Final Post Entry - Course Review

I really can't believe how fast this semester went by. Looking back at how many posts I have made over the course of the semester, it is hard to believe that I read so many different books involving such a variety of issues. Because I am going into teaching, I feel that it is important to be able to analyze different types of text in order to make sure they are apporpriate and helpful for the students who will read them. This class has definitely helped me look at children's literature in a different way because of our papers and blogging. Through all the different issues we have covered in class, I feel that I have learned so much more than what I knew coming in.

One of these topics was the insider-outsider issue and how important this can be when choosing literature for your classroom. This is something that I did not consider nearly as much until I took class, and I'm glad that we covered it so much, and continued covering it as we went through semester with our texts. This issue alone was worth taking the class because of the different ways that people view things, and how to decipher the better texts from the bunch. It is very important to make sure that books are not stereotyping people, and reading the books that we read gave me examples of this to lean back on when I have to choose books individually when teaching.

I also really enjoyed the final project because I was able to see how disabilities were represented in texts further than what we covered in class. The books that we read in class also proved interesting to me, especially our class discussions. However, I was able to go out and find my own books on autism, which gave me some experience of what to look for in books and which ones will be good for my classroom. Experience is the one thing that I am most grateful for regarding this class because reading is one of the most important things for students, if the not the most important. The experiences that I had during this semester truly helped me and I hope that I will continue to learn about literature in a way that allows me to find the best books possible for my students.

Valerie, thank you so much for such a great semester. I could really tell that you know what you are talking about when you are running our class, and I hope to eventually get to a point where I can analyze and assess books half as well as you can. You really showed me the value of good literature in a classroom. Thank you very much!