Eco-Human Experience (Spring)

    Course Evaluation

    Course subjects

    The class offered many different subjects relating back to humans and the environment around them. How society treats different groups for race, gender, and disabilities. When it came down to what I gained from the assignments, I learned valuable information that relates back to my Art [Teacher] Major. For example, I had to learn about the research conducted by respected psychologists, and what they observed based on their experiments (attachment issues, maturity, grade level, etc.). Their data gave me an idea of what to expect from someone in that suggested category, and how to adapt to their needs effectively.

    The most recent assignment was for everyone to prepare a discussion based on our assigned chapter. Mine was based on prodigies. What I had in mind was to share my own version of a timeline that the book "Far From The Tree" lays out about Zhenya, and ask my peers what they would imagine Zhenya's feelings would be and to picture themselves as a kid losing their childhood over a talent. This didn't go as planned, since I was getting anxious and was forgetting what I prepped in my head. However, I tried to make up for it by volunteering my own thoughts in other people's projects as much as possible.

    Classmates/Peers

    From what I've seen, the willingness of students to volunteer comes and goes. Sometimes so many students will add their ten cents on the topic, that I'm internally praying that we continue to the next topic. Other times it will be dead silent, and everyone will just stare at each other as if hinting "Are you going to say anything?" When we're told to speak with our neighboring partners by the teacher, that's when people are brainstorming.

    I ended up moving once. My original partners made indirect comments about my beliefs which I didn't agree with, and it made it hard to agree with them in the discussion if that meant I agreed with how they felt about my views. I also don't think they would be accepting in the group if I immediately said that "Those are my beliefs." That being said, I moved seats next week without a word since I preferred to keep it to myself and move on. When I collaborated with my new partners, it felt welcoming and they were interested in what I had to say. I'm glad to say that I at least ended the class on good terms with my most recent partners.

    Personal Reflection

    Referring back to my discussion project, I should have been mentally prepped to share what I learned about the chapter I read. I should have also taken advantage of the fact we were allowed to be creative, rather than just reading it off a paper/device. I should have created posters that said different events, and added them to the board one by one. 

    As for general stuff, my attendance was perfect. I never missed a class, and I was never late. For the final days in class, I took advantage of my spare time to prep the seating arrangements so it wouldn't stall any class time. Something I had to work on was being able to talk to teachers in person one-on-one. I'm used to asking for help via email since the pandemic era, and I had to get used to discussing with the teacher formally. My teacher expected this from his students, so I had to pick up on it quick if I wanted to get any personal help taken care of.

    Final thoughts

    This course has taught me things that I didn't think I would need to know to be a(n art) teacher. It brought up different topics about human development that I never thought about, or was able to explain in a way that made sense. For the most part, I enjoyed getting to know my classmates and would have liked to get to know them more outside of the classroom. As for my teacher, he gave me a stern push that some students may take for granted. If one person didn't volunteer, everyone would. If nobody read the book, he would call it out. I don't like when teachers are too easygoing, because students basically have control over how the class was going to work. Even so, he is an enjoyable teacher to listen to, and he did great with discussing topics. He comes off as a teacher that wanted to be a teacher, and wasn't there just for the financial benefits. I would like to see him teach in my future classes if I'm lucky enough to have it that way.

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