Last night I finished my Web Marketing Strategies class.  Our final project was due and a few students had to present theirs.  What’s interesting are the feelings I felt as the class was coming to a close. I’m sure that these are not unlike the feelings my students have when my classes are over — so it’s important that I reflect on these.

1)  The final project was a bear! And I know students feel the same about the final project in my class.  At times, I wanted to give up on it.  I think it’s because the Professor did not allow us enough class time to practice the new concepts we learned that he asked us to apply in the final project.  So when I was writing the paper – it was the FIRST time I was putting what I learned into practice.  And that caused some stress and self doubt.  It’s important that I use class time to allow students to apply what they are learning so that they can go into their final projects with confidence.

2)  Thinking about having to present my final project was anxiety provoking!  And I’m a marketing professional, so I can only imagine how students must feel on final project presentation day.  It’s good that the Professor provided a supportive and safe environment. He told us that the presentations were about making our projects better and that all feedback was to be good feedback.  That helped a lot because I found that my understanding of the project was different from others — and that made me a bit uneasy during the presentations — but in the end – it all worked out.  It’s important for me to think about how I felt last night and makes sure that I always make the classroom environment one that feels safe and open to feedback.  I think my classroom environment IS already that way — but feeling what I felt last night (as a student) really opened my eyes to the importance of classroom culture.