C4T #2

The purpose of the English major

         For this C4T I was assigned Mary Worrell’s to the blog See Mary Teach. Ms. Worrell is an American newspaper reporter-turned-teacher living in The Netherlands. The first blog post I read was one titled The purpose of the English major, which had a link to The Decline and Fall of the English Major and, that is what Ms. Worrell’s blog post was about. Ms. Worrell said the article made he think about her job as a teacher of English and, more specifically, a teacher of thinking and communicating.

         The Decline and Fall of the English Major is an article about how the humanities have fallen into hard times. Parents worry when their children want to become an English major, because “what is an English major good for?” The article also tells of how students can assemble strings of jargon, but they cannot write clearly, simply, with attention and openness to their own thoughts and emotions and the world around them. It says that writing is a fundamental principle of the humanities, but it does not get credit where it is due.

My comment on the blog post:

         Hello! My name is Linda Check and I am a student at the University of South Alabama in EDM310. Reading the article you linked with your blog post, made me stop and think a moment. As a future educator, I hope to instill the knowledge in my students that literature and writing are powerful tools for life. I have seen parents shake their heads when my friends have told them they want to be English majors, but what the parents do not realize is that their children will change lives. As a bookworm, I have had pieces of literature open my eyes and change my view on many different topics. The gift that humanities bring to people is “clear thinking, clear writing, and a lifelong engagement with literature.” I agree with this statement and hope that more people can see just how important the humanities are. If interested, my blog page is http://checklindaedm310.blogspot.com/, and I would love for you to take a look!

When boundaries don’t protect

         The second blog post I read on See Mary Teach, was titled When boundaries don’t protect. This was a very enlightening blog post that Ms. Worrell wrote about the boundaries that teachers draw between their students and themselves. She said that at her first teaching job she did not let her students see her human side. She said that people told her to not make friends with the students, suspect all students being friendly, because they were just trying to take advantage of her, and to even wear high heels, because she was shorter than some students were. She said she was guarded and she could tell students knew that she was not being honest with them. Ms. Worrell said as a result, she never connected with the students.

         Now, however, she is being herself in the classrooms. She is a funny-weirdo that has a deeper connection with he students, than ever before. She said, “I’ve revealed my human side in an appropriate way without compromising my professionalism and I am a better teacher – and person – because of it.”

My comment on the blog post:

         Hello! I have always been told that I am a pushover. People joke that when I finally get into a classroom, my students will run the class, not me. I have a fear that there is some truth in this, so during my classroom observations I try to be guarded with my true personality around the students. I know there is a boundary that you have to create when you are a teacher and I am scared to death of crossing that boundary. As you said, though, I think the best teachers are ones that show their human side to the students, but in an appropriate way.