Chelsea's Reflection on Mem Fox (Ch.6)

I liked that Mem Fox used dialogue to explain what she
needed to in "Chapter 6: Halt! Who Goes There?" It was
somewhat easy to read and exciting. I figured that Mem
Fox was the teacher of language arts, while the person
reading the chapter is the keeper at the gate. I've
noticed so far that Mem Fox loves to use examples or
samples of people's work in her writing. I like that she
provides these in her chapters because it helps the
reader to get a small picture of what she is trying to
explain.
Mem Fox mentions at the end of the chapter that all the
things she pulled out of her baggage is labeled the Four
R's. The first one relationship is something that I would
want to have with my students. I want to get to know
them as soon as they step foot in my classroom, so that
I can figure out ways on how they are able to learn. I
know some students are going to need some
accommodations, so I would like to get to know them way
ahead of time to get started on those accommodations at
the beginning of the year. The second, reality, talked
about how students don't always know the reason why
they are writing, let alone who for and who cares.
Teachers should explain these types of things to their
students. When I was in school, I was always wondering
why we were learning certain things, but the teacher
could never tell me an exact reason. Honestly, I still
don't know why some things are taught in school. Some
things just seem like a waste of time. They should be
learning things that are useful. The third, rejoicing in
choices, is when students are wanting to write something.
They choose to write a letter to someone or write a song
to help them remember things. When people have the
choice, they understand why they are writing. The fourth,
return of the affective, is understood to me as when a
piece of writing affects someone's life. The example Mem
Fox provided clearly explains how the writing affected the
students and the teacher. I like reading Mem Fox's book
because it is easy for me to understand. I am a visual
learner, so all the examples she provides really helps me.