My Reflection To Our Initial And Final Snaphots Into My Class

Our initial and final syllabi represent two snapshots into our class-- how we originally expected our class to be formatted, and how the course ended up arranged. While there are several commonalities between our two syllabi, there are also some differences. Many of the similarities stem from the fact that all of the days/activities we had on our original syllabus (discussion days, guest speaker days, etc.) remained present on our final syllabus; the major change came from a new arrangement of those days. The major impetus that led to a change in the arrangement of classes was scheduling our two guest speakers. When we initially reached out to schedule our guest speakers (Sex Jeopardy and CMHS), we did not realize quite how difficult it would …show more content…
One major concept we began to appreciate is flexibility, both on our end and the end of those whom we were trying to schedule events or activities with. For example, when our two guest speakers initially wanted to present to our class on the same date, we had to be flexible in arranging other class days, and their offices were flexible by agreeing to present on other days. Being able to adapt our syllabus to fit the needs of our class taught us how something as simple as a schedule of days can help to accommodate a class dynamic or learning process. By deciding to make our class dedicated to course registration earlier on in the semester and by adding in another icebreaker, we were able to present information to students in a more logical order, in addition to encouraging a more welcoming and positive environment through the icebreaker. The students were not big fans of the initial icebreakers centered around introductions and learning names, so we adapted our syllabus to include icebreakers that were fun and presented a challenge. We found students actually got to know each other better through working with each other and having a good time, rather than playing a “name game.” Something we learned to value as we created both of our syllabi is the concept of variety. We tried our best to arrange classes in a manner that the guest speaker, discussion, and outside-of-the-classroom days were spread throughout the semester so that students would not be sitting in the classroom or only hearing from a guest presenter for several weeks in a row. Through trying to create variety among class days, we think we created energy and liveliness in the classes. We can now fully appreciate the difficulty that professors have when creating a syllabus, and how everything needs to line up perfectly. One cancelled class can really derail the whole schedule,