Thank You & Good-bye from EDI 550/551 Class
By
EDI 550/551 Psychology of Adolescent Students
School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
June , 2009
Professor Dengting, I must say you are an absolute amazing teacher. The way you structured the class, had the class interacting, and all the exercises that had us working together with everyone. I feel after this whole time this class has become more than a class to me, it became a family. We were even discussing this afterward when we all went out to the bar, that everyone is so used to coming in to a class and all of the students keep to themselves. No one really talks to one another and it is hard to build relationships and make friends. But from the first day you changed all of that with a simple exercise of the name game. Then you continued to bring the “family” closer and closer together as people shared their personal history with the class, professional experiences, and the multitude of fun and educational discussions. That is no easy task and it takes trust in a class for a person to share their history. From what everyone witnessed, everyone told their personal histories, even if they got emotional from it.
I cannot stress hard enough how enjoyable this class was. You are an amazing and brilliant professor and I feel honored to have been your student. The only problem (a good one I might add) is that you set the bar so high for class enjoyment and learning that I do not know if I will have a class that is better or even comes close. I hope to take another one of your classes and for anyone that is reading this, Professor Dengting Boyanton is a phenomenal teacher that I will miss dearly since class has come to an end. From this class, I was able to meet new friends and build new relationships that I never thought I would have. Thank you so much Professor and I say that with the most sincerity I can. Thank you!
(Daniel Dombrowski, June 19, 2009)
============
Dear professor Boyanton,
I would like to use this journal entry as an opportunity to say thank you for putting all your heart into our class. I am sure you have heard this before; however, I would like to write it. You are truly an amazing person and an inspirational educator.
I also think, despite some of the moaning and groaning, the amount of work assigned was near perfect. The only part I fell behind on was the readings. Reading for me is very time consuming because I often re-read sections. In addition, Web ct is an excellent resource to keep one focused and on task. I am so used to going on there on a regular basis it will be hard to stop!
Again, thank you so much and I hope our paths cross again in the future. Congratulations on your new baby and have a wonderful summer!!
Sincerely,
Mark Zelonski
June 18, 2009
============
The End of Class
Today was the last day of our great class. Length wise, this was the shortest class I have ever been in since this was my first summer class, and I have never felt sadder about ending class. I feel like we know each other all so well and we have bonded through these ten classes. I have made good friends and I hope to stay in contact with many of these classmates.
I also think the presentations were fantastic, and some extremely moving and emotional. It was evident that everyone put in a lot of time and effort into their work. I was pleased with my presentation, although I was a little nervous when I didn't expect to be. I think this is because of the material I was presenting was more personal than my most people were expecting. Talking about ones sex life is not the easiest thing, but I did enjoy it and one student told me that she was actually moved by my thoughts and ideas to the point where she became teary. That was really nice to hear , and I'm glad that my viewpoints did not come off as crazy because I was weary of the classes opinion of my personal philosophy dealing with sex.
Overall, I am going to miss this class, the amazing professor who taught it, and all my peers.
Thinking about it now, I can honestly say I made some good friends in our class. Never have I been in a class where we all decided to go out as an entire group after the last day of class in celebration. I think that's special. I honestly hope I stay in touch with these classmates and stay friends with them. They are good people, which is hard to find these days. But I also hope to meet new people in the future.
(Greg Cioffi, 6.18.09)
=============
Last Class
Last night unfortunately was our last class. I will miss this group more than I have ever missed any college class that I have taken. I felt like there was a rare connection between us all in this group. We just got along so great, had stimulating discussions and respected one another to the fullest. Every single one of us opened up to one another and spoke of extremely personal events that occurred in our lives. I have never seen this happen between a class like it did with us. There were multiple class sessions that left people in tears but I think it was a healthy thing for them to get a chance to speak about whatever was on their mind.
