Author: David MacMullen

Topic: Have the discussion groups helped you get a better understanding of what we we’ve learned in the classroom? 

In me and Seamus’s discussion on the topic “have the discussion groups helped you get a better understanding of what we have learned in the classroom. Our opinions were very similar, we both agreed that the discussion groups are a very good idea because they give the students a chance to interact with other classmates to analyze and discuss the readings we have done in class to better understand what the true meaning of what the readings are. But we also agreed this is only acquirable if everyone in the group participates in the discussion and gives an opinion. Without good statements and opinions there is nothing to discuss and obtain information from. So in order for these discussion groups to be beneficial we have to start participating much more in them and not just attend them.

Group:Seamus Corkery, David MacMullen

Team: Seamus, David,Haley

David
Praise: your ideas for labs and discussion groups are very good examples for teaching without teaching.
Constructive: Your body paragraphs reflect into your thesis making your paper strong.
Percy: your quotes on Percy connect your topic with your paper perfectly.

Seamus Corkery
Praise: I like how your first sentence in the intro paragraph references Percy and Freire
Constructive: I feel that you should maybe consider taking out the field trip point due to the fact that they would likely still be pointing things out and teaching during the field trip
Percy: Good quote in first solution of your essay.

Praise: I like the examples you chose for your thesis and they reflect well in your body paragraphs.
Constructive: I think your analysis of Percy and Freire quotes in your body paragraphs are very good.
Percy: I like the quote you used for your paragraph on mirrored learning. It supports your idea well.

Team: Seamus,David,Haley

David
Constructive: Your body paragraphs support your thesis well
Praise: I agree very much with the statement you made about how professors need to begin leading more independent classes.
Percy: I agree with your saying that students will not retain INFO without applying their experience to the subject.

Seamus Corkery
Praise: You have a very strong intro paragraph
Constructive: Maybe lessen the amount of class examples to make the essay more relatable for the reader
Percy: Good job with having Percy quotes throughout the essay

Haley Clark
Praise: Your introduction paragraph sets up the essay well, you included good background information about Percy and Freire and tied that well to West Chester.
Constructive: I liked the relatable examples you used in your body paragraphs like stem majors and the programming class.
Percy: The quotes you incorporated support your body paragraphs well.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-UnE6tMdjN9OSQb99qq6HlylVUDXm0qXtX8LfFiDYE8/edit?usp=sharing

Team: Seamus,Haley,David

David:

Praise: your intro paragraph is a great, its a good way to start your audience and let them know what the subject of the paper is.

Constructive: You. may have indented some of your paragraphs a little to much.

Percy: your quotes work perfect with the sub-topics you have chosen.

Seamus:

Praise: I like how you started the essay off with Socrates to reference teaching

Constructive: Maybe shorten the intro paragraph so it doesn’t take up too much of the essay

Percy: You used many quotes to support modern solutions to the role of the teacher

Haley Clark:

Praise: Good point on how teachers should be a facilitator

Constructive: Possibly use more quotes to support solutions

Percy: Quotes used very effectively in the first paragraph

David:

Praise: Your subtopics completely support your thesis

Constructive: your paragraph format is just how you need it to get a good grade. Make sure you have no grammatical errors

Percy: your quotes support the sub topics well.

Seamus:

Praise: I like your statement that field trips or visual learning can give you better learning

Constructive: Maybe reference Percy or start with a question in the intro paragraph to make it stronger

Percy: Your Percy quote supports your field trip solution well

Haley:

Haley Clarke

Praise: I agree with your statement that discussion panels are a great way for people to have an opinion

constructive: your paper is well formatted but you might want to add a little more bulk to the last two paragraphs

Percy: your knowledge from the readings of Percy showed greatly in your paragraphs when comparing Percy to your sub-topic

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1A2NOwaOse_oAkZaOW05r4ec49sPgFOfY0jeXu0xRGFI/edit

Team: Seamus Corkery, Haley Clark, David MacMullen

Praise: Good sub-topics to support thesis

Constructive: I think you could find better quotes to support your thesis

Percy: Good work on making sure you added Percy in your sup-topics.

Group Members- David MacMullen, Seamus Corkery, Haley Clark

Praise: Good point saying that it is important to focus on courses related to one’s field of study.

Constructive: Try to introduce a solution to your thesis statement

Percy: The quotes you picked from Percy’s Writings are exactly what you need to support your thesis.

