Unexpected endings

So, I find myself is a fairly awkward position to write a final culminating blog for the Urban Seminar. From the time I wrote my last blog, I haven’t really participated in many Urban Seminar activities so to speak so I’ll keep this short and sweet. I met with my group to put the finishing touches on our project, I submitted blog 3, I quick finished quiz 4, and then I headed off to the emergency room. I honestly thought I would be there for a few hours and then head back to La Salle to finish the last two days of work and practicum experience. This didn’t happen however, and I was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday night and stayed there until Saturday afternoon while they treated me for Lyme disease. It was quite an experience to say the least.

Using this blog as a reflection of sorts I think it’s important to touch on all of the different aspects the seminar had to offer. It’s now a few days after the fact, a time when others are finished with their blogs, and a good time to reflect. My favorite part was the experience in the school. I was able to teach a lesson and get to know quite a few of my students and even though my practicum time was cut short, it was very rewarding. I think it’s a very valuable resource to be a pre-service teacher that gets to be immersed in a real classroom in a wildly different setting. Without this opportunity it is likely that I would enter into a career of teaching with very little understanding of what it’s like to teach in an urban setting. The extra-curricular activities we completed also gave us insight into city life and how it might be different from everything we’ve grown accustomed to in our lives. This urban seminar gave a taste of something most of us haven’t experienced and because of this, it was very educational and insightful.

I would just like to finish by thanking everyone for being so helpful and kind! Thanks to my group for presenting the project without me and to everyone for the texts and notes of well wishing. It is such a shame I didn’t get to finish out the seminar and say goodbye to my students, teacher, and the other students in the seminar. So here is my goodbye Urban Seminar, I’m sure we will see each other back at Penn State next fall!