There is no Frigate Like a Book...

There is no frigate like a book

To take us lands away,

Nor any coursers like a page

Of prancing poetry.

This traverse may the poorest take

Without oppress of toll;

How frugal is the chariot

That bears a human soul!

- Emily Dickinson

In the above poem, Dickinson describes a book as better than any frigate (boat), courser (horse), or traverse (passage/bridge). Dickinson uses analogies that have connotations related to taking a journey. This is not a mistake. Poetry interpretations are completely subjective. However, to me, this poem is illustrating the idea that books can take you places. As a child, I always heard adults say that books can take you places. I thought the phrase meant that I could read books and use my imagination to learn about or see far away places.

However, my idea of what that phrase means has changed in the last 5 years. While in undergraduate school, I served food for 40 hours per week at Ruby Tuesday. It was physically and cognitively exhausting! It made me genuinely appreciate the sacrifices I made for my textbooks and the information in them.

In the last year, I have experienced my first year of teaching while taking online graduate courses. I have seen the ways below-average language skills can affect a student behaviorally, socially, and emotionally. Reading and/or books is much more than using your imagination to see other places. It is now as an adult that I equate literacy to freedom. The ability to read, write, and effectively communicate opens so many doors!

That is why I teach. When I started undergraduate school, the driving purpose I had was to change the world. I realized that empowering youth with knowledge is changing the world. I now want to empower and liberate students that cannot communicate in their new environment. My view ESL teaching is grounded in feelings of compassion and culture. ESL teachers must be compassionate to assuage the language shock felt by some ESL students. Serious distress can be caused from consistently not being able to communicate thoughts, feelings, and emotions in the second language. Click here for a more detailed list of what language shock feels like to language learners. Additionally, ESL teaching is introducing students to diversity and new cultures. The ability to accept diversity is predominantly suffering in schools. I want to create a classroom environment that facilitates growth in all cultures represented in the room - and even in cultures in which none of the students are familiar!