Personal Writing Samples
Below, I have provided four different writing samples: two from different courses I have taken, and two pieces of poetry that I have done outside of class. I chose these works, because I feel as though they provide an ample example for my own writing skills, and I thought they were the most interesting, relevant pieces to my future career as a teacher.
Observation of A High School Math Class
For my Introduction to Demographic Perspectives in K-12 Education course, I was required to volunteer at a classroom of my choosing, and observe what was going on, help out when needed, and really get a feel for what the classroom environment was like. I chose to volunteer in a High School Economics, Math and AVID classroom, because I wanted to see what it was like to teach in a high school classroom, and how it was different from Elementary classrooms. Below is the first installment of my findings in the classroom.
Literacy Studies Primary Research
In my Introduction to Literacy Studies course, we were told to go out into the world and interview people from different age groups to determine what they knew about literacy. I thought this was an interesting piece to include because it helps put into context the different learning backgrounds that people come from. I also think it is interesting to see how literacy and teaching kids to be literate has changed in the past few generations.
Poetry Samples
This is a free verse poem that I wrote after being inspired by the opening scenes of the musical, Grease, where Danny and Sandy have their romance on the beach. In it, you will see various different literary devices, from similes and metaphors to alliteration.
This is a sestina poem, which means that it follows a strict pattern of repetition at the end of each line. You'll notice that this poem repeats the same six end words (breath, break, kiss, explore, secret, and promise) in a distinct pattern. I wrote this poem after being inspired by "Sestina" by Elizabeth Bishop. It is supposed to be an elaborate telling of the speaker's dream. It is 32 lines in total.
Although poetry is a very different type of writing style, it still requires the same amount of creative thought and heft revision that other works (such as a school essay) require as well.