Author: Nicholas Gamba

Praise: Your essay is extremely well written. You use a lot of examples and your paragraphs are developed and really though out.
Constructive: If you can develop your fourth sub point the same way you did with the other three, the essay will be nearly perfect.
Percy: The analysis of the Percy quotes in your essay are depth and explains how it relates to your topic.

Praise: I really like how you are including real world examples into your piece. It makes it strong for the analysis portion of the paragraph.

Constructive: Check some of the punctuation and beef up the paragraphs a little bit more.

Percy: Your Percy quotes are good, you just need to integrate them into the paragraphs and explain how they relate to the topic.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mY6q2wn8TEGZ8MZdbLTdkTZrV85R4-aJp0uF7OEEtvU/edit?usp=sharing

Praise: You have an extremely strong thesis that covers a wide range of topics that could place “students in the driver’s seat”

Constructive: Check the punctuation you are using and make sure that they are being used properly. You could also use a different type of punctuation if it works better.

Percy: The use of your quotes through the whole essay are great at relating back to your main point of the paragraph. Just remember to cite where they came from in the final draft.

Praise: You have the ideas down which relate to the main topic you are trying to prove.
Construction: Check over your grammar to make sure the sentences read well.
Percy: Add some quotes to back up your points in the body paragraphs.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mY6q2wn8TEGZ8MZdbLTdkTZrV85R4-aJp0uF7OEEtvU/edit?usp=sharing

Praise: Your thesis is a very good set up for the rest of the essay. It explains what is wrong and how you will be able to fix the problem.

Constructive: If you mean having the students present a topic to other students so that they are able to learn, isn’t that the same thing just without a professor. If not, explain how they will teach the information.

Percy: The quotes you picked fit the narrative of the essay well and can easily be used to support your ideas above.

Praise: Good way of finishing off the thesis by saying what taking outside classes might solve

Constructive: Be sure to define well rounded in your final essay

Percy: Good quotes that can easily be related to the essay

Group: Donny Lessing, Tj Fitzpatrick, Nick Gamba

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fPg3Ktpgt8BJKYqn7h_3egK2Tz-TYcFqAa8hZG3a_yQ/edit?usp=sharing

Group: Kyle Owens, Bella, 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

Today’s discussion group had a very big turn out so there were many people wanting to discuss taking shortcuts and why they may not always be useful. We discussed how memorization isn’t a very effective for learning new material. We end up making more work for ourselves by trying to memorize all of the subjects on a quiz or test and then forget about it until it is needed for another type of exam. Memorization does not help a person remember things when they are not able to make a connection with it. Teachers will upload Powerpoints because it makes it easier for themselves and harder for students. Since they are reteaching the same material each semester, why would they want to remake slides about each of their topics. Using the same Powerpoints makes it seem like they are not interested in the material any more. Creating a shortcut may allow the first person to use it to be creative, but does not allow the students following to be.

Group: TJ, Nick, Gabe, Donny

TJ said how he thinks technology supports Walker Percy’s belief that seeing something is less interesting and not as great then the first person to see it. Donny and I agreed with him with saying that seeing things online can be better than visiting or it could lessen the feeling of seeing something for the very first time. I said that technology is helpful for the people that either can not or do not want to visit a place. Since all phones have a camera, it is very easy to see something, take a picture of it, and forget about it. Gabe agreed with us but also said that it can debunk Percy’s belief in that some things we will never be able to visit in person. For example, the first picture of a black hole is something that was amazing to see but if it wasn’t taken, nobody would know what it looked like. We agreed with Gabe on that and TJ added that sometimes a picture does not do a place justice and that actually going there makes the viewing experience a whole lot better.

Topic: Student Power

Team: Nick Gamba

Thesis: Professors can make the students feel more empowered by assigning more group activities, discussions, and presentations instead of lectures which, according to Freire, would also allow them to become greater learners.

Quotes:  “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,” (Freire 2).

“Any situation in which some individuals prevent others from engaging in the process of inquiry is one of violence,” (Freire 6).

Group: Luke, Dana, Jenna, Lauren, Mackenzie, Nick, Noah, Bella, Kira

Our group talked about how the quote, “Here, no one teaches another, nor is anyone selftaught. People teach each other…” related to our educational system. We believed that our education system was mostly focused on memorizing information to later use for a test. We said that in order for someone to learn, they have to tell their ideas to others and instead of the listener learning from them, the speaker is becoming more knowledgeable. By talking to someone you are able to read what you are going to say, actually say what you are reading, and then hear it. You are taking in information three different ways just by reading your thoughts to someone else. In order for someone to gain more knowledge, they should also try and connect to what they are speaking about to something that they care about. Mackenzie brought up that when you are in Spanish class and have to give a presentation, you do not learn what you are going to say, you are merely memorizing it. By connecting it to something you care about, the information will be more meaningful.

Group: Riley, Nick, Jake H., Tyler

We all agreed with the idea that the students are just a product of the teacher and are like robots that follow what the teacher says.  We did think that there are classes where you are more like a robot than others. Classes that involve math or science may make a student feel more like a robot because they do not know how to solve a problem and the teacher has to teach them the right way to complete the problem.  I know that these are the classes that I tend to feel more like a robot. Some English classes though allow you to be more creative and do things how you want to do them. By assigning a project instead of having the class sit down and listen to a lecture, the students have more creativity in completing the task.  For the most part, it depends on how the teacher wants to get the information across to the students.