Author: Michael Lindholm

I will be hosting a Discussion group on Sunday at 10 am at Tyson hall benches to discuss the differences between Friere and Percy and how we can correlate their thoughts and opinions effectively for essay 3.

Problem: “learning” is through lecture based, memorization classes and it prevents students from correctly processing the information given to them.

Solution: Restructuring student schedules to have smaller class sizes for students

Effects: More one on one interaction between classmates and teachers

Class structured not to memorize but to understand information

more balanced teaching styles to all students

more student engagement by opening up the class to more discussion based activities

Pro:You are very clear with your introduction. It gives me a great idea of what the essay will be about

Con: Organization could use some work, have a clear idea and then slightly gets jumbled

Percy: Great quotes, really develop your points well

https://docs.google.com/document/d/19VpyjS7Hn6510AEucIyoUtnzE1qhpNf9zkq09vHEtPo/edit

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1V0YgqFYWbC8ClJPb02T4bmygOhC4Xb2NXz4FsubammE/edit

Praise: You do a good job describing what you will be talking about in your essay. It opens clear and lets you know what you are reading right away.

Constructive: Try to transition a bit smoother from paragraph to paragraph. From the readers perspective it can sound a bit choppy.

Percy: Your argument is clear but the quotes chosen are not 100% corresponding with your proposal.

Praise: Your essay is relatable and clear to understand. Taking only Major courses would force students to miss out on necessary skills learned from those courses such as math and English. You may not require math for you field of interest but being good with numbers helps you out in numerous ways in your life.

Constructive: Adding more descriptive words would give your essay a better flow. A lot of similar pronouns are used and it can be repetitive at times.

Percy: The Quote talking about a “genuine experience” made a nice connection to your argument.

During our discussion we talked about how the present is irrelevant in many peoples lives. We as a society dwell on what could have been and what could be in the future rather than what we have right now. In todays society, people tend to want to be something and think ahead to prepare themselves for what they could be. History repeats itself in the way that everything will come back into style eventually. Cigarette used to be the way kids looked “cool” and now it is electronic cigarettes. Another example we talked about was clothing. Old clothing styles come and go, thrown out when they are not in style and brought back later when they are “back in.” This idea of there being no present is shown through these ideas. Because things from the past are brought into style in the future there really is no present style, just a past style brought back to life. New ideas come and go and are reentered into our lives throughout time, so the present is just the futures past.

Dana Roeder, Bella DiPasquale, Haley Lark, Sam Livorno, David Heffron

I understand that the school is systematically set up in a way that restrains students from learning. However, it is not clear as to how your proposal makes this change in any way. What is the solution that your group has decided will fix this, and build off of this idea.

I like the idea of combining classrooms and dorms, as it will give the students a sense of comfort at their college experience. If classrooms were clashed with the residential living halls it would give students an opportunity to feel welcome in their learning space. I think the quote you chose works perfectly for this ideology, so how can you apply it to the Freire reading to make the connection. It works great just have to be more specific with the details of how this would work better rather than the set up college currently offers.

Topic 1: The space of education at WCU

Group: Michael Lindholm

There are endless possiblities in the way a college campus could be rearranged in order to maximize potential learning. There is a lot of wasted space in dorm halls, and to be able to occupy that space with potential learning possibilities could reshape how a student is able to learn at WCU. One of the ways we are able to get students more engaged is to hold classes in a more personal manner. If all classes were more student-teacher based rather than lecture formatted than students would be able to get more out of their class time. But not only should the classroom sizes be smaller for a more direct education, but the delivery system of which the teacher reveals information for students.

Quote 1: “They have always been “Inside” the structure which made them “Beings for others.” The solution is not to “Integrate” Them into the structure of oppression, but to transform that structure so that they can become “Beings for themselves” (Friere 2).

Quote 2: Education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which 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”(Friere 1).

A good teacher to me is one who gets their students engaged with the class. Getting students involved is a good way to help them retain the information being taught. Teachers who stand and give information to memorize ultimately don’t leave their students with an understanding of the class. Teachers find a way to go through the motions of teaching to get through the course requirements, partially because they get paid the same either way. As long as a teacher gets the students good grades it doesn’t matter if its through memorizing or engaging. Freire also believes that teachers work through the motions. Students in a way are like prisoners; teachers give students set instructions and you must follow them or there are consequences. These tough guidelines is exactly what restricts kids from learning to their full potential, which Freire stresses heavily in his writing. If we are forced to follow the rules we cannot express our full potential.

Leader: Jake Heikkinin

Members: Makayla Medycki, Emily Foley, Mia Cicerone, Julia Digiogio, Gwen Jordan, Juliana Beristain, Maura Kelly.