TE 402 Expectations

After reading through the syllabus for TE 402, I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit overwhelmed.  BUT, with that being said I think we are going to learn a lot of extremely useful and interesting information this semester so I am very excited! Since we are all planning to teach at the elementary level, it is imperative for us know not only what to teach  in terms of literacy, but how to teach it.  Literacy is a huge part of early education and can be easy integrated into other parts of the curriculum as well, which makes for a lot of teachers favorite subject areas.  I am hoping throughout this course we learn a lot about how to effectively address topics of literacy in a way that makes it meaningful to both us and the students.  I am also hoping to expand my own definition of literacy so that I am able to apply it in all areas of my teaching.
Something else the syllabus addressed that sounds intriguing to me is to learn how to make our teaching fit our learners needs by celebrating their differences rather than making some students conform to different learning styles.  The survey activity we did in class brought to light the fact that each of us learn best in multiple different ways, so I am hoping throughout this course we learn how to adjust our teaching to cater to those differences.