Dr. Dengting was my favorite professor so far in my grad program. I would be lucky to have her for any other courses. I have never been more motivated to do school work than I was in this course and I owe that to her. After the class about 80% of us went out for some food and drinks. We had such a nice time. I exchanged phone numbers with a few people and we are going to keep in touch with one another. I’m actually getting together with someone this weekend and I’m looking forward to it. Thank you Dr. Dengting for such a great experience. I wish you all the luck in the world with the new addition to your family!!!!
Thank you for such a great experience!!! I hope I have you for another course. You are by far the best Professor in the Education Department!!!
(Timothy O’Sullivan, June 19, 2009)
==========
Dear Dr. Boyanton,
Thank you very much for giving me the time, the space, and the courage. I truly hope that we can continue our dialogue after Thursday, since it makes me sad to think of not seeing you twice a week any longer. The experience of being in your class has been such a precious gift for me, and I know for sure that you will be the world's greatest mother to the beautiful baby perching safely in your womb. Congratulations to both you and your husband on your very happy news!
Thank you ever so much Dr. Boyanton for having the grace, the courage and the heart to spread your wings and nurture us all. Your caring support already is helping us to be better people not only for ourselves and for others, but also for the children who are our future. I will miss you.
I really hope that we as responsible and strong yet nurturing teachers of impressionable youths can dispel the drinking problem that clearly plagues them, and perhaps you’d like to challenge your students to more closely examine this rampant issue in future semesters.
With beautifully inspirational people like you, Dr. Boyanton, along with the many precious souls in our class, we as a collectively caring cadre can help to solve the dilemmas of desire, thus facilitating the sure and healthy identity development of the adolescent students we encounter ourselves as teachers who take great pride in being positive role models for all, and for always. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Louise Torinese
June 17, 2009
============
Last Class Conclusions
I truly have really enjoyed this class. Not only did I learn a tremendous amount about adolescent psychology but I learned about myself. This class has been both informative and I feel like I went to a group therapy session twice a week. This is the only class in my entire 30 years of schooling that I will miss not going to. It is no contest, this is my favorite class.
Hearing about my classmates lives in such a candid fashion was eye opening and a cathartic experience for all. I am also feeling validated. I have learned in my relatively short life that EVERYONE has issues and when you realize that you don’t feel self-consious or different. I thing it was my first journal that I said all teachers have the same fears and they do. People are unique but in many ways they are all the same and want and need the same things and acceptance if probably one of the most important ones.
After class many of us went out for a few beers and although we met only five weeks ago I feel more of a connection with these people than I do with people I have known for 20 years. They know more about me than most of my friends do and I felt comfortable and not judged.
Thank you for being such a great teacher and friend. I wish you a wonderful life and know that your daughter or son will be lucky to have you as a parent.
(Audre Iglehart, 6/18/09)
==============
Last Class
Tonight was our last class. It is crazy to think about how fast these last five weeks have gone by. I am definitely going to be sad to leave this class because of how much I learned and the people who were a part of it.
I believe we ended the class on a great note. I really enjoyed watching everyone’s presentation because we not only got to learn some interesting facts along the way, the class also got to know each other on a deeper level. I think that it is great that we all feel comfortable enough with one another to express our emotions and feelings as a class, even if they did spark up some terrible memories from the past.
Out of all the classes I have taken in both my undergraduate and graduate courses, this one really has left such an impact on me and for the rest of the class. I really appreciate Dr. Boyanton’s efforts to make this learning experience such an influential and positive one. I really hope to have more classes like this one in the future or at least have this kind of atmosphere in my classroom as a future teacher. Not only did I learn so much, I met some great people. I really will miss this class.
(Krys, 6/18/09)
===========
Finishing a course never felt so bad before. I always feel excited to move to the next course but with this class every thing changed. The classmates were really nice and helpful. Even though we only met 10 times, it seems like I have known every one for ever. Alex’s presentation was heart warming. She was so brave to speak front of the entire class about the violence childhood she had. Professor Dengting’s class activities were very informative and gave me a lot of ideas towards my lesson plan. At the end of each class I walked out learning something new. I don’t know if I can say that about any other class.
