Self Evlauation

Jason,

I hope this format is okay with you, otherwise I will beg Peter or Paris to print it all out and bring it in to class in a beautiful folder.

While working through this class, I was also in 5 other classes..

Learners with Special Needs
Literacy in the Content Area
School and Society
(this class)
Modern Middle Eastern History
Quantitate Reasoning in the Early and High Middle Ages

This dizzying concoction of classes along with working retail, nannying and working 20 hours a week at Augsburg Fairview Academy through the LEAD fellowship program at Augsburg was interesting to say the least. I made a big mistake taking this all on at once, and I paid for it. I have not been taking care of myself the way that I should, or my dog. I am working to get back towards a healthier life as my student teaching begins, which might sound like a joke, but I really believe that student teaching will be easier and more rewarding than what I just out myself through.

I thought at most I should get a B- in this class because I did not think I was committing the time to it I should have. By Thursday night I was usually on my fourth day of waking up at 6:30 to nanny, and going to sleep at 10 when I got home from class with out breaks in between. So I had to have been slacking. Looking back on it, I wasn't. I got the readings and reflections done regardless of how confusing your expectations were of how, where and when we were meant to have everything done. I felt super sick (probably from exhaustion and the air in that room) for quite a few of your classes but I stayed and participated. I utilized your readings, which I really enjoyed compared to the readings for my other classes, while I was in an extremely urban classroom. I struggled with the text and continued to question it. I still do not completely understand the intention of this class, so I was using it as if it was a second educational philosophy class, so even with our clear intentions I assigned intention to your work. This blog is filled with examples from my work, connections to past work and other parts of the class that I felt lead to my final grade. (I also now want to ask all my my future student ever to create a blog to show me what grade they think they deserve in my future classes)

Through reflection, and attentiveness to class I think I should get an A. I probably got more out of your class than many other students because of how outspoken and reflective I am. I know this was your first time teaching the class, and structure might not be your favorite thing, a response every week would be awesome, as would getting to finish the Emdin and Michie book together as a class. Possibly breaking up into small groups before speaking all together for student to further clarify what they want to say in a large group discussion while in class, and that could all easily be facilitated online with the right expectations set at the beginning of class. Not only did I dig deep into your content, I am also critiquing your teaching style. Hopefully those words do not hurt my grade but instead help it by showing how invested I really have been in your class.

I hope you have an amazing christmas, and I will catch up with Paris to see what happens in class Thursday. I will be emailing you with future philosophical dilemmas as my path goes on.

Best,
Jessie Livingston