Class Observation Teaching Log Reflection, February 24, 2021

Hi Everyone!! Hope you are all staying safe and warm in this cold winter season-- on the bright
side, it is going to be 60 degrees today!!! The weather changing has really had a positive impact
on my mood. Just knowing it is sunny outside is so uplifting and brings so much hope to me.
Another bright side-- my sister and my mom get vaccinated Friday!!! Woop Woop! They are
non-contact health care workers, so they are in a higher group than the rest of my family-
which I am so grateful for. My sister just recently attained her master's and has a full-time job
working from home at my parent's house, so she has been super careful since the beginning of
the pandemic to keep my parents and two brothers safe. She is 23 years old and has had to
make so many sacrifices along with my family, so I am so happy she is getting vaccinated. Now
we just need my dad to get vaccinated as well so my family can start leaving the house to go
somewhere besides the grocery store!
Okay now to the main point of this teaching log-- class observation! 
I had a great time with this class observation. I observed TA and Professor. It was almost as if I
was coming full circle with Professor because she was my instructor the first time, I was a UTA
and took 388V (my first semester my sophomore year.) It reminded me so much why I loved
that class, a huge part of it being Professor’s ability to make the classroom so comfortable and
inviting. When I was an ENGL 388V student, I remember feeling so safe and comfortable in
Professor’s classroom. Even though we had homework and projects, it didn't really feel like a
class to be- more like a meeting or conversation. We would share stories of how our time being
first UTA's was going, obstacles we had run into, funny stories, and everything in between. I
remember the class was in the afternoon on Wednesdays in the spring semester so I would
always enjoy walking to class in the nice weather past the market every day- oh it was like a
movie! (If you can't tell, I am so excited to one day have classes on campus again)
The TA started off the class with a conversation on how to make the classroom more inclusive
and a safer place for all students- which gave the students time to warm up for the class and
have a small discussion on an important topic. Then, after that discussion, Professor took the
lead mostly for the rest of the class. The class was a very small one, so it was nice that all the
students had their cameras on, and it was treated a lot like a discussion. It is obvious that the
TA and Professor have a great working relationship and really trust each other and work with
one another well. 
I had such a great experience with this classroom observation. The classroom had such a
healthy and comfortable environment and reminded me of pre-covid days in Professor’s
classroom. It makes me excited for all the hopeful things to come!
Hope everyone is safe and healthy:)