FNED 346-11 Class Overview

Extra Post #2

From the beginning of class, the one goal my teacher had was to make our class feel more like a community.  We were always asked to be prepared for class discussions that were run strictly by us with no input from the teacher.  I can see now, that these discussions we had, we allowing us to work together to come up with similar goals and ideas.  We worked together and by doing this, we became more and more close each class. 

Another goal of all of the readings we were given, was to be able to connect our volunteer work with these readings.  I was able to understand why we read the articles we were assigned and I could see the readings first hand in the classroom that I volunteered in.  I was able to make connections between all of the reading with what I observed in the class and I enjoyed being able to do this.  I connected the volunteering to the readings just like I feel I connected to the students.

At first, I honestly did not understand the point in having us read all of the articles we were assigned.  After doing the work and volunteering it became quite clear to me.  The things we were introduced to in these readings and during our class discussions were real life problems.  They did not seem like it when I compared it to my elementary school but in the Providence schools, it is more noticeable.  As a teacher "in the making" it is important that we are aware of all of these real life problems and have practice so when the time comes, we know what to do about it.

On Monday, there was a scary moment in class, where something went wrong with someone in class.  Without details, we had to all work together as a team to get her in a better place and make sure she was okay.  Our class, that was once filled with strangers, worked together as a whole...a group of friends, and worked well under pressure to make sure everything was taken care of.  We all pitched in and worked as a team.  I feel as though after that scary moment, seeing how well we pitched in and worked together, I can say we truly are a community and more like friends.  Some of us even became emotional over the incident when we were all strangers to each other a couple of months ago.  We are definitely a lot closer than we were during the first few weeks of school and I will always remember this class and how Dr. Stevos brought us all together.