Today was the last day of class for Intro to Psych. A little surreal for me personally. I feel like I just got the hang of being a TA and the responsibilities, a nice change from not knowing what I was supposed to be doing in the beginning of the year. More on my development and experience as a TA in my final blog.
I like that we ended things with therapy, and the positive, healing side of psych today as a lecture. For example the ability for people with OCD to change their brain structure just with thought alone. An excellent way to inspire and to end on an upbeat note.
Aside from the content, I thought that the last blurb about how students can take what they learned in the class and apply it to whatever they want to go into. It’s inspiring to think that students may actually be able to use a Gen Ed in their lives. I’m confident that if more professors understood the purpose of a Gen Ed, and made an effort to tie the class to issues relevant to the lives of the students Gen Eds wouldn’t have the stigma they sometimes do.
I also like that the evals were in the middle of class, even though it took a decent amount of time away from the content of the lecture. Students were more likely to give us feedback if they didn’t feel they were going to get out early. Though feedback can be scary, I’ve learned it can also be a confidence boost. I think it would be really interesting to see how the ratings stacked up, especially since this is a different point of view from what I’m used too. I know how I would have rated the class – all positive – but I also know that I have a different vantage point. I’d also be really interested to see feedback on TA’s as well as Learnsmart.
The beginning of the class was also nice because it gave all of us a chance to laugh at Frued… And afterall, is there anything better than starting off the day with a good chuckle with Freud? I think not.
I definitely have the feeling that I’m going to miss some of the students I’ve grown to know, and spent a semester with. I can only hope I’ve taught them as much as this experience has taught me.
Until next time.