I am married to my beautiful wife, Brandi. We are the proud parents of three children. We have a three year old daughter, a eight month old baby boy, and our lovely eight year old niece. Even though we only have temporary custody of our niece, we consider her one of our children. The youngsters make college a little more difficult sometimes because I would rather play with them than do homework, but with the support of my wife, I have been able to find an effective balance.
Besides my family, I also have a couple of other hobbies, even though I rarely have time for most of them. I enjoy golfing, hunting, fishing, hiking, and most sports. I am an avid sports fan, and I love playing and watching almost anything. Currently, I coach a 7th and 8th grade basketball team. Basketball is by far my favorite sport, and I enjoy teaching others how to play the game the right way.
As far as teaching goes, I took the long route to gaining my education, but it has been an interesting and worthwhile road. After high school, I spent four years in the army, before finally beginning my education. After my generals, I decided that I wanted to teach history. While in classes, I realized that I also loved to write. Eventually, I decided that I wanted to take English as my minor. Anyone who knew me in high school would be extremely shocked to see that I am going to be an English teacher. Even though it took awhile, I have fell in love with English, especially writing, and I am extremely excited to share my new found passion with others. Sometimes I still fee inadequate with my English skills, but I am working on them diligently, so I can be an effective teacher.
I am excited for this class because literacy is extremely important in all disciplines but especially in mine. My history and English classes will all evolve around literacy.
To me, literacy not only means to read and write, but it also means the ability to communicate effectively in the forum you are involved in. Literacy in history is different than literacy in science, but they are both equally important, when you are discussing that particular field.
I love how well English and history go together, and I am looking forward to teaching literacy in both of my contents.
Hi James,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your first posting. I just had a baby six months ago, and I could definitely empathize with your comment that it's hard to work when you have a little one at home.
Your posting reminded me of a study by Sam Wineburg and Pam Grossman, in which they asked English teachers and history teachers to read the same historical fiction novel, and then get together to discuss it. They found that the English teachers read it for enjoyment, while noticing things like dialogue and imagery, while the history teachers read it by considering how the bias of the author might have shaped his perspective on the historical event.
So my question is: I agree with you that literacy in English and history are similar, but do you think they are different in any way? For instance, do we teach students to read texts in different ways in English, as opposed to history? Or do people read the same, regardless of what discipline they're in? I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this topic as the semester progresses.
(Here is the citation to the study.)
Wineburg, S., & Grossman, P. (2000). Scenes from a courtship: Some theoretical and practical implications of the interdisciplinary humanities curricula in the comprehensive high school. In S. Wineburg & P. Grossman (Eds.), Interdisciplinary curricula: Challenges to implementation (pp. 57–73). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Thanks for a great first posting!
Hi James! I too love History and English but my major and minor is opposite of yours. I definitely feel like literacy does revolve around these two areas because there is always writing involved in English and History. Literacy is a very important part of life in every aspect and hope more teachers will realize that. I had a few teachers that did not think writing was very important, but I feel like that is slowly changing for the better.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't imagine going to school with a baby in the house. I had to wait until my baby was 4 years old before I felt like I was not abandoning all my kids. I do have a great support system in my husband and your wife must be amazing to help you achieve your goals!
I have a niece that has been living with us for 3 1/2 years. She is 18 now, but we adopted her in November. We love her like she is one of our children as well, it's the best!! My kids are all older and it's still hard to get anything accomplished.
ReplyDeleteJames you are the man. I have had a few classes with you and enjoy hearing your comments, so it was nice to be able to read your intro on you blog so I could get to know you more outside of the classroom. I never knew you were married or had kids, so that was awesome to find out. I like the fact that you were once in the military, but I love the fact the you are an outdoors man like me so we can relate on that page. I will be looking forward to hearing all you have to add to class this semester. Take care
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