Welp, that's a WRAP (HAHAHA #HELPme)

This is my last post for the semester, and WOW, can you believe we made it? Well, you shouldn't, because we haven't made it yet! I'm stressed to my eyeballs, so let's see where this goes. Honestly, I'm glad this semester is over! Like Amanda already mentioned, I was told the first semester was the hardest. Boy, the system lied to me. Aside from a stressful workload from classes I taught and took, I collected data across our department to see how much we were actually working. SPOILER ALERT: It's a lot! Anywho, I just want to girl up in the fetal position with a bottle of bourbon. Instead, I'm going to recap a few of my posts, and tell you where I am in life. 

My first post was related to Palmer's idea of "teaching who you are." I wanted to relate how badly things were going with my students in a few classes based on my own identity. They just didn't like me, so I questioned if teaching who I was actually helped the situation. My second post, tying to hooks, really showed a breakthrough with my student from Hell. The dialogue just wasn't there with my students, and I was stressing out over stuff that was pretty simple. Although that situation didn't turn out perfectly, at least I tried to exchange some sort of dialogue during the process.

My third post was, for once, optimistic because my media arts students got shine during the Peer Teach assignments. They made several creative videos, and I was just proud of them. Of course, I tied in critical pedagogy within the post because I felt activities associated with some form of media were pivotal to their learning. A few more of these ideas showed up in my next post with Cotton the Clown. I talked about the power of dialogue in the classroom, and tied in Bell and Golobisky's penny exercise as a use of policing conversation. Of course, I talked about jokes because I'm funny (right? RIGHT?). 

Finally, my last post was split into two sections on teaching hegemony within my classroom. The first post related hooks and empowerment while I was trying to prep for the class. I was a bit nervous about the results because I always am. The second post was more of a post instruction highlight, and related agency within my activity of the privilege walk. I thought it was pretty creative. Funny and clever? How am I single? 

Speaking of relationships, I feel like I've grown as an instructor (not so much as a student). I dealt with a lot this semester, and my students did as well. I think that last sentence kind of sums up how my teaching journey went this semester. I was putting myself first and constantly thinking, "You're so unlucky and alone" without thinking about what my students might be going through. I honestly forgot what I did correctly my first semester, and it showed. Once again, I'm glad this semester is over, but I am also grateful for these experiences. I have to lift myself up and realize next semester will be better. If not, I'll ask the same question every idiot in a movie asks: What's the worst that can happen? On a final note, I appreciate all of your posts, and I love all you honey bunches of oats.