April 26, 2005 issue
I teach courses in the Reading Program, which is word study and literacy for culturally and linguistically diverse students.
This is my ninth year. When I first came to EMU, we had one, six credit-hour reading course. Now, we have an undergraduate reading major and minor. We've developed an exceptionally fine program in reading for elementary education students. In my estimation, it's probably one of the best in the country. It's growing faster than we can keep up with. We started three years ago with 35 students. Now, we have more than 400 students in the program.
We have the best students in the country. They come into the classroom with the passion for what they want to do in the future. They are future teachers and they are creative. They are curious and absolutely dedicated to their future students.
I like students to participate in the teaching of the class, especially with my students in the course that they take in their senior year. I like to engage them in developing their own philosophies and constructing their own understanding of the material, partly in preparation for graduate school.
I think I convey passion for reading and reading instruction, first of all, through my own passion. I have a love affair with books and with words, and I try to share that love affair with my students. Eventually, I'd like to write a book about reading instruction and second-language learning.
I'd like to take a group of students to the Ukraine or Russia and have a go-and-study course for six weeks. I was raised in a military family and had many international experiences. So, I value the collegiality between people of different nations. I believe that the only way to achieve peace is for there to be people-to-people understanding.
I teach with 12 of the most highly-qualified reading professionals in the country. We don' t always agree about everything, but we absolutely support what each other does. It's an environment where we want everybody to succeed because, when everybody succeeds, our students succeed.
There is a lot of change happening on this campus right now. I think it's both exciting and scary. But I think as long as everyone on campus remembers that we are here for students, and our students come first, then EMU's future is assured.