Group: Amanda,John,Haley

In my discussion group we discussed the topic should a person take a shortcut or not? my answer to this is simple I believe that shortcuts are good things at certain standards. Cheating on a test for example would not be a good shortcut because it will not only get you in trouble but is also a sign that you are neglecting your studies for something else. A good type of shortcut in my opinion would be something that can benefit you in a situation but should not harm someone or take away someone advantages against you in a certain situation. Shortcuts are good things if you are doing them properly do not take shortcuts to just get something over with only take shortcuts if it benefits you in a proper way and follows the rules

David,Seamus,Haley

Effective Writing

Professor Cream

10/27/19

Topic Proposal

Team Selection: David MacMullen

Topic Selection: Learning Outside the Classroom

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-7prpWLlqjahndKhF7n8IIXsHWBcaH8okbNiUXctgow/edit

Working Thesis: Learning outside the classroom is a very good way of not only understanding the topic of discussion but a great way for interactive learning off the campus of your studies. There are many different ways to learn something outside the classroom that still has a way of teaching you on what your learning inside the classroom. When learning off campus and for the community  of West Chester it can not only help you but it also gets you involved in something bigger than yourself, doing stuff for your community can make you learn a thing or too and help you become a better member of your community. For example, internships are a great way to get yourself involved in working a job that you could possibly have after college. This will help you prepare for your future job to come and will also give you a better learning experience instead of being in a classroom talking about it because with an internship it is all hands on work and you are actually doing the job not just talking about it in a classroom.

4 Main Ideas:

1. 1 main idea for this topic is internships. Internships are literally the best way of helping you learn what you have to do for a job inside your major of choice. It is a hands on experience which is why it is so effective it can help you understand what you could possibly be doing in the future with a degree in the major of your choice and it also prepares you in no other way that a teacher could in a classroom.

2.Getting involved in the on campus community and off campus community can help anyone in any major because activities outside the classroom with other students and community members can help build teamwork and other characteristics you will need in a professional job after college. It is so important that a student builds themselves to be able to work as a team, stay organized, and to just do more than what you are doing in your classroom to be more prepared

3.Another great way of learning outside the classroom is the discussion groups that we do for our effective writing class. It is very important that the teacher does not only make time for teacher and student time but also for student and student time. I say this Because students need to interact with each other in order to understand the topic  Better. A student is not going to be able to listen to the teacher all the time they need to interact with other students to discuss the topic in order to understand it better

4. Another way to learn outside the classroom is to get a tutor. A tutor can help with one on one help which can help you understand the topic much more. A tutor can also help you more then the teacher does in a classroom because a lot of students will be  afraid to ask question in a lecture but in a one on one conversation a student is much more likely to ask questions.

Quotes:

“Projecting an absolute ignorance onto others, a characteristic of the ideology of oppression, negates education and knowledge as processes of inquiry. The teacher presents himself to his students as their necessary opposite; by considering their ignorance absolute, he justifies his own existence. The students, alienated like the slave in the Hegelian dialectic, accept their ignorance as justifying the teacher’s existence—but, unlike the slave, they never discover that they educate the teacher.”(P1, PAR 6)

“The capability of banking education to minimize or annul the students’ creative power and to stimulate their credulity serves the interests of the oppressors, who care neither to have the world revealed nor to see it transformed. The oppressors use their “humanitarianism” to preserve a profitable situation. Thus they react almost instinctively against any experiment in education which stimulates the critical faculties and is not content with a partial view of reality but always seeks out the ties which link one point to another and one problem to another.”(P2, PAR 2)

Topic: what could change or ruin an experience for someone based on The Loss of the Creature by Walker Percy. 

In my discussion group my fellow classmates and I discussed what could change or ruin an experience for someone based on The Loss of the Creature by Walker Percy. We all agreed that in the readings it was shown that going on tour guides may not be the best experience for you to get the full experience of places like the Grand Canyon. Because during a tour your restricted on the things you can do you do not get to roam around and do what you want. That is why the author suggested to fully get the experience of the Grand Canyon you need to go their at a good time like at sunrise to see the vibrant and vivid colors of the light on the canyon. This would make your experience more beautiful and memorable. Also what could change an experience for a tourist is to expect that wherever your going is going to be like what you see on postcards or the internet. If you really want to have a good experience you need to set that aside and actually visit it and see it with your own eyes it will make the experience much better

Discussion Group: Sabrina Lindley,Haley Myers,Kenzie Neidrer

Effective Writing Project

Group Members- Seamus Corkery David MacMullen, Haley Clark

Freire’s idea of learning is that one can only learn by explaining something to another person. However, the person listening isn’t learning, only the one talking is learning more about themselves as a person, and the topic they are explaining. If Freire’s idea of learning is true, that would mean only the teachers are benefitting from the current school system. If learning is only done by teaching then how are students expected to attain and comprehend information. If this is a true depiction of how learning happens, a good student teacher relationship is necessary for the well-being and educational purposes for students. Student/Teacher relations is a very complex relationship, because teachers can’t produce student learning or student freedom. For a teacher to truly enlighten a student with the knowledge they can gain, they must learn how to personalize their classroom as a communicative and interacting environment. 

