) two professors who I believe to be amazing examples of what teaching is all about. The first was a literature professor that I had while attending my fourth institution on the road to earning my degree. I have had many literature professors in my seven years of college but something made this one stick out. She was able to make stuff that was hundreds of years old come alive. Most other lit courses that I have had have never gotten more exiting than watching the professor search for a piece of chalk. She didn't just stand at the front of the room and dictate what each piece meant; we talked about it, and our interpretations meant something to her.

The second professor that really inspired me was here at BSU. Susan Hauser, my creative writing instructor, was one of the best that I have ever had in the English department of all five schools that I have attended. Now, I might be a little bit bias just because my passion really lies in writing, but oh well, we'll go with it. I liked that Susan allowed us to be the writers that we are. She allowed us to be grammatically incorrect and to use foul language; basically, she did not make us follow the rules. I think that sometimes, in some activities, the rules can be broken beautifully in order to create a great product. I would not be able to enjoy writing as much as a do, if I had to follow all of the advice that the Spelling and Grammar Man on my Mac tells me to. And that is why I loved the way that Susan conducted her classroom; she let us break all the rules as long as it helped us get where we were headed.

Now I could go on to all the not-so-great teachers that I have had in the English department, but I don't really see the point in that. All of us, at one time or another have had the pleasure of listening to someone who really likes their own voice and the opinions that spew from it. Or else, we have all had the professor that obviously drank far too much last night probably because they hate their job so much. I could go on and on… but I won't. I think that what is really important here is to realize what we, as prospective teachers, have experienced that can aid us in being the teachers that we want to become. I want to be open to new ideas and ways of expressing them just like the two professors that I mentioned. I don't want to bore my students with my opinion of why someone who's been dead for hundreds of years wrote this or that book. I want to inspire my students; I want them to feel the way that I do about the wonderful world of literature, writing and communication. But I know that not all want to be reached and so I am ready to settle for inspiring just one. If I can do that, then I will feel like a success.

PuldrabekVanessa