Blog Post #4

In reading the PESB competencies, I found that my college experience thus far has succeeded in in most but not all of the Professions Educator Standards Board competencies. I found that my Literature and Communication classes alone cover a lot of these competencies. Being a English major and History minor, my whole college experience has been revolved around writing papers. Although my grammar and punctuation might be wrong sometimes, I would say areas in 3.0, 4.0, and 5.0 are all mostly covered. My biggest area in need of improvement is in 6.0 Knowledge and Understanding of speaking and listening communications because I haven't had the amount of classroom practice I would prefer to have at this point in my college career. Another area I need to focus on is 1.D Understand diversity in language use, e.g., grammar, patterns, and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions, gender, and social roles. I am currently in ESLG class and I hope to broaden my understanding of diversity in language and the different teaching styles that can be used to teach language for a diverse classroom.
 What I find surprising about the education system in general is that most my English classes in both high school and college have not had a focus on Language structure and use. Although I know the writing structure of papers very well and the correct words to use, I didn't fully understand the phonetics and morphology of language until I recently took a Language Structure and Use class this last Fall quarter. I  remember briefly studying it in middle school but have no recognition of it in high school. I think its essential for students to understand the way in which their vocabulary works if they are to write or speak professionally. I will need to continue practicing the essential components of reading and writing if I am to be competent in the standards for the Professional Educators Board.