SCED 4200: Introduction

I'm Jenny Bragg! I am a senior here at Utah State and I am majoring in English with a minor in Psychology. Whenever I tell people that I am an English major they get self-conscious about what they are saying and how they're saying it in front of me. But I promise that I'm not very good at grammar or speaking eloquently, either! So no worries, I'm a normal person who makes mistakes as well.
I was born and raised in West Richland, WA. It's a small town in the Southeastern corner of Washington, right on the Columbia River. I am the youngest in my family, I have two older sisters. I stayed in Washington until about 2 months after I graduated from high school. I moved to Logan to go to Utah State and I have been here ever since, I even served my mission in this state! I completed 3 years of college and then I decided to serve a mission for the church I am a part of. When I was about to find out where I was going, most people guessed that I would go to South America or the Eastern part of the United States. But I was assigned to serve in Salt Lake City. Needless to say, I have become accustomed to the frozen tundra of Utah after having lived here for 6 winters.
I enjoy donating blood, reading books that I choose to read (which doesn't happen very often anymore!), playing the board game "Battleship," sitting by the heater to get warm, watching movies, playing pool, and eating tamales.
When I complete my degree in December I will be certified to teach English/Language Arts and Psychology. I hope to continue taking classes in order to be certified to teach Spanish and ESL. In the long run, I would like to complete a Master's Degree and be a certified administrator.
I didn't put a whole lot of thought and consideration into what degree I would pursue after high school. We had a senior recognition night for my church about a month before I was going to graduate. They were preparing something to say about my plans for the future and they asked me what degree I would pursue in college. I looked at the list of degrees offered and decided after about 5 minutes of looking at the list that I would be an English Teaching major. So that is what I have stuck with for the last 6 years. My grandfather was a professor here at Utah State and my mother is a special education teacher. I worked a lot with my mom in her class whenever my district had the day off of school (she worked in a different school district) and I was inspired by the way she worked with the students and how much work she put in to helping her students succeed. I wanted a job that would let me help others in that way. For the first three years of college, I found myself getting frustrated because my college-level English classes did not interest me and I wasn't getting as good of grades as I thought I would get. But then I realized that I wouldn't be teaching college literature courses to middle- and high-schoolers! I would be teaching them what I found interesting at the high school level. I am excited to help students develop better writing skills, especially in a persuasive essay. I have come to believe that students need to develop their own opinions and gain expression defending those opinions. Where else are they going to get the chance to do so? In the home, the parents feel free to express their beliefs and opinions but the children are expected to follow along with what their parents say. However, in a school environment students will be exposed to the perspectives and viewpoints of other people, even people who are their own age and who are trying to develop an understanding of the world. Every student comes from a different environment and has had different experiences. As they express their own beliefs they will be able to help shape and develop the opinions of their classmates. Students should be encouraged to think for themselves and construct their own belief about the world and the issues we are facing today. They can develop these opinions in the English classroom setting because they will be given the chance to study controversial issues, look at both the claim and counterclaim of these topics, and learn how to fairly come to their own belief and understanding of the issues at hand.
I define literacy as a person's ability to understand and comprehend a subject area or subject matter. The learner then shows proficiency in the subject area in demonstrating that ability.
Literacy most definitely relates to my content area. Students will be required to develop their reading and writing skills using written text. They will also be required to demonstrate their proficiency in this content area by effectively producing written and audiovisual material.