elementary school or middle school?
Mar. 23rd, 2007 09:50 pmElementary education...or middle school social studies? I have until I call UNO to set up a registering-for-classes appointment and until I take the PRAXIS II on April 28th to decide.
Elementary is 1-5 grades, and middle school is 4-8 grades, so either way I could teach upper elementary. The difference is that if I did elementary school I'd be teaching a little of everything, especially in the younger grades, and with a middle school certification I'd teach social studies. History, government, you know, what I've loved since I was about 10 years old. Teaching math is difficult for me because I never really understood why, just how. With history...well, I've been out of college for 2 years and I still read history books for fun. I took an upper-level history class my first semester of college and aced it. I wrote a 56-page senior thesis about comparative slavery and emancipation in Maryland and Key West. One of my life goals is to visit a home for every president (Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Wilson, and Eisenhower so far-it pays to live on the East Coast). I memorized the preamble to the Constitution 13 years ago and I can still recite it verbatim.
Am I just trying to get away from second graders because for the last 3 days I've worked with a few choice students of that age who drove me crazy? It's a wonder we got anything done yesterday, and having my own class would be much different from being a substitute. I know that.
Or maybe I'm inspired by reading The Freedom Writer's Diary, and I want to believe that by teaching the past I can change the future. If we don't learn where we came from, then we are condemned to repeat it.
EDIT: Actually, strike Wilson from the completed list and stick in Truman. I went on a private tour of "Truman's Little White House" in Key West, arranged by my South Florida History professor. Which reminds me, I need to get to DC sometime in the near future to visit Wilson's house/museum, and by near future I mean before I head off to New Orleans. And FDR's mansion is practically within walking distance of where my sister goes to school. But I digress.
EDIT 2: Clearly, with an edit like that, I've already made my decision. Now all I have to do is cough up $40 to switch PRAXIS tests.
Elementary is 1-5 grades, and middle school is 4-8 grades, so either way I could teach upper elementary. The difference is that if I did elementary school I'd be teaching a little of everything, especially in the younger grades, and with a middle school certification I'd teach social studies. History, government, you know, what I've loved since I was about 10 years old. Teaching math is difficult for me because I never really understood why, just how. With history...well, I've been out of college for 2 years and I still read history books for fun. I took an upper-level history class my first semester of college and aced it. I wrote a 56-page senior thesis about comparative slavery and emancipation in Maryland and Key West. One of my life goals is to visit a home for every president (Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Wilson, and Eisenhower so far-it pays to live on the East Coast). I memorized the preamble to the Constitution 13 years ago and I can still recite it verbatim.
Am I just trying to get away from second graders because for the last 3 days I've worked with a few choice students of that age who drove me crazy? It's a wonder we got anything done yesterday, and having my own class would be much different from being a substitute. I know that.
Or maybe I'm inspired by reading The Freedom Writer's Diary, and I want to believe that by teaching the past I can change the future. If we don't learn where we came from, then we are condemned to repeat it.
EDIT: Actually, strike Wilson from the completed list and stick in Truman. I went on a private tour of "Truman's Little White House" in Key West, arranged by my South Florida History professor. Which reminds me, I need to get to DC sometime in the near future to visit Wilson's house/museum, and by near future I mean before I head off to New Orleans. And FDR's mansion is practically within walking distance of where my sister goes to school. But I digress.
EDIT 2: Clearly, with an edit like that, I've already made my decision. Now all I have to do is cough up $40 to switch PRAXIS tests.