English 101 Hughes
Final Reflection
Before beginning this final journal entry, please complete the following steps:
1) Re-read your Place Journal, noting changes in your observations throughout the fall. Did your observations become more detailed? Engaged? Was this because you began to feel a sense of connection to your place? Choose your strongest place journal to bring to class to share with your classmates.
2) Re-read Journal #7, reflecting on your understanding of climate change before our guest speaker, Geoff Hughes, visited the class. How has it changed?
3) Review the Climate Change Readings: Which readings were helpful in enabling you to better understand this complex issue? Why do you think it continues to be a polarized issue? Do you see evidence of this in your community?
4) Re-read Journal #8, reflecting on the Carbon Footprint and Environmental Footprint calculator exercises that you did Weeks 8 & 9. Were the footprint calculator tools helpful to see how you can change your own behavior? What were the most surprising things you learned?
5) Team Project: What is your community partner doing to help make our community more resilient? How can we support them in this? Will you continue to be involved in this community organization or in another one? If so, why? If not, why not? Overall, did the activities in this course increase your interest in taking action to reduce climate change?
After you respond to these questions, sit quietly, reflecting on what you learned, both about your place and your community. Then reflect on the quote from Scott Russell Sanders that was included in our Syllabus:
“For each home ground we need new maps, living maps, stories and poems,
photographs and paintings, essays and songs. We need to know where we are,
so that we may dwell in our place with a full heart.”
Please include your own creative response—a sketch, painting, photograph, poem or song—that conveys what you learned this quarter. We’ll share these on the last day.