Monday night I am going to the retirement dinner of the woman who was my student teaching field instructor: Kate Manski. She was the first person to bear witness to my practice as a teacher in 2003. A couple years ago, she sat in my classroom observing my student teacher. I wanted to make Kate proud. I wanted her to know that I had not abandoned my training to balance philosophy and strategy. The books we read in the teacher ed program and the mentoring of the faculty at the University of Illinois, Chicago offered me a foundation for teaching that has, in many ways, helped me stay in the profession.
I am, therefore, feeling sentimental and nostalgic. I do want to stay sharp and innovative in my methods, which is why I am so active in social media, but I also want to stay true to the principles of pedagogy that made me a teacher, so I took some time to gaze at the spines on my bookshelf and pulled the books that sparked memories.
Now that my first young adult novel is in the world and my academic chapters have been submitted, I thought I would spend the remaining mornings of the school year re-reading the books that shaped my philosophy and practice circa 2000 when I can still be around students, still look into their eyes.
I’ll post excerpts along the way here, and I encourage you to join me. Take a look at your bookshelf. Dust off some old friends. Revisit the notes you made and the passages that resonated.
Thank you, Kate Manski, for the guidance, support, and wisdom that has shaped the philosophy and practice of so many teachers. We are better for the human beings with whom we’ve been entrusted because of you.
James Moffett’s work is missing from this list. As is James Britton’s. They set the stage for almost everything you have stacked here. And, G. Robert Carlsen’s work with literature for young adults.
Thank you! I will add them to my to-read list! Can you recommend specific titles?