"How camest thou in this pickle?"

“In problem-posing education, people develop their power to perceive critically the way they exist in the world with which and in which they find themselves; they come to see the world not as a static reality, but as a reality in process, in transformation.” I do not have a lot of experience in the class room as a teacher, but I do as a student. The banking system introduced in this reading reminded me a lot of my education. I would memorize to the point of a test and then toss it all aside in order to memorize the next bit of information. I never truly learned anything. Sure I learned some things due to the repetition of the subject but I felt that most of the knowledge I was learning was only short term, something only to remember for the next test and the next subject. But there was nothing I would necessarily use for the rest of my life. This repetition of memorizing and forgetting stems from the personal belief that High School was just preparing me for these tests and that’s...

I will definitely hold onto this text.  I find that most humans find themselves trapped in routine, and forget that there are other ways besides formal essays and tests to evaluate a student's learning. To encourage different assessments is important, because people have different strengths. There were certain assessments I was better at and others I wasn't. I also think certain assessments work better for certain subjects or criteria that is hoping to be met. I think that Journal/Blog responses are interesting because subtle changes can be seen over time, plus they are pretty consistent and routine. I also enjoy discussion evaluations/assessments. I think they can be a little more nerve wracking as a student but, I think they are great to use at the end of a quarter or semester.  People perform differently and a lot of that has to do with their strengths and weaknesses. When balancing between their strengths and their weaknesses and by applying different evaluations/as...

I am so excited to apply this reading. I found that it was incredibly easy to apply this reading to the theatre world. Trust me, we love analyzing text more than most English majors, and I'm not saying that lightly. When it comes to analyzing text the theatre geeks have everyone beat. If you are curious you can ask to see my Twelfth Night and King Lear analysis. I compared the reading to something I do on the daily, and these exercises and practices truly helps not only the actors, directors, and remaining cast and crew but the audience as well.  I often tell people who are going to see a play for the first time to read up on it, especially if they are going to see Shakespeare. While it is fun to be surprised from time to time, Shakespeare is just a little bit harder to follow especially if you aren't familiar with the text. The easiest thing to do is look at the characters and the structure of the play. I find that Ted Talks really help, especially if you want a brief ...

This post really got me thinking about certain projects that we have in class. 1. The book talks - Before reading the standards I was guessing, based off of personal experience, what grade level I would suggest using (insert title here) book for, as well as shaped and directed my thoughts towards topics that would better fit the standards I'm teaching. 2. Our final project - This will be my first time creating a lesson plan, let alone a full unit! Apparently I like a challenge. Going over the standards really helped me by transforming somewhat into a checklist. I started asking myself questions about this work and what it would help me accomplish. Could I reach this standard with this activity? Would this activity encourage or distract from the overall lesson? What are my goals and how can I reach them? Reading the standards also encouraged me to go out of my comfort zone and really start digging for answers I didn't even know myself. For example: When looking at the Re...

The easiest way to learn is through failure. We either improve from it or make bad habits out of it. Not only did this article help me develop some new "tools" I could use to improve a seemingly bad discussion, but it also encouraged me to reflect on what kind of discussion member I have been in the past. What brought about this reflection for me was the "Conversation Role" section. While thinking back on previous discussions, I found that the more well rounded the group was the better the discussion became. In most discussion groups I found that there will always be a select few who are constantly stimulating the flow of conversation, or in some cases dominating it (I tend to be one of those people). When the flow of conversation becomes dominated by these speakers, the conversation can become stagnant, the two to three people go around in circle arguing over their beliefs, opinions,  and interpretations. But if the flow is broken by other members who challenge t...