Not being comfortable with hands on work or group work and self-conscious about sharing my work, there were many times when I felt back on my heels over the three weeks. However, that was of my own doing as Karla, Katrina, Scott and Ryan did a fabulous job of creating a comfortable atmosphere that was free of judgement and seemed to even encourage, not failure, but a willingness to experiment. If anything I came to the conclusion that I need to be more open to trying new things.
The one thing that I didn't realized I missed so much was being stimulated mentally. Life has become so cluttered, we move from one thing to the next what with the many activities we are involved with that I forgot how important it is to keep company with intelligent people who spark great ideas and further thinking. Felt good to genuinely wonder about things, come up with questions and have good discussions with inspiring people.
In thinking about how I have changed and approached these tasks, I need to employ similar strategies in my class as well as be open to more free form activities and risk losing control in the class. Easier said than done for me, but I have to keep saying "What's the worst that could happen?"
All in all, a great experience. Not sure how much I contributed but I can honestly say that I have come away with a great many ideas I'll be using as well as realizations about myself as a teacher.
The one thing that I didn't realized I missed so much was being stimulated mentally. Life has become so cluttered, we move from one thing to the next what with the many activities we are involved with that I forgot how important it is to keep company with intelligent people who spark great ideas and further thinking. Felt good to genuinely wonder about things, come up with questions and have good discussions with inspiring people.
In thinking about how I have changed and approached these tasks, I need to employ similar strategies in my class as well as be open to more free form activities and risk losing control in the class. Easier said than done for me, but I have to keep saying "What's the worst that could happen?"
All in all, a great experience. Not sure how much I contributed but I can honestly say that I have come away with a great many ideas I'll be using as well as realizations about myself as a teacher.