In the modern day classroom, it feels most student teacher relationships must be initiated by the student. If a student takes time to attend office hours, engage in the classroom, and ask questions about class, or just life, they will form some sort of connection with a teacher. This can be done regardless of any differences between the student and teacher. However, some students may feel more comfortable if they have something already in common with a teacher. It should be feasible for a student and teacher to interact no matter the gender, race, or social class of either. If a student or teacher let these factors stand between forming a connection it would not be beneficial for either party. Also, students who simply attend class, without any extra input are less likely to form any kind of connection with a teacher. Most likely, not all students will put in the effort to form any kind of relation with a teacher outside of the classroom, so teachers need to find a way to make sure those individuals are still learning just as well as others. Which is why it’s important for teachers to personalize their classroom as an interactive environment in order for all students to gain the proper amount of knowledge, and create solutions to get to know their students, even if it’s outside of a classroom environment. 

The relations between students and professors at West Chester could definitely use some improvements. There are some professors who make it easy for students to want to talk to them, and  this is especially important when a student needs extra help. Students are more likely to reach out for help when they feel they’ll be welcomed in a non judgmental and positive environment. However, this won’t be the case for every professor at school. 

Our first solution for teachers to engage with students would be through service learning opportunity. This solution has so many positive incentives behind. To name a few, the class would be helping others, the service would be course related to give students a hands on learning activity for the student, and most of all this would give teachers an out of class bonding opportunity to strengthen student/teacher relations. For example, at Saint Joseph’s University, education majors will spend some of their time teaching kids at their own building dedicated to education majors getting hands on experience with teaching. 

Our second solution for teachers to engage with students would be to have one on one meetings with every student in the class. This would benefit both the teacher and student because it gives a chance for the teacher to learn more about the student, to figure out his fascinations and how he likes to be taught, also it gives the teacher a chance to provide help to the learner. One on one meetings between a student and teacher can help a student ask the questions that he was afraid to ask in class.

David MacMullen

Professor Cream

Writing 120

9/19/19

Topic: The topic I plan to choose is number 3. I will compose a comparison on my relationship at West Chester with my professors to this topic. I will explain how one on one interactions or communicative classrooms can help a professor build relations with their students to help them succeed despite the difference in race, class, and gender. I will use Friere’s ideas on the concepts of education by comparing those ideas to how a modern classroom is nowadays.

Group Members: Seamus Corkery and Haley Clark

Thesis Statement: Student/Teacher relations is a very complex relationship because teachers can’t produce student learning or student freedom. For a teacher to truly enlighten a student with the knowledge they can gain they must learn how to personalize their classroom as a communicative and interacting environment.

Quotes: “Education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor. Instead of communicating, the teacher issues communiqués and makes deposits which the students patiently receive, memorize, and repeat. This is the “banking” concept of education, in which the scope of action allowed to the students extends only as far as receiving, filing, and storing the deposits.” (Par. 3 Pg. 1)

“But the humanist, revolutionary educator cannot wait for this possibility to materialize. From the outset, her efforts must coincide with those of the students to engage in critical thinking and the quest for mutual humanization. His efforts must be imbued with a profound trust in people and their creative power. To achieve this, they must be partners of the students in their relations with them” (Par. 7 Pg. 2)

Today my discussion group and I discussed the topic if we agree or disagree on the different ways Freire believes students learn. As a group we all believed that yes the banking concept is one of the many ways a student learns, but we also agreed that this is to the only way that students can learn. some other ways that we felt are how students learn is through one on one interaction which we thought was a great way for students to learn because when one on one with a teacher it is easier for the teacher to interact with the learner and this makes it more efficient for the student to get the concept of the subject. Another way a student can learn is through group activities. Group activities are great because it not only gives you and your peers a challenge as you work on a project or a discussion together. But it also gives each and every student a chance to hear the different opinions of the other students. When being able to listen to other students talk it gives every other student a chance to learn from someone that is in the same shoes as you. That is why I believe that the discussion groups we are doing for effective writing is such a. good idea. Without the discussion groups I do not think that I would understand the concepts of the readings we’ve been doing if it wasn’t for the discussion groups

Group:

Haley Clark 

Brandon Zahal – leader

Sarah Veneziale

Sam wheitzel

David Macmullen

Shamus Corkery

Gabe jsinskn

Amanda jieng

Catherine Sola 

During week two of our discussion groups my fellow classmates and I discussed the topic “Humans are told to consume information and spit out the answer, much like a computer or a robot. What is your opinion on this? Do you agree or disagree? Why?” My view on this topic was much different than others. I believe that the banking system of education is not the proper way for a student to learn something. The proper way to help a student learn something from a subject is through interactive and communicative activities. To do this a teacher must get the class involved in the lesson by making one another interact together in discussion groups. Doing this helps students understand the topic more because when doing something as a group you don’t feel as anxious to ask the teacher for help, you can just ask a friend for help in your group. I also strongly believe that one on one interactions are much more helpful for a student to learn other than just staring at a professor talking for an hour straight. Even though my opinion was a little different after listening to everyone else’s opinion it made me realize how much us students believe that teaching methods need to change in order for a student to reach his/her learning potential.

Seamus Corkery 

Amanda Regan

Caitlin Mangini

Sarah veneziale

Megan kid

sambrina Lindley

Haley Clark 

Olivia Vearling

Ava Hill