Da Capo

My very first blog post, and already I'm asking myself if that title font really is the best visual fit for the kind of mood I'm trying to convey. Already doubts are beginning to form about preconceived others, out there in cyberspace, judging my terrible choice in font, and obvious lack of cultural awareness. And the title as well. Will anyone really appreciate my obviously extremely witty attempts at alliteration? Is 'educator' too awful a word? It's so difficult to convey both utter professionalism and my own particularly weird brand of warped humor in one little sentence fragment.

I could have titled this blog 'Musings of an Enthusiastic but Sometimes Confused Pre-Service Teacher'. Or even 'Occasional Humor and Lots of Philosophical Ramblings about Education and Stuff'. Maybe 'Teacher as Professional', the title of the unit I am undertaking this blog for. But all of those fail to convey what it is that I want to achieve; some idea about who this teacher is that I will (eventually) become. What are her beliefs and values? How does she operate in the classroom? What long term strategies does she want to employ to make sure she can emerge, fully formed?

The title of this post is an Italian musical term, da capo, literally 'from the head'. It means to go back and play again from the beginning of a piece. In my own way, I am playing from the beginning again. I am starting from the very fundamentals of what I believe about learning and students, and building on those to form a picture of who I want to be as an educator. Hopefully what follows is a journey* that leads to a sense of my own professional identity. 

*I hate this word. Overused. Over it. I might as well use the word 'cheese'. It has about the same emotional impact.