The coffee cup from which I�m currently drinking has a label carefully applied: �il caff�.� AJ has been helping me study for my Italian exam. One of my workbooks came with a series of stickers to apply to assorted household objects in an effort to accelerate the memorization of vocabulary. Those who knew me when I was studying Russian in college might remember my dorm room being covered with labels in Cyrillic for a similar purpose. It�s fairly effective for me and AJ is learning some of the vocabulary too. He�s put two labels on his door: �la camera da letto� (bedroom) and �la porta� (door).

When you think about it, this is a great way to work on a language with a small child. His life revolves around stickers and workbooks. What could be better? Plus, the books have pictures. AJ was fixated on a picture of rest room doors this morning. He moved his finger from one picture to the other and back rapidly, shouting �Signori! Signore! Signori! Signore!�

I�ve been thinking a lot about pedagogical methods as I�m (finally) trying to finish up a draft of my �Philosophy of Teaching� statement for my dossier. [I love saying �dossier.� It makes me feel like a spy. But really it�s just a packet of stuff about me to have at the ready in case someone might want to think about hiring me to teach somewhere].

It�s much harder to write such a statement than one might think. When I started reading up on what I was supposed to do, most of the guidebooks warned, �no more than five pages!� Five pages seemed like an endless amount of space. But once you start writing, it�s amazing how much there is to say. Still, it doesn�t seem like something that anyone else would have any interest in reading. I have a feeling I�m coming off as an ideologue railing against an unjust society. I know I�m not alone in this, because the model teaching statements I found started an average of fifty percent of their paragraphs with the phrase �I believe.� As I said in an email to rs536 this morning, it�s as if the teaching statement is every academic�s Martin Luther King moment.

I have a dream that one day my students will pay attention to what I'm talking about.

I have a dream that one day my students will all be in class at the same time.

I have a dream that my students will do intelligent independent work.

I have a dream that no student will complain about his or her grade.

I have a dream that I will one day finish this teaching statement and find a job.

Let freedom ring!

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