CLASS SURVEY

CLASS SURVEY

 

1) I prefer to be called Nikos.

 

2) Nestorio, Kastoria, Western Macedonia, Greece.

 

3) Junior history major, art history minor at John Carroll University, would like to teach at the college level.

 

4) I was born in the United States to parents of Greek origin. I was raised in the city of Thessaloniki in the region of Macedonia in Northern Greece, and came to Cleveland specifically for college. I am very passionate about history (any history really!), but more specifically focus on late Medieval and Renaissance European history. I have been involved in politics, and apart from history my other ultimate passions would be European football (soccer) which I have been playing since a very young age, and travelling. I have a younger sister who studies in Columbus, Ohio, and my family is spread between the United States and Greece.

 

5) For me, it is important to get to know my fellow peers in class. I feel that the better I get to know them the more comfortable I feel expressing my ideas to them in class. I feel the same way about my Professor. The better I get to know him and understand him the better I will feel communicating with him in class. I don't mind expressing my ideas, as long as I feel that they will be received with respect from my classmates and my Professor.

 

6) As a student I always enjoying participating in class discussions. If I don't do that I feel that lectures can sometimes be very monotonous and frustrating, which is why I like that we sit in a circle, everyone can see everyone and the Professor encourages us to talk and voice out our opinion. I try to make it to class at the right time everyday, and try not to procrastinate when I have assignments that have to be completed. However, sometimes, I do leave things for the last minute (homework especially!) and struggle to finish them in time, or end up staying up very late. I very much like the lectures we have been having in class so far, and I feel it's important that the teacher isn't the only one talking, but that the students feel that they can also contribute to the class. I have trouble focusing in class sometimes when I am seated for a very long time (classes that exceed an hour) and kind of lose my track of thought. I also tend to forget important things sometimes which is why I constantly need to be taking notes. It is imperative that I meet with my Professor outside class at least once a month, to make sure that I am on the right track and to have him address specific issues that could be troubling me in class.

 

7) Having been raised in a foreign country, I feel that my educational experiences as a student differ from my peers in class. I went to a public school from pre-kindergarten to elementary, and then from junior-high school till I graduated I went to a Greek-American private high school in my city. The amount of work in junior high-school and high-school was I believe unnecessarily difficult. Our final  examinations would last for four weeks, and in tenth grade for example, I had to take seventeen different exams, each for a specific school subject I was taught throughout the year. Most of the material covered was similar to what I am being taught here in college my junior year. I have been adequately prepared I believed, but that system was extremely stressful. Elementary was different, and our teachers were harsh on us. I had a second, third and fourth grade teacher (the same one for three consecutive years) who would regularly beat us on an every day basis. It was the norm back then so we couldn't really do or say anything, since the law didn't prohibit it. It was considered to be a tool of training the youth to be respectful towards their instructors and organized in their work. So I assume a very different experience than most individuals here in the United States.

 

8) For me some of the most important elements that concern me when it comes to education and teaching, would be the motivation behind doing so. If in fact today teachers do it because they really want to teach, and motivate young students or because of financial reasons and any other benefits. Or if it's simply a combination of both. I feel that every individual should never be denied the opportunity to be educated, and that education is the most important factor that will shape a young person's life, so society should place the greatest emphasis on it. It is detrimental that  the educational system of today satisfies the need for personal growth and knowledge of every individual. There should be no economic or political "games" when it comes to educating the masses. Education should always be at the top of the priority list to every government and every society around the world,. and global education even much more so.

 

9) Professor Shutkin, in all your years of being a teacher, do you think you could share with us one of your most important life changing experiences in the field? Something that made you think or see things about the people you taught in a different way that you hadn't noticed before? Thank you.