Author: Seamus Corkery

By Seamus Corkery

Group Members- Amanda, Sarah, Liv, and Nick

Our discussion group this week was about topic 2 in our second writing project, learning about the classroom. West Chester University offers many different tables to get work done if you don’t want to do it in the dorm room. You have the library, the tables all around the campus, and in many of the halls you have access to computer labs and other rooms to get work done. One thing that hinders many students in all colleges is procrastinating school work and studying till the last minute. Many students always think they have more time on there hands then they actually do. Another way to achieve at college is to get your work done with your friends so it doesn’t seem like you’re actually doing work, it just seems like you are hanging out with your friends like usual. If you follow this advice you should see your grades start to improve in no time and have less stress at college.

By Seamus Corkery

Group Members- Amanda Regan, Julia, Maura, Liv, and Nick

Today in our discussion group we discussed Percy’s question “Is looking like sucking: the more lookers, the less there is to see?” What he means by this is that when you don’t follow your own path and go on a journey to call your own, you won’t enjoy the final product as much as if you were to have your own journey. This is why so many people are let down when they travel for so long to see something that they thought would bring them joy. Instead of giving the looker joy, it ends up making them feel let down. To really be impressed by something, you have to go on your own journey and have lower expectations of what everyone else has. When you are not expecting as much, that is when you are impressed most by something, not when you set your expectations so high. This is the key point that our group made in today’s discussion group, to make your own path.

By Seamus Corkery

Group Members- Cait Mangini, David Macmullen, Sam Livorno, Hailey Clark, Brandon Zahal, Sarah Veneziale, Gabe, Sam Weitzel, Amanda, Kathryn

For this discussion group we discussed Freire’s ideologies about how people learn. Freire’s ideology about how people learn is that people cannot be taught by someone else, but they cannot be self-taught. This is a tricky point because it seems contradictory, but it’s not. He’s saying that to be taught you must go to someone else and learn from what you tell the person even if they don’t give you an answer. Our group personally disagreed with Freire because we felt that he contradicted himself when explaining how we as students learn. I personally felt that you can learn from others and yourself but I think you you learn through his ideology. Overall we felt that the way that students learn is specific to the student. All students learn differently and some students learn more than other students depending on how they’re learning. To conclude, we feel that students should learn whatever way works best for them.

Group Members- Caitlin Mangini, Amanda Regan, Sarah Veneziale, Megan Kid, Sambrina Lindley, Haley Clark, Olivia Vearling, and Ava Hill

The topic for our discussion group this week was humanism. More specifically humanism in the banking concept masks humans turning into automatons. This concept suggests that we as students are supposed to take in everything that the teacher teaches and then be able to have all of the answers to the teachers question when asked. This leaves the students with little room to be creative. Our group felt that although it is important to study and memorize what is being taught to us in class; we also feel that the students should not be treated like robots. This takes away the students freedom to learn the way which best suits them. Another subtopic that our group hit on was the need for teachers to aid in students learning instead of simply providing the material. If the teacher would aid in students learning than it could definitely have positive effects on their grades, their class participation, and simply their confidence in the classroom. If teachers could follow some these tips then their students would feel significantly more confident in class and in themselves.

By Seamus Corkery

Discussion Group Names- Olivia Vearling, Jeff Biancaniello, David Macmullen, Sam Livornl, Amanda Regan, Gwen Jordan, Maura Kelly, Caitlin Mangini, Laura Mcgroary, and Hailey Clark.

Our group discussed how teachers force students to abide by their teachings versus being able to learn on their own to have their own understanding of different topics. This was one of many topics from Paulo Freire’s “The Banking Concept of Education.” The title for our group discussion was “the teacher knows everything and the students know nothing.” The thing is that this agenda can sometimes be true depending on what is being taught in the specific class. For example, in a very hard subject matter such as physics or maybe calculous, the students may need to be treated as if they know nothing due to them actually not knowing anything about the subject. The agenda that the teacher knows everything and the students know nothing can be proven wrong when you begin to discuss more broad subject matters that provide better learning experiences when you discuss the subject with your students and they able to give their own input as to how they feel about the topic. I feel that students learn best when they are in an environment where they can give their own input and maybe even help another student out versus the teacher being the only one allowed to speak and the students must listen and act as spectators.