I want to become a professor like Dr.Dengting. She teaches the class with an ease. The most important fact is that I thought that because of my accent the student will not respect me, but then I took Dr. Dengting’s class and she also had a little accent. I followed every step and methods of her teaching. Then I realized that is not your accent but what and how you teach it to you student will gain your respect. She is my ideal professor. This class was my first class at C.W post and I was lucky enough to take with the best professor in the world. I will always remember her because she has given me the way to teach through her teaching.
Thank you, Dr.Dengting!
(Sharmin Al-majidi, 6/18/09)
==========
The Final Goodbye
Today's class was one of the best classes yet. All we did in class was presentations, however I have never been so intrigued and interested in someone's presentation before in my life. They were so interesting and everyone was well prepared. I was able to learn so much about my fellow peers and see how much we really had in common. I was amazed at how open people were. There were so many emotions and feelings going through the room.
After class a bunch of us went out. I would say about 10 people were there from the class. We had dinner and a few drinks and talked to each other. It was the best conversation that I have had in a while. Considering they just met me, but knew so much about me, everyone was so open and just talking about whatever they wanted. I had a ton of fun.
I am truly upset this class is over. I wish that all my future classes would be just like this. I feel that some of the people I met in this class will stay good friends with me into the future. We all exchanged numbers and planned on going to the movies on the weekend. Thank you professor, this class was amazing. You are truly a great inspiration for me to become an excellent teacher one day.
Have a great summer and congratulations on your pregnancy! You will be an excellent mom!
(JM, 6.18.09)
==============
“GOODBYE”
Listening to everyone’s presentations, I thought was very interesting. It is hard in a class to really get to know a person and understand them. I usually just listen to people in class, talk and then make my judgments about them. I think I had some opinions about people that changed as soon as I heard their stories. I believe that this was a great way to wrap up the class and learn about my classmates. I may have done this project sooner just because we did not really get to talk about it. It really interested me knowing that I was not the only one that had issues growing up. Everyone had some sort of problem and was able to tell us about it. I really appreciated Louise’s and Alex’s story. They were very powerful and really made me think that there are these problems in the world today and they are not just on T.V. I really enjoyed getting to know everyone in the class and seeing what they were all about.
Adolescent psychology has always interested me because there have been many times I have asked myself why children at this age do certain things. I think that I got a lot of answers from the class. Thank you very much.
(Erica Caiati, 6/18/09)
============
When I look back on the five weeks I spent in this course, I realize that it is one was absolutely meaningful for me as an aspiring educator. The workload seemed overwhelming at first, but it is worth it at the end. The assignments also are worthwhile, as students in this course will both learn about adolescents as well as themselves, and both topics will only help with one’s ability to reach today’s youth.
One piece of advice I want to leave for future students is to make sure you stay on top of your work. The work can be a lot, but it will be much worse if you leave it to the last minute. Make sure you leave yourself time so you can get everything in on time. Also, it will help at the end of the course to be able to look back on everything you did as you put your final works together.
I also want to advise students to take the class seriously. This class offers a student the ability to gain perspective on what it is like to be an adolescent. Through class discussions, I was able to learn about situations I had never been in or ever thought about. Everyone comes from a different background, and by really giving an effort, there is a lot to be learned. Also, the assignments are meaningful. You will get to learn about yourself from this class, and the more we understand about ourselves, the better the chance we can reach others.
Overall, this course was one that I am glad that I took. It came along at a great time in my life, as I was already confident in my ability to work with adolescents. I walk away from this course with an even stronger confidence in my ability, and hope that everyone who takes this course gives themselves the chance to duplicate my experience. Thank you very much for being a great class Professor.
