Mid Term Assessment

Attendance:
(If you havent been here, has there been anything in the class/in your personal
life hindering your ability to attend class?)
I missed class once due to health reasons.

Participation (How have you engaged with the class and shared you ideas? How
have you communicated with Brian you understanding/response to discussions?
How have you shown your relations with the content and your personal
experiences?):
Ive participated in class discussions, sharing what I got from readings and how theyve
related to my personal experiences. I especially liked to share about my ideas on
empowering students in their education and how we can teach diverse classrooms. Ive
also send Brian some things Ive seen in social media that are related to what we are
learning in the class. In my one-on-one meeting with Brian, I was able to update him on
how Ive been feeling about the class, which I appreciated and thought was important.

What have you learned so far in this class?

I learned about gender in schools, authentic leadership, teaching for social justice, and
standards in teaching.

Is what youve learned helpful and useful to you?

Yes. Very helpful, and I dont know if students who are not taking your class are getting
this crucial information to know before beginning teaching

Do you feel like youve been able to fully understand and take in all of the
readings and content material assigned?
Yes and no. I think I started off better earlier in the semester, really reading every word
of every reading. Recently, my mental health has been struggling and its prevented me
from going super in depth with all of the readings, but I think I think class
times/discussions have helped me get it all in.

Do you feel like youve been able to put in your full analysis into the discussions,
writings, and readings?
Yes, so far my responses both verbal and written have been an important process for
my analysis. This class is very relatable to my Johnston emphasis and I feel like Im
learning about education through many different lenses.

What is the most important thing you learned in this class? What are the most
important insights youve had in this class?
I thing the gender week and the week on common core was when I had my mind
explosions. It was both discouraging and encouraging. It helped me understand the
education system and the history of teaching in America. It also revealed some very real
challenges and the purposes of other powerful people/institutions that are very much
affecting our education system. The material was heavy because often times, these
realities are disempowering and a part of a capitalist initiative. However, it encouraged
me to be a very real teacher and gave me more ideas on authentic teaching. It also
reminded me of why I wanted to go into this profession in the first place and why its so
important.

Is there anything you wish we could expand on?

I like all of the things weve been touching. I just feel like we never had enough time to
really expand on each topic. For example, there was so much more we could have
reflected on during the gender week because the readings had so much information but
we just dont have enough class time to do that + other things planned for that day. But I
think we are getting better at it and maybe its just because I personally like to talk a lot
about race/gender/sexuality/intersectionality in education.

Have your thoughts and ideas on teaching changed from this class? If so, how?
What real ways of teaching have you taken away?
Yes, Im realizing that Im not only going to struggle with my students, but my fellow
colleagues in the field, especially with administrators that are pushing standards or
policies that I may not completely agree with. Im more confident with assessment now
as well. Because Ive always struggled with how I should be assessing my students. I
myself am traumatized my grades, numbers, and different types of feedback that
sometimes I dont have the confidence to say what works and what doesnt. I love the
way Johnston does evaluations and I think that really related with the Elbow article but I
also remember a time when I checked out from one of my classes and I was too afraid
to read my evaluation at the end of the semester so I didnt open it until like 6 months
later. Im just really afraid of disappointing teachers and not being the student that they
want me to be after the work they put into the class.

Has there been anything at all that might have affected your learning so far in this
class? Any mental, physical, emotional, intellectual blocks?
I think being off campus has made things a bit hard for me in terms of reading the on
course reserve books. Sometimes I finish my classes/meetings at school and Im like,
Do I want to go home & have food or stay & go to the library?. Also, the library doesnt
let you take the books out (although I have secretly lol). However, I appreciate that you
didnt make us buy or rent the books because that saved us a lot of money. I think I just
need to do better with managing my time. I over schedule myself with all my extra
involvements that I lose energy or dont have time to eat. Emotionally, Ive been having
a hard time adjusting back to the people at Redlands as I was abroad last semester and
summer. The microaggressions have been building and I just dont have any patience
for ignorance anymore. It makes being an activist hard. Ive also had intellectual blocks.
I dont know if its because its senior year but I just feel so ready to start working rather
than turning in assignments. Ive always thought I had a reading problem because
staying focused on my readings is really hard for me. I also really miss all the history
and other content related to Korean society that I was learning back at study abroad.

Anything you wish Brian would change up or add? Or anything hes doing well?
I like the one-on-one meetings because sometimes there are ways that I feel or ways
that I want to contribute to the class that dont work because its not following the class
dynamic or I dont feel that the class wants to go in that direction. I understand that its
hard to satisfy every students structural needs, and I see that playing out with students
challenging Brain for less and less structure. I think many students feel stressed and
overworked for a number of reasons outside of this class but I think Brians material has
been one of the most important out of all the teaching credential classes Ive taken, so I
think its worth it to make us go through everything Brian wants us to. I think its okay to
say, I really need you all to go through this reading because it will has a place for what
Ive planned for us in this class. Ive appreciated the flexibility Brian has given as and
going by the day and not stressing us to fit in everything that was originally planned.
That has allowed for authentic conversations. I love the skateboard analogy and I like
that Brian brings it up almost every class time haha. Because the new information is
relating back to all the old information and it goes back full circle.