So I'm kind of at this weird place in my life at the moment. A recent college graduate, finished one year of teaching, getting out of a very long relationship, thinking about going to graduate school, generally feeling a little stretched in many directions but also feeling like life has so many good possibilities to offer me.
Anyway, like I said, I'm thinking about grad school. At the moment, I like my job a lot, and I don't really want to walk away from it. And I also don't think I'm quite ready for a full time program...But it's pretty fun to think about the options. I've decided that I'm going to start studying for the GREs (in between writing lesson plans, grading papers, and teaching high school English that is :) ). I just pulled out all my anthologies and books and stuff and I'm having fun looking some of my old notes from college. Apparently, for a PhD in English I also need to be proficient in two foreign languages...So, now I'm wishing I had kept up with my French a little more!
So pretty soon I might be asking my college professors to write me some grad school recommendations, which is why today was kind of weird in an ironic sort of way - I just finished writing my first batch of college recommendations for my own students (Three of my honors juniors from last year)! It was a little harder and took a bit longer than I thought it would. But I think they turned out pretty good. Now the decision - do I show them to the students or not? I mean, I will definitely give them a copy in a sealed envelope since colleges prefer confidentially and all, but didn't you always wonder what your teachers wrote about you? I'm leaning towards giving the students their own copy as well. We shall see.
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3 comments:
I vote for showing your students what you wrote. I recently got to read two recommendations written for me and it was a wonderful expereience . . .
Gee ... so familiar but so different. I'm a not-as-recent (2003) graduate in English Ed who couldn't find a teaching job and went into grad school after a semester off (also known as working at a bank).
Have you thought about going into a different grad school program than English? While I liked English, grad programs seemed a little "Ivory Tower" to me, and instead I opted to go into educational technology/instructional design.
As for the recommendations, I would probably show them to the students. They are high school kids, after all. I might handle the situation differently for college students, but I'd give high schoolers any boost of confidence I could ... just my two cents.
Yup, I think I am going to show the students their letters. They are very nice, so its not like its anything I wouldn't want them to read. it would be uncomfortable however if I was writing something less positive...Thats something I don't really want to have to deal with - a student asking me for a recommendation when I don't have the most positive things to say.
As far as grad school, yes I have thought about some other programs. I am pretty sure I want to at least take some classes in curriculum design and educational leadership. But I also want to continue my English degree. So I'm not exactly sure how it will all pan out...
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