(Michael Wimmer, 6.19.09)
Long Island University, C. W. Post
June , 2009
“More of a Family Than a Class”
Wow, I cannot believe that I am writing my last journal for this class. I can feel myself starting to get emotional because I am realizing that this class has actually finished. I never thought that I would be reacting this way because I never have before for any other class. But this one was different and it was different from the very beginning.Professor Dengting, I must say you are an absolute amazing teacher. The way you structured the class, had the class interacting, and all the exercises that had us working together with everyone. I feel after this whole time this class has become more than a class to me, it became a family. We were even discussing this afterward when we all went out to the bar, that everyone is so used to coming in to a class and all of the students keep to themselves. No one really talks to one another and it is hard to build relationships and make friends. But from the first day you changed all of that with a simple exercise of the name game. Then you continued to bring the “family” closer and closer together as people shared their personal history with the class, professional experiences, and the multitude of fun and educational discussions. That is no easy task and it takes trust in a class for a person to share their history. From what everyone witnessed, everyone told their personal histories, even if they got emotional from it.
I cannot stress hard enough how enjoyable this class was. You are an amazing and brilliant professor and I feel honored to have been your student. The only problem (a good one I might add) is that you set the bar so high for class enjoyment and learning that I do not know if I will have a class that is better or even comes close. I hope to take another one of your classes and for anyone that is reading this, Professor Dengting Boyanton is a phenomenal teacher that I will miss dearly since class has come to an end. From this class, I was able to meet new friends and build new relationships that I never thought I would have. Thank you so much Professor and I say that with the most sincerity I can. Thank you!
(Daniel Dombrowski, June 19, 2009)
============
Dear professor Boyanton,
I would like to use this journal entry as an opportunity to say thank you for putting all your heart into our class. I am sure you have heard this before; however, I would like to write it. You are truly an amazing person and an inspirational educator.
I also think, despite some of the moaning and groaning, the amount of work assigned was near perfect. The only part I fell behind on was the readings. Reading for me is very time consuming because I often re-read sections. In addition, Web ct is an excellent resource to keep one focused and on task. I am so used to going on there on a regular basis it will be hard to stop!
Again, thank you so much and I hope our paths cross again in the future. Congratulations on your new baby and have a wonderful summer!!
Sincerely,
Mark Zelonski
June 18, 2009
============
The End of Class
Today was the last day of our great class. Length wise, this was the shortest class I have ever been in since this was my first summer class, and I have never felt sadder about ending class. I feel like we know each other all so well and we have bonded through these ten classes. I have made good friends and I hope to stay in contact with many of these classmates.
I also think the presentations were fantastic, and some extremely moving and emotional. It was evident that everyone put in a lot of time and effort into their work. I was pleased with my presentation, although I was a little nervous when I didn't expect to be. I think this is because of the material I was presenting was more personal than my most people were expecting. Talking about ones sex life is not the easiest thing, but I did enjoy it and one student told me that she was actually moved by my thoughts and ideas to the point where she became teary. That was really nice to hear , and I'm glad that my viewpoints did not come off as crazy because I was weary of the classes opinion of my personal philosophy dealing with sex.
Overall, I am going to miss this class, the amazing professor who taught it, and all my peers.
Thinking about it now, I can honestly say I made some good friends in our class. Never have I been in a class where we all decided to go out as an entire group after the last day of class in celebration. I think that's special. I honestly hope I stay in touch with these classmates and stay friends with them. They are good people, which is hard to find these days. But I also hope to meet new people in the future.
(Greg Cioffi, 6.18.09)
=============
Last Class
Last night unfortunately was our last class. I will miss this group more than I have ever missed any college class that I have taken. I felt like there was a rare connection between us all in this group. We just got along so great, had stimulating discussions and respected one another to the fullest. Every single one of us opened up to one another and spoke of extremely personal events that occurred in our lives. I have never seen this happen between a class like it did with us. There were multiple class sessions that left people in tears but I think it was a healthy thing for them to get a chance to speak about whatever was on their mind.
