Reflection

I believe that this class has changed my mind about the environment. Before this class I was very skeptical of global warming, especially due to the cold weather we had been experiencing. After learning about global warming and what it actually was my mind changed. On a personal level, I have been much more aware of my purchases. I own an aluminum drinking bottle instead of buying plastic bottles, but much of the time I leave it at home and end up buying bottled water. I have made a conscious effort to bring my own water bottle with me when I go places now. I have also become more aware of recycling, checking to make sure everything I throw away can not be recycled first. I have also caught myself lecturing my friends and family to make more environmentally friendly choices.

From an academic standpoint I have found that the progressive education style infused with the traditional style is very effective. We went on several field trips in the classroom allowing us to experience what we were being taught in the traditional style first hand. As an education major, I have learned that all students no matter their age have a falling off point during lectures where their attention span is shot. The field trips added a different twist to the class (this is the only college class I have had that takes you on field trips). This leads me to how this class has affected me in relationship to my major, and minor. I would like to be a high school American History teacher and this class has taught me the importance of progressive education as well as teaching students ecological history. I believe that ecological history can easily be infused into history lessons. For example, while studying the industrial revolution students can look at how the environment began to change, and how that affected the people. Progressive education is important for students and while I may not be able to take them on as many field trips as we went on in this class, I can definitely use more of a progressive standpoint while teaching. Shorter lectures, and more class discussion and group work.

I believe the high points of the class were the field trips and class discussions. The field trips really allowed us to experience nature first hand in relation to what we had been reading and talking about in class. I especially enjoyed the field trip to echo because not only does the organization practice environmentally friendly methods, but they teach people in developing countries. This helpspeople in poverty stricken areas as well as spreading the word about protecting our environment. I liked the class discussions because they allowed me to see other student's opinions and compare them with mine. I found that some of the concepts of global warming were quite difficult to understand because I am not very science savvy. I think that maybe looking at global warming from an elementary standpoint may have helped me understand better.