This week’s class started off a bit more challenging, as my breakout group realized that due to the busyness of midterms, we hadn’t been able to dedicate as close attention to the reading as in past weeks and we worried about having to present our topic to the whole group. However, I’m now really glad that we had that challenge, as it encouraged us to go deeper into the text than we might otherwise have done during the class period. During the process of creating a presentation for the class, we had to reread sections, share quotes, and bounce ideas off of one another.
I was definitely nervous about speaking up, especially as the first group, since I wanted to be sure that my impressions of the reading were accurate. I challenged myself to present the first slides of our presentation, and I’m glad I did. I was able to rely on the discussion my small group had while creating it, and I was glad to have their insights while I spoke.
Throughout this exercise, I felt very grateful for teamwork. It can be so easy in an academically challenging environment to feel like you are alone in your work, and I really appreciate that this course is different. In my group, we all contributed to different pieces of the work, and some individuals had insightful examples or past experience with the topic that I wouldn’t have been able to include if I had been working alone.
Additionally, I feel like I gained a lot from the other presentations, despite the difficulties of the online format. The slides and images helped elaborate on the ideas, and it felt like an unexpected perk to zooming. I do appreciate in-person collaboration now more than ever, but I also try to reflect on the benefits of the alternatives, especially with how they relate to our class and the ability it allows us for communication with students on the other side of the globe.