Dr. Dengting was my favorite professor so far in my grad program. I would be lucky to have her for any other courses. I have never been more motivated to do school work than I was in this course and I owe that to her. After the class about 80% of us went out for some food and drinks. We had such a nice time. I exchanged phone numbers with a few people and we are going to keep in touch with one another. I’m actually getting together with someone this weekend and I’m looking forward to it. Thank you Dr. Dengting for such a great experience. I wish you all the luck in the world with the new addition to your family!!!!
Thank you for such a great experience!!! I hope I have you for another course. You are by far the best Professor in the Education Department!!!
(Timothy O’Sullivan, June 19, 2009)
==========
Dear Dr. Boyanton,
Thank you very much for giving me the time, the space, and the courage. I truly hope that we can continue our dialogue after Thursday, since it makes me sad to think of not seeing you twice a week any longer. The experience of being in your class has been such a precious gift for me, and I know for sure that you will be the world's greatest mother to the beautiful baby perching safely in your womb. Congratulations to both you and your husband on your very happy news!
Thank you ever so much Dr. Boyanton for having the grace, the courage and the heart to spread your wings and nurture us all. Your caring support already is helping us to be better people not only for ourselves and for others, but also for the children who are our future. I will miss you.
I really hope that we as responsible and strong yet nurturing teachers of impressionable youths can dispel the drinking problem that clearly plagues them, and perhaps you’d like to challenge your students to more closely examine this rampant issue in future semesters.
With beautifully inspirational people like you, Dr. Boyanton, along with the many precious souls in our class, we as a collectively caring cadre can help to solve the dilemmas of desire, thus facilitating the sure and healthy identity development of the adolescent students we encounter ourselves as teachers who take great pride in being positive role models for all, and for always. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Louise Torinese
June 17, 2009
============
Last Class Conclusions
I truly have really enjoyed this class. Not only did I learn a tremendous amount about adolescent psychology but I learned about myself. This class has been both informative and I feel like I went to a group therapy session twice a week. This is the only class in my entire 30 years of schooling that I will miss not going to. It is no contest, this is my favorite class.
Hearing about my classmates lives in such a candid fashion was eye opening and a cathartic experience for all. I am also feeling validated. I have learned in my relatively short life that EVERYONE has issues and when you realize that you don’t feel self-consious or different. I thing it was my first journal that I said all teachers have the same fears and they do. People are unique but in many ways they are all the same and want and need the same things and acceptance if probably one of the most important ones.
After class many of us went out for a few beers and although we met only five weeks ago I feel more of a connection with these people than I do with people I have known for 20 years. They know more about me than most of my friends do and I felt comfortable and not judged.
Thank you for being such a great teacher and friend. I wish you a wonderful life and know that your daughter or son will be lucky to have you as a parent.
(Audre Iglehart, 6/18/09)
==============
Last Class
Tonight was our last class. It is crazy to think about how fast these last five weeks have gone by. I am definitely going to be sad to leave this class because of how much I learned and the people who were a part of it.
I believe we ended the class on a great note. I really enjoyed watching everyone’s presentation because we not only got to learn some interesting facts along the way, the class also got to know each other on a deeper level. I think that it is great that we all feel comfortable enough with one another to express our emotions and feelings as a class, even if they did spark up some terrible memories from the past.
Out of all the classes I have taken in both my undergraduate and graduate courses, this one really has left such an impact on me and for the rest of the class. I really appreciate Dr. Boyanton’s efforts to make this learning experience such an influential and positive one. I really hope to have more classes like this one in the future or at least have this kind of atmosphere in my classroom as a future teacher. Not only did I learn so much, I met some great people. I really will miss this class.
(Krys, 6/18/09)
===========
Finishing a course never felt so bad before. I always feel excited to move to the next course but with this class every thing changed. The classmates were really nice and helpful. Even though we only met 10 times, it seems like I have known every one for ever. Alex’s presentation was heart warming. She was so brave to speak front of the entire class about the violence childhood she had. Professor Dengting’s class activities were very informative and gave me a lot of ideas towards my lesson plan. At the end of each class I walked out learning something new. I don’t know if I can say that about any other class.
