Thoughts on the course.
For the last journal entry I just want to discuss the course and what I thought went well and what possible changes could be made to improve it. What the course entailed became very obvious very quickly. There was a pattern to the class, doing the same things every Tuesday and Thursday, and I thought this worked. We always knew when we had to have a book read by and what to expect in each class period. Each student had the chance to lead a discussion which was great practice for being a future teacher. Many people did many different things for their discussions which always kept the class on their toes. We never knew exactly what to expect and were kept on our toes. One thing I would suggest is you encouraging people to do more than simply discuss the book. Some days became monotonous with simply sitting and answering discussion questions. The days that were really memorable were the days we had exercises that required us all to participate actively. I especially like Izzy's and Mandy's discussion where they had us move to different spots in the class room based on what crime they brought up. Everyone had to have an opinion on where to stand and it led into strong discussions about the novel. Some groups needed to have more hands on activities where we had to participate actively. I even think my second day of discussion could have used come more action to keep the class alert. I enjoyed how book talks went in the class and I really like you're idea of having the class do video book talks. I thought the one we saw was very clever and much more memorable than just listening to someone talk for six minutes. With changing media I think is a very strong idea for you to implement into this class. My one other suggestion would be to have better books at the beginning of the semester. I really didn't enjoy our first few novels and thought they got progressively better towards the end of the semester. I know this doesn't help much cause everyone has different opinions about the books, but I thought the first few were very weak. I did however very much like how you split the books into different categories. This allowed the previous books we had just read to be a part of the current discussion. Overall I very much enjoyed this course and I think it was clear that much of the class did as well. Keep up the great work and I am excited to see what 324 is like next semester. Thank you for a great semester and happy holidays.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Journal 12
I was very pleased with how the class discussion on Uglies went. In our prereading activity we had the class answer questions to create what they thought the perfect person was. They seemed to enjoy this exercise and it lead into a good discussion. We split the class up, boys and girls, and we discussed our answers and what it means to be attractive in today's society. Most people agreed that it is beneficial to be attractive over not attractive. Attractive people get more attention, are more likely to be hired, and receive special treatment from certain people such as a police officer. Most of the guy's in the group had similar answers to the questionnaire about what the perfect guy would look like. The whole class then got together and we shared answers and it was all fairly similar. We then asked the class to switch questionnaires with someone else and to stand up. We called out different categories and if you did not match the other person's answer, then you had to sit down. Eventually everyone had to sit down and it was clear that no one was perfect looking in the class.
For our quiz we decided to have the class create their own questions. This made them think more critically of the book to be able to come up with questions. They then kept their quizzes so that they could bring up any questions that they thought may add to the discussions. I thought this went well and I would consider doing it in my classroom. We then gave the answers to the classes questionnaires they had answered the previous week. It was interesting to see how many people gave the same answers. We then began discussing the novel and I think it went very well. People seemed eager to participate and we had a good combination of students sharing. We discussed the book in detail, the themes in the book, and our own society today. I think that everything led to one another very well and there were little pauses in the discussion. Overall I think our discussion worked and people were engaged with the book and the rest of the class. If I could change anything about it I think I would make them do another activity on the day we discussed the book. The entire class was sitting the whole time and I could see some people beginning to get bored. Maybe some kind of small exercise int he middle where we made them do something would have helped. Overall I am very pleased with how things went and I was able to use everyone else's discussions from the semester to make ours the best we could. This was certainly a learning experience for me.
For our quiz we decided to have the class create their own questions. This made them think more critically of the book to be able to come up with questions. They then kept their quizzes so that they could bring up any questions that they thought may add to the discussions. I thought this went well and I would consider doing it in my classroom. We then gave the answers to the classes questionnaires they had answered the previous week. It was interesting to see how many people gave the same answers. We then began discussing the novel and I think it went very well. People seemed eager to participate and we had a good combination of students sharing. We discussed the book in detail, the themes in the book, and our own society today. I think that everything led to one another very well and there were little pauses in the discussion. Overall I think our discussion worked and people were engaged with the book and the rest of the class. If I could change anything about it I think I would make them do another activity on the day we discussed the book. The entire class was sitting the whole time and I could see some people beginning to get bored. Maybe some kind of small exercise int he middle where we made them do something would have helped. Overall I am very pleased with how things went and I was able to use everyone else's discussions from the semester to make ours the best we could. This was certainly a learning experience for me.
Journal 11
After all semester long of watching others lead discussion in class, it is finally my turn to do it. I missed the first day we got to sign up for discussions and book talks so I was left with days at the end of the semester. Now with all my classes having stuff due these final couple weeks, I really wish I could have gone earlier in the semester, but oh well. I did however enjoy my book, Uglies, more than most of the others we have read this semester. There are a number of strong themes that can lead to a good discussion. The book's themes are governmental conspiracies, attractiveness in society, and technology being used to control the population. Mileka and I want our pre reading exercise to focus on the idea of being attractive in today's society. We created a questionnaire that asks the class to describe what their idea of the perfect physical person would be. This activity and the discussion about it will lead into us talking about what it means to be attractive in today's society. Are attractive people better off than non attractive people? We will first discuss these questions and other questions that may arise in separate groups, boys and girls. This will hopefully allow the class to speak openly with people of their own sex and what society dictates about their bodies. We will then bring the whole class together and ask them to share with each other what they discussed in their groups. If they do not want to share with the whole class, then that is perfectly fine. It will be interesting to see how the two sex's discussions differed from one another. The class will be asked to keep this theme o0f attractiveness in our society in mind when they are reading the novel. Hopefully this will make them consider what it means to be attractive today and if our society does anything similar to what the society in the book does. I think everything will go well but we shall see.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Journal 10
Paper 2 idea
In my second paper I want to discuss the topic of government control on its population. Each Feed and Uglies centered around ways in which its governments controlled the population. In Feed it was the planting of the "feednet" into people's brains that allowed so much control. In Uglies it was the legions on the citizens brains that they got during the "pretty" surgery that made the population docile and easy to keep in control. During our Feed discussion we did an activity where we came up with the many ways our government does and can keep control of us. Through this discussion it became abundantly clear that advances in technology made it easier and easier for governments to control its population. I think it is important to teach students about these things and these novels do a very good job of doing this. Students need to be introduced to the fact that these advances in technology do make it easier for the government to track and control individuals. Each of these novels make the government into a antagonist and show how government could get more and more power with advances of technology. With no signs of advances in technology end in sight, it may be a slippery slope to internet actually being implanted into humans brains. Not only are these novels entertaining, they show how freedom and privacy may not always be what they seem. These books should make the students think and question the way our society works today.
In my second paper I want to discuss the topic of government control on its population. Each Feed and Uglies centered around ways in which its governments controlled the population. In Feed it was the planting of the "feednet" into people's brains that allowed so much control. In Uglies it was the legions on the citizens brains that they got during the "pretty" surgery that made the population docile and easy to keep in control. During our Feed discussion we did an activity where we came up with the many ways our government does and can keep control of us. Through this discussion it became abundantly clear that advances in technology made it easier and easier for governments to control its population. I think it is important to teach students about these things and these novels do a very good job of doing this. Students need to be introduced to the fact that these advances in technology do make it easier for the government to track and control individuals. Each of these novels make the government into a antagonist and show how government could get more and more power with advances of technology. With no signs of advances in technology end in sight, it may be a slippery slope to internet actually being implanted into humans brains. Not only are these novels entertaining, they show how freedom and privacy may not always be what they seem. These books should make the students think and question the way our society works today.
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