TWYH pages 104-140

This section of the book honestly made me feel simultaneously optimistic and pessimistic about the impact that I will be able to have on students as an English teacher. It made me feel good to see Erin's students having such a profound reaction to the books that she has assigned for them to read. It gives me a touch of hope to see her students read these fantastic literary triumphs and walk away from them with sentiments such as having sections of the book written just for them. Reading this makes me feel like i might be able to get my students involved with reading by finding books for them to read that will be relevent to their lives. For example, i could use books that relate to the issues that all young adults face such as the catcher in the rye or newer material such as speak. At the same time, I feel like i will never be able to create as authentic an experience as Erin did for her students. I don't have any idea how i could ever create situations for my class like Erin did. In just this last year she has managed to introduce them to two incredibly inspiring individuals. I know that she more or less stumbled across these opportunities but at the same time she created incredible meetings for her students that i just don't think i could ever match. I can't help but wonder, "would these students respond to me like they have for Erin?" Sure, i could step into her classroom and understand how i can use powerful books to attempt to reach my students but would these texts translate when the inevidible truth that i could never bring the authors into the classroom surfaced? I guess that is a question that I will have to take a look at head on but to be as truthful as i can be, that question scares me. Part of me thinks i should do something else with my life first to try to gain experiences before i become a teacher with the hopes that maybe the people i meet along the way and the events that take place in my life can help me better reach my students.