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RPTA125: Leisure, the Individual, and Contemporary Society

Welcoming, Understanding, Accountable

Reflection on Instructional Change:

I implemented the instructional change of greeting students as they enter the classroom. I believe that COVID-19 has affected a lot of individuals today and from a mental health perspective as we continue to come back and teach in person it’s important to check in with our students especially on the 1^st day to build community throughout the semester.

By greeting the students as they enter the classroom the students should feel welcome and hopefully continue to build community throughout the semester. In addition I hope to check in with students during the 1^st 5 minutes of class to hopefully get a pulse of how certain individuals in the class are doing.

The practice and reflect written assignment were really helpful to me. I personally never thought about the 1st day of class and how important it is to have a strong start to the semester. In the written I received a lot of positive feedback and really followed the suggestion of taking the 1st 5 minutes of class to check in with students. Some days students didn't wanna speak and there were other days in which we took 10 minutes. These moments helped me in terms of how I lectured throughout each class.

One of the biggest takeaways that I learned from my colleagues is to have patience. Patience in teaching the material for each lecture. Patience in checking for understanding with the students. Patience for students that are transitioning back to classes on campus.

Evidence of Instructional Change

Syllabus Activity

Syllabus Activity

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Practice and Reflect on: Leading the First Day of Class

Course Syllabus: RPTA 125 Fall 2022 Syllabus

Faculty Bio

I'm from Oakland. Some may say that I'm from the Bay but if you know me I'm from OAKLAND born and raised! Nothing but love for the Bay as a whole.

Professionally: I earned my bachelor’s degree in Recreation and Leisure Studies from San Francisco State University with an emphasis in Community/Non-Profit. Not too much longer after that I received a double master's degree in two areas. The first Master's degree is Education with a concentration in Higher Education and my second Master's degree is also in Education with a concentration in Curriculum and Instruction. In addition to working here as a lecturer I am also the College and Career Coordinator for Vallejo City Unified School about an hour south of Sacramento. I've had jobs as a financial aid and academic advisor at DeVry University and also an After School Coordinator in Hayward, California.

This work was supported by:

National Science Foundation Hispanic Serving Institution Project STEM Zone DUE 1832335

CSU Office of the Chancellor Academic Affairs grant for Faculty Professional Development

US Department of Education Hispanic Serving Institution Project STEM4Equity P031C210012

*Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation or the US Department of Education.

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