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Kelsey Langland-Hayes

Dr. Larson

ENGL 485

7 February 2020

Concentration Essay: Secondary Education

Regent University, located in Virginia Beach, VA, is a private Christian university known

for its “Christian leaders to change the world.” Over the course of my time at Regent, I have

been able to grow into one of these Christian leaders myself. As an English major, I have the

honor of selecting a concentration within the English realm. Based on my experiences abroad

and in the States, I am aware that there are a variety of people in desperate need of knowing and

understanding the English language. Teaching English to youth is a desire and passion of mine

that I plan to carry out through my concentration in secondary education. Eventually, I would

like to take this passion and teach English as a Second Language.

In order to help people fully grasp my concentration, I would explain to them that this

focus prepares me to teach English to middle and high school students. As a result, I have

developed a multitude of English skills such as writing, literature comprehension, classroom

management, and adolescent growth and development. At Regent University, my professors have

enabled me with these skills and abilities all from a Christian worldview and perspective.

In regards to the most memorable aspects of my secondary education concentration, I

enjoy the interactive, engaging class activities and lesson planning. In order for us education

students to learn different teaching strategies and techniques, the education professors at Regent

University model how to teach and facilitate a variety of engaging activities. For instance, in one
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of my classes, a professor had us divide into groups and answer questions on giant pieces of

paper attached to the wall; we then moved around the classroom and answered the other

questions. This helped us learn how to collaborate with others and work together to finish the

assignment. In Dr. Gould’s class, as a closure activity, she gave one student a penny and said,

“Penny for your thoughts.” The student would share something they learned that day in class and

why it was important to their field. That student would take the penny and pass it on to the next

student while repeating the phrase from before. I found the activity fun and engaging since we

got to state a clever little phrase and could recall what we learned that day. This activity has

stuck with me, and I have retained the material we learned that day because of it. Furthermore, I

have had the opportunity to translate some of these different activities and skills into lesson

plans, which I can either use during Practicum or class time to teach my peers. Even though it

could often be frustrating having to organize and structure my lessons according to a specific

style like Madeline Hunter’s lesson plan format, this has helped me to better manage my lessons

and organize them as a teacher. Moreover, it forces me to plan out each day, so I can make sure I

am meeting the needs of all different kinds of learners. Some students are visual learners,

whereas others need kinesthetic, hands-on activities to engage them. Whether it is one of these

styles or one of the many other styles of learning, my education classes have helped to better

prepare me to meet the needs of every kind of student from every kind of background.

Through these secondary education classes, I have learned and developed multiple skills

that I can utilize in my future classrooms. To be more specific, during my Technology in

Education class, I learned all of the different ways in which I can present information to students

with the assistance of technology. Google, for example, offers Google Classroom for teachers to
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post assignments and announcements and for students to submit their assignments for their

classes. Google Slides, Google Drawings, and Google Docs are other great tools that allow

teachers to create assignments or presentations, whereas students can utilize these resources to

collaborate with their peers on assignments. Google Drive allows users to share work with one

another and work on a document or presentation at the same time, automatically saving any work

progress. Weebly also allows teachers or students to create websites where they can build

portfolios, create a database of documents, or publish photos and documents for assignments

throughout the year. Throughout my other secondary education classes, I have learned classroom

management and adolescent development. With these skills, I know how to meet the needs of my

students and understand where the students of their age group are coming from when they react

to certain situations differently. I feel more confident when approaching issues with students who

seem more vocal or argumentative. Additionally, my classes have helped me with the

composition of English. I have learned how to utilize APA formatting in addition to the MLA

formatting from my English classes. Furthermore, I have been able to practice reading other

students’ work, providing feedback, and editing essays. These classroom skills have helped to

better prepare me for my future classrooms.

From my concentration classes, I have developed a variety of new ideas or habits of

mind. Because of my classes at Regent, I have learned the importance of seeking the context,

specifically the historical context, of literary works. Whilst teaching different essays, books, and

poetry within my classes, I now understand the essentiality of finding background information on

the subject to help students better understand why authors write what they do in the way that

they do. In my education classes especially, my professors have encouraged me to offer my

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future students grace and understanding. Receiving a Christian education has influenced me to

speak both in truth and in love to my students. Whether it is dealing with conflict or responding

to incorrect answers, the Bible provides guidelines for how to approach others. Through the

utilization of discussion boards, I have gotten in the habit of striving to speak up when I have

something to share or of researching to find evidence that better supports my argument.

Researching teaching methods and techniques has helped me to formulate my own “teaching

toolbox” that will better prepare me for the classroom. Due to my Christian education at college,

I have found new ways to incorporate my faith into my teaching. In the public school setting, I

may not be able to preach the Gospel with words like “God” specifically, but I can display the

love of God through the manner in which I teach and discipline my students. I still have the

power to let students know that they are loved and valued. I look forward to carrying these new

ideas and habits into the classroom.

Through this secondary education concentration, it can work in conjunction with my

English major because of the fact that I will be teaching English. On my own, I will need to

practice close reading and develop my reading comprehension, so I can properly educate

students on different works. Moreover, I can teach students English writing composition in the

classroom and help them to develop their understanding of the language even more.

In the future, I plan to incorporate these different skills, ideas, and habits of mind in my

classes. Taking what I have learned in my classes to my future classes, I now understand how

youth develop through different stages of their lives. I would like to incorporate historical

elements into the classroom if I can as well to help students get a better grasp on the context of

different works they read in my classes. When grading students’ writing assignments, I hope to
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approach them with grace and understanding as I have been taught. The professors at Regent

have effectively modeled how to engage students and how to correct them as needed; I only hope

that I can be just as effective as they have been. Through my regular utilization of Google’s

resources now, I can take this knowledge and these habits to my classroom by encouraging

students to make presentations or submit assignments accordingly. All in all, faith will be an

essential part of my future classes, for I truly want to exude the qualities of a “Christian leader”

that changes “the world.”