Final Reflections for FNED 546

     It's been a great semester in FNED 546, and I have several meaningful experiences/lessons which I will carry forward into my own teaching. 

    The Blogs! I really enjoyed the weekly blog writing and commentary. In retrospect, I discovered through the semester that it was the best experience I've had of weekly discussion boards or posts for credit in a college course. I think it provided safe space to dig deeper into the readings, and the length and comment requirements elevated the activity beyond the busywork of discussion boards that I've previously experienced. This is an activity format that I think I will create opportunities to use in my future classrooms, allowing students to create and post while also engaging more deeply with the content and giving me opportunities to check the classes comprehension of key concepts throughout the semester. 

    Finn, Anyon, and Freire! While we didn't read any of Paulo Freire's work in this class, he came up several times via references in Finn's article, as well as the documentary we watched Precious Knowledge. While I haven't read his cornerstone work in its entirety yet, I've had readings in other classes in addition to this exposure from this class, and I look forward to reading his book Pedagogy of the Oppressed (especially after Sam's recommendation!). Finn's article particularly inspired my critical thinking, and his tie-in of Anyon's foundational research has opened my eyes to a broader framework of understanding class positionality and its affect on educational spaces. I've had experiences in a variety of schools which Finn's analysis helped to unpack for me, and I know I'll be returning to those concepts for the rest of my career. I'm also enjoying his book Literacy with an Attitude, which the reading we did this semester came from. 

    My Peers! As in any course, the contributions of the class community are a major part of the learning. This course didn't disappoint: through the group work, the class discussions, small group presentations, and especially the blogs, I have learned a great deal simply from the shared perspectives and experience of my classmates. I think the format of this class did well to provide that opportunity: by centering the students and discussion via the blogs, Dr. Joyce modeled a wonderful approach to creating a classroom culture which workshops and unpacks ideas together, rather than the typical model of teacher-centric lecture. Rather than a professorial "download," I really felt like I was exploring the content as a team with my fellow classmates and with Dr. Joyce as our experienced guide. I will model this approach in my own classrooms moving forward :)

Gratitude to my classmates and to Dr. Joyce for a wonderful semester!