Last quarter got a bit overwhelming at times! Taking 29 credits was no easy task, but I ended up earning all As in the end. I think the biggest challenge was that I focused only on school, and took little time out of my day to focus on myself. It was all worth it though, and I feel like I got more out of my experiences last quarter than any other.
My Kindergarten Curriculum class gave me good insight on developmentally appropriate practices, and reasons why a good educational foundation early on is essential for positive attitudes toward school later. I think my favorite memory from this class is the day a few of us volunteered to help with kindergarten classes touring the campus. During the visit, we surveyed the kindergarteners, asking them to give us advice as future teachers. Most children provided thoughts like: "be nice," and "Talk about flowers." Some students gave meaningful feedback like: "ask me for my help," or "come out to recess with us." Above all, my favorite comment was from a little boy. With a tone of sincerity, he raised his hand high and said, "Every teacher should try to do a back flip." That piece of advice was a good reinforcement of a lot of things we had discussed in class about the age of kindergarteners, and made me smile thinking of how much fun they can be.
It is difficult to think of my favorite part of math class because it was all very thought provoking. In elementary school, I was not taught using a constructivist approach, so many instructional approaches were new to me. The presentation of math using meaningful literature, games, and real-world scenarios help create meaning, and make the subject fun for students.
Literature class provided us with the opportunity to participate in book circles, something I was grateful for because it had been a long time since I had read anything that wasn't a textbook. My group read "Night" by Elie Wiesel. Our assignment revolving around the book was to write a passage from the perspective of the author five years later.
Our theories class, focused on theorists that influenced education, was very enjoyable. Our cumulative project was a lot of fun. We were to take a theory or theorist and present the information to the class in a fun and interesting way. I took a special interest in Albert Bandura, and choose to focus on his Bobo doll experiment. In the spirit of fun, I recruited my siblings to help me make a reenactment of the experiment, and turned in a DVD as my project. I also posted the video to YouTube to assist in my presentation.
Despite the mounds of stress presented to me last quarter, I had a blast! I am a little concerned, but mostly excited, for the challenges that will be presented to me in my summer classes.
