Hi. My name is Andrew. I created "31 pencils" to document my coming experiences and express my veiws as I learn to become an English Language Arts teacher. A typical elementary classroom has 30 students, and 1 teacher, all of whom are there to learn, to teach, to write, to read, to observe, to reflect, to record, to study, to speak, to listen, to create, to analyse, to explore... To me, English Language Arts is a foundation for learning. Classrooms are filled with words; in print, on posters, chalkboards, computers, pictures, and books. Words are used to comunicate and to express, through speech, poetry, music, drama, and literature. Language is fundamental for learning, and to learn language and literacy is to learn how to learn.
Language Arts is also a way of bringing together different areas of learning, from Drama and Art, to Math and Science, language is at the heart of every subject in the classroom. Children need to be skilled in Language Arts so that they can learn to understand information, and create their own ideas, in order to become skilled, well-rounded, life-long learners. This is a huge responsibility for an aspiring teacher such as myself, and I look forward to starting again on the road to learing English Language Arts.
Love your title, Andrew! You are so right that Language is at the heart of learning. It is a big responsibility to teach ELA well, fortunately learning for us doesn't end when the university hands us our teaching degrees. We keep seeking and learning and trying new things. That's what makes teaching so exciting.
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