Sarah at HGSE!

First weeks at school!

Hi everyone!
To keep everybody updated on what is going on here in Cambridge while I'm at school, I decided to create a blog. This way, anyone who wants to check up on me can do so and I can be sure that I stay connected with everyone. I have been extremely busy with orientation and finding my way around Cambridge, campus, Boston, you name it. I have some amazing classes with even more amazing professors. One of my professors is Eleanor Duckworth who worked with Jean Piaget and is an expert on teaching and learning. I have already learned so much from her and the other students in only two class sessions. Prof. Duckworth focuses on how students can create meaningful questions and learning experiences for themselves. The learning and exploration of wonderful ideas as discovered by the students is key - NOT what the teacher feels are necessarily the "right answers." My Arts in Education class is fantastic. Lots of wonderful people in our group from all over the world. One of the best parts about living in my dorm is getting to meet people from Korea, India, Bosnia, Germany, Spain, and Turkey, just to name a few of the places where students hail from.
I just got finished with a Children's Literature class which is very interesting and has introduced me to some fabulous books. Amazon is grateful for my business, I'm sure. I'm about to tackle some reading for my Creating Community in the Classroom course. This class is great because there is limited enrollment. Only 16 of us were able to join (and I was one of them-woohoo!) and so we work hard to create a community of our own as we learn about creating other communities in our future endeavors, whether or not they are in the traditional classroom setting.
Any of my students who want to leave comments, please do so! I miss you all so much and think of you often. It is because of you that I got here to Harvard and am driven to work so hard. I want to be a better teacher thanks to the motivation and determination you gave me. Keep working hard in middle school or at the high school and making sure to be kind to everyone in the process. If you need me for anything, you know how to reach me :)
Love to everyone, and more info. once I return from my weekend trip to Corpus Christi. Brian is getting officially "winged" as a Naval Aviator, and I get to pin him at the ceremony! It is all very exciting. I promise to post pictures soon. Until later!

posted by Sarah @ 6:46 PM