Midterm Reflection
During the first half of the semester, I’ve learned a few skills relating to analytical writing, and effective teamwork and communication. The readings that were assigned to us, for the most part, were interesting and enlightening to me. I think they were very helpful to the structure of my first product that I was getting ready to complete. I really enjoyed the group discussions we did after readings because it gave me opportunities to listen to how others felt and based on the topic it sometimes really engaged us all. I would say I didn’t really struggle with anything. For the most part everything was easy to grasp.
I would say that the goal that I’m achieving well so far deals with skills for lifelong learning and attempting to gain knowledge from beyond the classroom. A goal I’d like to show more consideration for is civic engagement and using my academic studies to make connections and engage with public concerns. Its just been difficult to do this since my research team and I aren’t mentoring anymore.
End-of-term Reflection
This course definitely had its challenges, but through it all there were many opportunities to overcome and learn from them, both independently and as a cohort! Like how it normally goes in any class, the beginning of the semester was about knowing the expectations and what the end goals were supposed to look like. It all seemed daunting at first, but as I asked questions and communicated with my research team, things started to get easier. I usually don’t like to rely on others because it makes me feel like they’re the ones in control of my grades instead of myself. Nonetheless, that was the risk that I took in this course, and fortunately it proved to be beneficial. Our research team website came along fine and I was able to lean on my team when I was experiencing difficulties, specifically with adding stuff to it. While WordPress is fairly simple to use compared to other software, I know it’s capable of doing more so I’d like to develop my technical skills for it in the future. In the end, I think everything about taking this class, including the time spent in the IRIS center, was helpful in preparing me and my team when creating and sharing our capstone presentation at the showcase!
Goal 1: 20%
Collaboration (12.c)- Working independently when needed with the effort of completing team goals.
One piece of evidence that I stated I would show to prove my efforts for this goal was utilizing a planner to keep myself organized. I believe planners are so helpful, especially when trying to figure out what’s do, when, and then prioritizing what to do first. Having a planner has allowed me to know when I have the time to engage with my team, and when I need to focus on my assignments individually. If there are ever moments where my research team has something due together, I’d make sure to include it in my planner and remind the team about it so we can efficiently collaborate to meet deadlines.
I’ll add here that the steps taken to complete my 2 products helped contribute to the final website! It was cool getting to step back and look at our work once all of our individualized elements were put together. It truly did a good job showcasing our research which centered on mentorship and after school programs for disadvantaged youth.
Goal 2: 20%
Reading (11.a)- Evaluates texts’ scholarly significance to apply reading to other contexts or issues.
The specific reading that I wanted to highlight is called Land as pedagogy: Nishnaabeg intelligence and rebellious transformation. Aside from learning about an indigenous community, I really liked how it made me feel and how I was able to relate this reading back to my CODES work and my personal life. It truly allowed me to reflect on how land as pedagogy is true in the lessons I’ve learned, like from mentoring at the Alton Boys and Girls Club. After reading this article and reflecting on it, I’ve been challenging myself to be a better student for the land and incorporating more of its teachings to the environments I find myself in.
Goal 3: 30%
Critical & Creative Thinking (2.d)- Hearing from multiple groups to produce many helpful ideas.
I love being able to sit down and have conversations with people about various things because it gives me an opportunity to maybe shift the way I think or how I approach different situations. Engaging with my research team and CODES cohort is no different! No only have I gotten better at defending my arguments and advocating for myself, but I’ve gotten better at listening and adopting the lens’ that others frequently see through. These images above are just a small glimpse at what those kinds of discussions look like. My next challenge to continue expanding on this goal is to try encouraging more of my peers to speak up and be present. We all have something to share, all we have to do is get others to listen!
I always like to say, “If we’re going to struggle, might as well do it together rather than alone,” and this cohort definitely understood that philosophy. Over the past 2.5 years we’ve had a lot thrown at us, but we persevered and stuck together. Although we may not all have been a part of the same research teams, we still knew that we could ask one another questions and share ideas if we needed to. It was kind of funny when we’d walk out of an exam, a presentation, or class and message each other on our group chat to “debrief” what had just happened and how we felt. It gave us the opportunity to answer questions amongst ourselves and have a unified mind about what we were up against. Definitely a team indeed!
Goal 4: 20%
Civic Engagement (1.b)- Use my academic studies to make connections and engage with public concerns.
I’m a big believe of making connections, whether with people, ideas, projects, and more! The two products I’m working on in class, which are podcasts, are examples of how I’m connecting my academics with CODES initiatives. I already knew from the start of the class that I wanted to talk about my experiences with mentorship and afterschool programs, all I needed to do was find the best media source to communicate it with the public. As a Mass Communications student, I remembered my learnings from my Audio and Video Production class and how we used Adobe Audition to create short podcasts for it. Although the purposes of the two are different, I still felt comfortable with utilizing this approach to complete my products for CODES 320 to inform, inspire, and connect with my listeners!
Goal 5: 10%
Skills for Lifelong Learning (7.b)- Attempt to gain knowledge from beyond the classroom.
Both these images are taken as proof that I’m taking additional steps to participate and be an active leader at SIUE. The left image is depicts the Hispanic Student Union (HSU) Introduction for executive members. The right is an image of my placard that is put up during University Center Board (UCB) meetings, which I am the Chair for. Both these experiences have taught me more about leadership and collaboration. I look forward to continuing to improve my skills within both of these roles and encouraging others to try improving their own leadership skills.