Sarah Mecklenburg

LBS 400
Reflective Statement for English Language Arts
Being prepared to teach ELA/ELD means having content knowledge
about analyzing, interpreting, and applying language development through
research projects. The skills needed to live in the 21st century are more
complex today than ever. Students are required to critically think,
communicate, collaborate, and be creative. Not only do students need to
understand the foundation of language, but students need to be able to
apply their knowledge to real life situations. I plan to help my students
develop these skills needed for ELA, and for life.
My English classes have taught me many of these essential skills.
Through these classes I have learned to be a better critical thinker,
collaborator, and communicator. In my English 355 writing in education class,
I developed the skill of being articulate, concise, and passionate through my
writing. The teacher gave us research articles on a topic and the students
were required to only write 2 pages. This task allowed us the opportunity to
learn the discipline in conveying a message directly. These skills learned from
English 355 are critical in becoming an effective communicator in the 21st
century.
In my English 487 class, I was given the foundation on how to teach
grammar, phonics, and vocabulary to children. At the end of the semester,
we were given an assignment to demonstrate our knowledge and
understanding of how to teach a kindergarten grammar lesson. The artifact
presented, is a book/ lesson for kindergarten, on Irregular Adverbs and

Sarah Mecklenburg
LBS 400
Adjectives. This book demonstrates the content needed for kindergarteners.
This project based assignment, was creative and provided me the
opportunity to incorporate my computer skills.