Author: Jake Drap

On the Thursday discussion group at 12:30 I arrived at the location at 12:30 but was unable to find anyone. I think for future discussion groups the leaders should be more specific in their locations. This discussion group was the only one I was able to attend.

Jake x2, Tim, Sean, David, Rabi, Jason

Discussion groups have been hit or miss. Some are interesting, some are not. The biggest thing that impacts the discussion groups are the amount of people that actually share. I believe that sometimes people made it incredibly short as in the leaders only having the discussions for about 5 minutes or less. Good leaders are a vital for the discussion groups. Most of the time people never talk or share anything which I find very disappointing. I always do my best to try and get people to talk and I feel as if times I talk too much during them due to the lack of communication that occurs. The topic of the discussion is also incredibly important. It needs to be a topic that people feel comfortable in talking about. Topics that are more relatable or engaging allow students to be able to give more input. I have really enjoyed the process of these discussion groups. I feel with some more tweaks they could be such a huge benefit to learning in future classes.

Kyle Owens, Bella B, Jake D, Kenzie Neiderer, Jason, Gabby, Shawn, Jenna, Sabrina, Cristian Galilea, David Heffron, Joshua Rogers, Muhammad Rabi, Jake Heikkinen, Sean Redding, Tyler E, Nick,Timothy Domanowski, Sam Livorno

In our discussion on Friday, we talked about the shortcuts in life that we tend to take. Taking the easier route always sounds like a better option, but at times can be a very problematic decision in the end. For instance, I tend to rely heavily on a website called symbolab, which solves problems for my math class. This website should be utilized by me in order to help as a complimentary role that can be used as a way to check my answers, rather than solving them for me. When teachers teach, they tend to use powerpoint a lot. Powerpoints filled with long arrays of information are easier for the teacher, but very difficult for students taking notes when the teacher goes by the slides in a very quick manner. Shortcuts are rarely effective, and a large proportion of the time lowers the standard of quality of the finished product. We all agreed that in the end, when shortcuts are taken by teachers or professors there is no room for creativity and it can hurt the students in their performances.

Leah, Emily, Maddie

In our discussion we talked about if vacationing sometimes is a way to “flex” on other people rather than just for pleasure. For instance some people go on vacations and take hundreds of pictures. When you focus a vacation on taking a lot of pictures, you do not get to fully endure everything around in the experience. I believe when you go to a place it is better to embrace what is around you and go for pleasure. We also talked about whether it was better to go somewhere you are unfamiliar with or a place you are familiar with. I gave my input of how this upcoming winter I am going to Paris and Barcelona with my friends. I will be incredibly unfamiliar with my surroundings as I have never been outside the country. It’s better to try new things and see different parts of the world. When you don’t have expectations of things you will see, you will get much more enjoyment from where you travel to. Traveling should be about fully seeing your environment rather than taking pictures solely for the purpose of posting them on Instagram.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zqXANRzxRQf0ew_CXIOAndis8y1NYgxw6PJmzjlwzb8/edit

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zqXANRzxRQf0ew_CXIOAndis8y1NYgxw6PJmzjlwzb8/edit

Jason R, Leah S, Juliana B, Timothy D, Riley B, Maddie B, Ruthie L, Jake H, Sean R, Nick P, Christian J, Michael R, Jake D, Gabby L

In our discussion today we talked about what differentiates banking education and the problem-posing education method. We went through the pros and cons of how each work. We have been given a systematic way of getting handed information and just reciting everything that is taught. One of the things with banking education is that it does not motivate me to genuinely put in any effort. High school was incredibly difficult to go through the motions and memorize things then a week after the test, it will soon be forgotten. This method has really affected me in my grades because comprehending information is much more valuable than memorizing. A huge aspect that is between a good teacher and a bad teacher is their ability to make students think rather than memorizing. The problem-posing method is far superior since it allows students to be enthusiastic when learning. I had a few teachers that taught this way and the impact it had on me was that I was able to actually “learn” topics. In college, we are required to take gen-ed classes, which have a positive and negative impact. These classes need to be taught with passion and make students able to be motivated. Our discussion went very well and we made some great conversation over this topic.