Iourna| 4 1eachab|e Moments

As l was looklng back aL my [ournals l reallzed LhaL l focused mosLly on Lhe negaLlve lssues LhaL
occurred LhroughouL Lhe semesLer l Lhlnk Lhls mlghL be because lL ls always so much easler Lo see whaL
needs work Lhan whaL ls belng done rlghL Powever l wanLed Lo Lake Lhe Llme Lo reflecL on a more
poslLlve experlence Cverall Lhe class Lhls semesLer was a quleL and unresponslve one ln Lhe beglnnlng
parLlclpaLlon was low parLlcularly ln Lhe drama unlL Lvery class has lLs own personallLy and chemlsLry
and Lhls parLlcular class lacked Lhe passlon LhaL l have seen ln some of my own classes Powever Lhere
were Lwo lnsLances where Lhe elemenLs were all allgned [usL rlghL and a spark lgnlLed ln Lhe classroom
8oLh Llmes Lhls was unplanned as Lhese Lhlngs Lend Lo be and Lhese Leachable momenLs really showed
me how rewardlng Leachlng can really be
1he flrsL spark" came durlng an open dlscusslon on Lhe paper asslgnmenL abouL Lhe fllm
lteeJom wtltets uloty 1he sLudenLs were lnformally dlscusslng whaL Lhey dld and dldn'L llke abouL Lhe
fllm and whaL Lhey learned from lL Cne sLudenL ralsed her hand enLhuslasLlcally and posed a quesLlon
Lo Lhe class abouL Lhe relaLlonshlp beLween Lhe fllm's maln characLer and her husband She prefaced lL
by apologlzlng because lL was off Loplc" buL sald lL was someLhlng LhaL really boLhered her ln Lhe
movle All of a sudden hands were shooLlng up all over Lhe class 1he resL of Lhe class began sharlng
Lhelr own Lake on Lhe relaLlonshlp and how lL represenLed a shlfL ln socleLy's vlew on gender roles As
Leachers ur Llpszyc and l knew LhaL Lhe sLudenL's quesLlon hadn'L been off Loplc aL all lnsLead lL
provlded an opporLunlLy for a Leachable momenL because lL hlghllghLed an lssue LhaL was exLremely
lmporLanL Lo Lhe class buL LhaL we dld noL foresee 1he dlscusslon Look on a llvellness LhaL l had noL
seen ln LhaL classroom before and lL [usL hlghllghLed how unpredlcLable educaLlon can be lL also
hlghllghLed Lhe facL LhaL flndlng Loplcs LhaL sLudenLs are passlonaLe abouL can enhance any lesson
1he second Leachable momenL was Lo me even more slgnlflcanL because lL came noL from a
Leacherled lesson plan buL from one of Lhe sLudenLs' mock lesson plan on drunk drlvlng 1he sLudenL
Iourna| 4 1eachab|e Moments

duo used Lhe 8rand new song Llmouslne" and a newspaper arLlcle abouL Lhe drunk drlvlng accldenL
LhaL Lhe song ls based on Slnce ur Llpszyc and l had more experlence wlLh Leachlng we knew LhaL Lhe
arLlcle would spark a debaLe buL Lhe duo had noL seen LhaL aspecL and had noL planned for such an
acLlvlLy Powever a debaLe dld lnevlLably resulL and Lhe sLudenLs leadlng Lhe lesson reacLed ln Lhe
perfecL way Lhey allowed Lhe lesson Lo go where Lhe sLudenLs Look lL and saw Lhe Leachable momenL
Some sLudenLs mlghL have foughL agalnsL lL and Lrled Lo sLeer Lhe lesson back Lo Lhelr orlglnal plan buL
Lhese Lwo embraced Lhe passlonaLe response and faclllLaLed Lhe new plan Lo Lhe besL of Lhelr ablllLy lL
was remarkable as an ouLslder Lo see Lhls example of lnnaLe Leachlng ablllLy lL also showed how far
some of Lhe sLudenLs had come from Lhe beglnnlng of Lhe class and was a greaL closure Lo my career as
a Leachlng asslsLanL