We're down to one week and what a journey it has been. Yesterday's class was a great snapshot of what this semester has been and what teaching probably looks like. We went in with a plan and a schedule for the one hour, forty minute classroom encounter. The first five to ten minutes went just about as planned. Yeah, the first 5 to 10 minutes. Then things began to get interesting. The first group was supposed to debrief for about fifteen minutes, but it became a half-hour of digging deeper, helping them to figure out who they have been and become throughout this "family" experience. While it wasn't in our plans, it was a great benefit to the family group and the class. When added to the second family debriefing, about 2/3 of class was gone and we hadn't lectured or discussed the final. And we never did.
One student had a question during the break about how you find things to talk about after you're married. This grew to a discussion with his family group and finally took over the remainder of the class time with the whole class. It was an amazing opportunity to use the things we learned over the course of a semester as a lens through which to view family life in the real world. Not exactly where we intended to go, but what a great learning/teaching interaction.
This means that on Thursday, we have to do a quick walk-through of the final exam so the students can work on the exam together for the rest of the class. Again, not the idea we entered with, but worth it if this class becomes something more than some credits on the transcripts of twenty graduating seniors.
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