Week 12: Final Thoughts

    The semester is coming to a close, and as many other students, I am stressed about finals and everything that the end of a semester brings. It has also caused me to reflect on the things I have learned and ways I have grown, if at all! When I look back, I know with out a doubt that this course has impacted me. For our final in Family Relations, we were required to make a list of our top ten favorite things we learned this semester. It was a lot easier than I thought, recalling all the many topics we discussed. What was challenging, was picking only ten! Our instructor informed us, that this was only half of the final, and we would complete the other half during class. We were all nervous and stressed, concerned about what to expect. We were surprised and delighted at what that other half entailed. We were asked to pick three of the ten things that we found to be most influential. Then, we were asked to make lesson plans for two of those three topics. After making lesson plans, we were paired up with another student and asked to spend 10 minutes teaching them, per topic. It was the best final I have ever taken! I would like to share with you, why that is.

    I'm sure I am not alone in my thinking, but so often teachers are viewed as people we need to impress in order to get what we want. We want to impress them with our ability to show up on time, our eloquent comments, turning in our assignments and coming prepared. However, in this class, I didn't seek out my professor's approval. He created an environment where true learning could happen. It was cultivated through trust, mutual respect and a desire for us to learn and ask questions. I looked forward to showing up to class every week, because I knew I was going to learn something I didn't already know. I knew there was going to be an invitation to share thoughts and insights, and I could take it and so could my classmates. We all learned from each other! I hungered for the materials we learned. The family, a unit I thought was so simple, became so much more complex and interesting to me. Preparation was not just a check list, but an activity I enjoyed (most of the time). That's why picking only ten topics, and teaching just two was both difficult and delightful.

    In teaching, we find out what we truly know and understood through out the semester. I realized I gained a lot more than I thought I did. I knew about communication and decision making, and could easily have spent an hour on the topic. I was able to share experiences from applications I had made in my life this semester. It was eye-opening to see how relevant this material is for my life now as well as in the future. I was taught by another student, and it was evident that she felt passionately about what she taught because of the way she learned it. As she asked questions and shared insights, I noticed in her the same hunger I was experiencing. 

    I am grateful that I was able to learn from a masterful teacher, I have loved developing a growth mindset and experiencing a desire to know more about family dynamics and understanding their complexities. I look forward to continuing my education about the family in coming semester, and may even keep my blog up and running. In the words of  Herbert Spencer, "The great aim of education is not knowledge but action." Feel free to check out my blog, as frequently as it is updated. I hope that my actions and experiences as I continue learning and applying, will be meaningful to you.