Matt Lattimore
Citizenship
Journal
Entry
#1
08/29/00
This was the first day of class and I thought that overall it was very good. You gave us, the class, a lot to think about going into the year ahead of us. You gave us a good idea of what to expect and things for us to think about.
Since it is still in August the students that we will be
working with have not started school yet. Which
is nice since it gives us some days off to think of some good things we can use
with the kids. Being the age
that the kid’s are it is going to be hard to impress them, although I am
really looking forward to it. This
is the age level of the kids that I want to teach someday, so this will be good
practice for me and it should give me a lot of experience with the age group.
I
think that I will get a better idea of what to do with the coming days ahead. We have two class periods and then the Saturday seminar,
which I think will do a lot for me and the class.
I really hope to learn a lot that day of what we are to do in the class.
My biggest fear in this class is not getting across to the kids.
I am afraid that they will not get all that they need to in the class.
When the year is over I want them to come out of the class with a good
understanding of citizenship and also for me to come away with a lot of
experience with working with the kids. Things
that I can take with me in the future and use, maybe even implement a program
like this in the school that I will be teaching in.
I
have some experience with working with kids in a classroom setting.
I really enjoy that part of it, and it makes it even better when I know
what I am going to teach on. So
right now I am kind of scared because I don’t know what I am going to teach
these kids. I know that in the
coming weeks I will have a better understanding, but until then I worry about
it.
I
think that teaching the subject of citizenship will be fun, and interesting
since I have not taught it before. I
am always looking forward to it, because I know that the more I do in college
will only prepare me for what is to come in the future.
It is better to learn it now when I have someone to talk to about it and
to see what I need to change to get the students involved more.
When I get my own job I am not going to have that luxury, I am going to
have to face it alone for the most part. I
enjoy the critique that the professors give us now in the classes when it comes
to what we can do better, because then I can take that and change what I need
too to make myself a better teacher in the future.
In the end I want every kid coming out of my class feeling like they have
learned a lot, and that I know that I have prepared them for what is to come
further on in education.
In
the end of this class I hope to have a good handle on the topic of citizenship,
and to have a better grip on the teaching aspect of it.
Something to take to my future employer and say this is what I did when I
was in college and that the kids will have something to show for it also.
Something that they can tell their families that they made a difference
in the town.