Author: Dana Roeder

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xSuxhJyq6PiRF-tVXs0icWzCYjYxj2iOteUxzfmW2aU/edit

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OKqShckAO2SZuE9wKcmghCNvX17jy1VrSz-TYrNs2Wc/edit

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JPIIzdK21Nvy0Oze6HRFrX2MSA65Rmc-RHW_qFu2oWA/edit

Bella Dipasquale

John Camperson

Haley Clark

Micheal Lindholn

Sam Livorno

In our discussion groupie talked about the quote “The present surrenders the past and the future.”

One students related this to history repeating itself. An example of history repeating itself is cigarettes to Juuls and other E- cigarettes. In the past there was a huge epidemic and teenagers smoking cigarettes. Today teens use E cigarettes which is just as bad, if not worse for your body.

Another example we related to this quote was fashion. Recently styles and trends from the 90’s have been very prevalent in teenage and young adult wardrobes. My friends and I love these clothing trends and wear them often.

Another way a student interpreted this quote was people tend to dwell on the past and focus on the future. While doing this they forget to prioritize the time they have right now. People tend to think about what they want to be, not what they are currently. If more people focused on what they are in the moment, they would be able to better themselves for the future.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Qy1-Gj5aNMuYB0ak0jHd-HilGdycWLgKocaWDXwodTs/edit

Last year I completed my freshman year at West Chester University. Almost everyone of my friends struggled with anxiety and depression which was our first semester because it was hard to create connections and friendships. Our university is beautiful and it is very sad to me that most freshmen have this same experience as most of my friends. We must create easy for freshman students to make friends and have a positive first year at West Chester University.

One of the largest problems I see in West Chester is the lack of community, especially in affiliated dorms. In affiliated housing, no one props their doors open and there is very little feeling of community in your dorm. I have had friends in traditional housing tell me that everyone leaves their dorm doors open and it has helped her make a large number of friends. They often hung out together in the common areas of the floor. This didn’t happen ina affiliated housing.  It made it very hard to make friends and most people often only spoke to their roommates. I had one friend who moved home in the middle of the first semester. She lived about an hour and a half away and had three 8 AM classes every week. I believe the isolated atmosphere of affiliated housing affects students mental health and academic performance. 

The space and atmosphere at any learning institutions affects students and how they grow and learn. This includes the way teachers teach, the conversations held between individuals and atmosphere of the classrooms and campus. The space student are learning and living in affects their overall mental health and academics. If affiliated housing encouraged students to prop their doors open and greet neighbors it would create more of a community. Having more friends would help students who struggle with things such as anxiety disorders and depression. It would help the students to feel supported and loved if they were surrounded by caring friends. It would give them encouragement. Friends can study together and help each other grow and learn. Having an open dorm door shows gives off the message that you are looking to make friends and welcomes other students to pop their heads in and introduce themselves. This helps students make friends.

If affiliated housing had provided evert dorm with a wedge door stopper it would encourage students to leave their doors open. In affiliated housing the doors are very heavy and lock automatically, the key to open the door is a hotel key. That makes it hard to communicate with others in your hall. Having something to hold the door open would allow students to speak to people in their dorms while they walk down the hallway. 

Along with providing dorms with wedge door stoppers along with having encouraged time to prop open dorm doors would allow students to have exposure to the other students that walk down their hall. Placing specific times which students are encouraged to have their doors open and mingle with the students on the floor would begin to form connections and friendships. 

These two simple steps would allow students to create bonds with others and feel less isolated. This would be beneficial for their mental health because I will provide them with friendship and support. It will also provide them with people to have fun with and enjoy their free time. All of these aspects combined and added to a college experience will make it overall more enjoyable.  

Another way for our students to be able to make friends is by spaciously reorganizing West Chester to better connect students to each other. This could be done by adding outdoor seating for large numbers of students outside their dorms. I know personally, me and my roommate love sitting outside at my apartment this year and if it was available we would have done it last year. Adding a spot with comfy chairs for students to hangout in would allow students to meet others when they are in this area and talk and hangout. It will help create the connections our freshman students need to be happy here at WCU.

Another way the university could help freshmen to make friends would be to add two people desks to the classrooms, especially classrooms that have classes full of mostly freshmen, like WRT. Every student has to take writing and it is usually a class of mostly freshmen. SInce the class is mostly fresh manthey do not have to worry about the pressure of being judged by upperclassmen and are able to make friends that are the same age as you. DOuble desks would be beneficial because it would allow freshmen to make friends with other freshmen.

Topic 1- Space at Wcu.

Thesis- The space and atmosphere at any learning institutions affects students and how they grow and learn. This includes the way teachers teach, the conversations held between individuals and atmosphere of the classrooms and campus. The space student are learning and living in affects their overall mental health and academics.

quotes:

“The more students work at storing the deposits entrusted to them, the less they develop the critical consciousness which would result from their intervention in the world as transformers of that world. The more completely they accept the passive role imposed on them, the more they tend simply to adapt to the world as it is and to the fragmented view of reality deposited in them.” page 2

“It follows logically from the banking notion of consciousness that the educator’s role is to regulate the way the world “enters into” the students.” page 3

Luke, Jenna, Lauren, Nick, Kenzie, Noah, Bella, Kira

Our discussion group took place outside Tyson hall. Everyone who came was talkative and a lot of subjects were touched on. Freire always has so many amazing topics and each paragraph is filled with so much information.

Our group focused on one topic in particular which was teaching results in learning for both the teacher and the student. We talked about how in high school in some of our classes our teachers would make students teach problems to there students. After the person who is teaching finishes teaching, they often feel as if they grasp the concept more fully.

After I do exercises that include teaching I always feel as if I understand the the subject much better. This especially helped me in math. walking someone through a problem will help you understand the material. It helps you to be a better learner because you fully understand the subject and know every step. you are no longer just repeating information.

who attended:
Sami Kakar
Abbey Johnson
Isabella Desari

Our group talked about Sami’s question about a quote from Freire. Her question was if teachers are able to learn as much from students as students can learn from teachers. My group thinks that teachers can learn from students. Students have a lot to teach teachers and interacting with students can allow teachers ti grow and gain life experience. Open communication and discussion during class helps everyone learn better in the classroom. This would be a time where teacher are able to learn from students.Our group was very productive and had good conversation. We came to the conclusion that teachers learn from students. teachers learning from students helps them to be able to become better teachers. Allowing children to express themselves and their needs will help them to grow while showing teachers how to accommodate to each child and give them the education they need. Thank you for reading.