I want to become a professor like Dr.Dengting. She teaches the class with an ease. The most important fact is that I thought that because of my accent the student will not respect me, but then I took Dr. Dengting’s class and she also had a little accent. I followed every step and methods of her teaching. Then I realized that is not your accent but what and how you teach it to you student will gain your respect. She is my ideal professor. This class was my first class at C.W post and I was lucky enough to take with the best professor in the world. I will always remember her because she has given me the way to teach through her teaching.
Thank you, Dr.Dengting!
(Sharmin Al-majidi, 6/18/09)
==========
The Final Goodbye
Today's class was one of the best classes yet. All we did in class was presentations, however I have never been so intrigued and interested in someone's presentation before in my life. They were so interesting and everyone was well prepared. I was able to learn so much about my fellow peers and see how much we really had in common. I was amazed at how open people were. There were so many emotions and feelings going through the room.
After class a bunch of us went out. I would say about 10 people were there from the class. We had dinner and a few drinks and talked to each other. It was the best conversation that I have had in a while. Considering they just met me, but knew so much about me, everyone was so open and just talking about whatever they wanted. I had a ton of fun.
I am truly upset this class is over. I wish that all my future classes would be just like this. I feel that some of the people I met in this class will stay good friends with me into the future. We all exchanged numbers and planned on going to the movies on the weekend. Thank you professor, this class was amazing. You are truly a great inspiration for me to become an excellent teacher one day.
Have a great summer and congratulations on your pregnancy! You will be an excellent mom!
(JM, 6.18.09)
==============
“GOODBYE”
Listening to everyone’s presentations, I thought was very interesting. It is hard in a class to really get to know a person and understand them. I usually just listen to people in class, talk and then make my judgments about them. I think I had some opinions about people that changed as soon as I heard their stories. I believe that this was a great way to wrap up the class and learn about my classmates. I may have done this project sooner just because we did not really get to talk about it. It really interested me knowing that I was not the only one that had issues growing up. Everyone had some sort of problem and was able to tell us about it. I really appreciated Louise’s and Alex’s story. They were very powerful and really made me think that there are these problems in the world today and they are not just on T.V. I really enjoyed getting to know everyone in the class and seeing what they were all about.
Adolescent psychology has always interested me because there have been many times I have asked myself why children at this age do certain things. I think that I got a lot of answers from the class. Thank you very much.
(Erica Caiati, 6/18/09)
============
Advice for Future Students
When I look back on the five weeks I spent in this course, I realize that it is one was absolutely meaningful for me as an aspiring educator. The workload seemed overwhelming at first, but it is worth it at the end. The assignments also are worthwhile, as students in this course will both learn about adolescents as well as themselves, and both topics will only help with one’s ability to reach today’s youth.
One piece of advice I want to leave for future students is to make sure you stay on top of your work. The work can be a lot, but it will be much worse if you leave it to the last minute. Make sure you leave yourself time so you can get everything in on time. Also, it will help at the end of the course to be able to look back on everything you did as you put your final works together.
I also want to advise students to take the class seriously. This class offers a student the ability to gain perspective on what it is like to be an adolescent. Through class discussions, I was able to learn about situations I had never been in or ever thought about. Everyone comes from a different background, and by really giving an effort, there is a lot to be learned. Also, the assignments are meaningful. You will get to learn about yourself from this class, and the more we understand about ourselves, the better the chance we can reach others.
Overall, this course was one that I am glad that I took. It came along at a great time in my life, as I was already confident in my ability to work with adolescents. I walk away from this course with an even stronger confidence in my ability, and hope that everyone who takes this course gives themselves the chance to duplicate my experience. Thank you very much for being a great class Professor.
(Michael Wimmer, 6.19.09)
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