I feel a lot more confident and relaxed writing this final reflection, compared to writing the midterm reflection. This semester has been a whirlwind of reading great literature, and discovering new concepts and aspects of the academic world. This class was truly a different breed, unlike any other.

 As far as the communication aspect of this class, I felt like once we all got into the groove of things, we finally were able to operate in an organized manner. I actually loved working independently on my web page. I have always been aware of the fact that I am highly introverted. Working on my own structured pace was a great benefit. I was able to plan out how I was going to accomplish the tasks and assignments for this class. I thought this worked very well. When the class did come together after our Tibbets meetings, I enjoyed the variety we had. Meeting in different places broke up the monotony that usually comes with classes.  

I feel my knowledge of the content of this class has grown significantly. I have a better understanding of how to separate books into their different genre classifications. Before I just went on how book stores separated everything. But I learned that they didn’t go far enough. An example of this is how they classify books into the large, lumped category of general fiction. But things can be broken down further into realistic fiction and fantasy. I also gained a better understanding of how to research different children’s literature topics such as literature circles, genres, and literary elements. The book that was given to me at the beginning of the semester really was amazing. A Critical Handbook of Children’s Literature by Rebecca J. Lukens is something that I am going to purchase for myself. It clearly explains and illustrates many different concepts and facts about children’s literature.

The skills and strategies that I had to utilize were mostly needed for the weekly visits to Tibbets. Teaching is something that I am not personally going into as a career. But I found myself really confident with leading the literature circles and being around children in this professional scene. The collaboration of me and my other classmates in our Literature Circle really went well. We planned our class times down to the wire. We separated duties and responsibilities so everyone got a chance to lead. Sometimes it was difficult to engage the children and keep them on track. I could understand that it was difficult to keep their interest in the book because they went so long without reading it between our visits. But towards the end of the semester, this issue was addressed by Penny Smith when she started to allow the kids to read the book more often. I felt a little foolish that we didn’t think of this issue prior. But I’m just happy that it was solved. Overall I am happy with my experiences with the children but they also solidified my decision about not going into teaching. I am just not supposed to do that!

I found that my love for children’s literature really helped me succeed in this class. Reading wasn’t a battle because it was something I already loved to do. I am also experienced and confident with working on computers. I loved working on my web page and making in my own. Personalizing it was really fun. This was one of the best aspects of the class, only second to reading all of those wonderful books. I also found that my experience working at Borders helped me in this class. I reflected on some of the titles that I came across while working. I found that this class presented a great opportunity to read those titles finally. Working in a bookstore will also make you appreciate just how massive and crucial the literature world is. Overall, this class was beneficial to my literary skills and with finding new techniques when approaching reading and research. I loved that we went to the Farmington Public Library. It was a inspiring place to have class. I also learned a lot about the library that I never knew and probably would never have discovered on my own. I find that classes sometimes give you the initiative you need to accomplish tasks that you would avoid otherwise. This class certainly did this for me. Thank you Frances for a wonderful semester!