1. Tonight (Wednesday, October 14) at 7:30 p.m. in the Centennial Rooms, Dr. Blanchard and Dr. Usitalo will debate the topic "Is Free Speech Over-rated?"
2. On Wednesday, October 21 at 6:00 p.m., faculty will be reading some of their favorite stories at the annual "Sweets and Stories" presentation. That's held downstairs in the Student Center.
3. There are quite a few Noon Forums still on the schedule--all held in the Rotunda of the Williams Library at noon on Wednesdays:
Oct. 28 The Power of Collaborative Culture
Nov. 4 Lessons from Veteran Teachers
Nov. 18 Visual Talk
Dec. 2 The Last Lecture I’d Ever Give
Dec. 9 Holiday Sing-along
CONCERTO ARIA COMPETITION:
ReplyDeleteI thought that the competition was phenomenal. Many talented students showcased their best abilities. I think it would be amazing to have even a fraction of their talent. Judging the event would have been a difficult task because they were all so good. I personally thought that there were some that were slightly better than others based on their tone and how loudly they could project their voices. The students who played instruments all did well. The one thing I disliked about the competition was that some of the pieces seemed to be very long. Other than that, it was a good night!
Lizzy Katz (10:00 am)
I went to the Noon Forum by Sara Christensen-Blair a few weeks ago. She talked a lot about digital painting and showed us a few of the images she made. In the Mac lab, here on campus, there are five specialized tablets for digital painting that I would love to try sometime! Overall a very interesting presentation :)
ReplyDeleteI've been to a couple of the noon forums so far: "Is free speech over-rated",The power of collaborative culture, and Lessons from Veteran teachers. I will try to give a brief summary of what I felt most important, and touch on a couple of interesting ideas each had covered.
ReplyDeleteThe debate was actually very interesting to watch; though I did feel Usitalo might have went a bit rogue from traditional debating standards I did feel that what he had to say was important though I felt it might have been even more entertaining had there been fair play and equivalent amount of time dispersed between the two. What Blanchard talked about was very interesting when he began to talk about just what was something that was taboo in our society today. You really can not say a single thing about another culture, race, gender, or belief that isn't taken to an extreme. It seems that when talking to someone you're also navigating a verbal mine-field. You have to be aware of seemingly everything from the persons body language to their verbal clues. Since they might give you the slightest opinion of how they feel. Its something very interesting to think about for the future and how much censorship that there will be on the world.
Usitalo had a bit more of the "how would it make them feel" kind of ideal taking into consideration the amount of negatives that might be hidden from one persons perspective that blatantly exists in another persons. I can see how the burning of the "N" might have been seen as offensive, but I do not feel that that was the intention and so it shouldn't carry the bad stigma that it represents the word "nigger." This something that I feel corrupts what was previously believed as representative of Northern, and making a negative spectacle of something is just as bad as doing a negative action itself.
Both arguments had their justifications for free-speech changing rapidly moving toward the future. We should not remain oblivious to that fact that the world is getting smaller due to internet and other such means of connection and so the repercussions of our actions reach further, and so too do we reach a more diverse audience with a much greater range of ideas and opinions.
I also went to "the power of collaborative culture." Though I didn't connect as well with the speaker as much as I would have liked due to the fact that his solution remained illusive. Though the idea that a collaborative culture sounds nice on paper it's likelihood of success rapidly falls. He also wasn't prepared for the question of "what if it(collaborative culture) was used for evil intent", was asked. He simply said that wouldn't happen and that good would prevail- this doesn't please the question leaving it all but unanswered. It was a good idea with a couple of real-world examples, though small, and I feel like if he might have expanded on it a bit more I would have been happier with the presentation of collaborative culture and the presenter himself.
Tanner Peltier
I also went to the Veteran teachers presentation. I felt at ease listening to their idea of discipline being implemented more in the classroom, and just how to deal with students coming into class as veterans.
ReplyDeleteThere was the example of them fitting in and how different of a transition it is going from structure to fully autonomous can be difficult. It takes a lot of change and work to do things without having a very ordered operation of tasks. Therefore giving more respect to them the teacher might need to do a bit of adjusting to correctly handle situations that might arise with veteran students.
I believed the best thing I had heard was when one the speakers was talking about how he had to deal with a verbal student in another international teachers classroom. Having said that he stopped said student with a very firm hand on the shoulder in the the hallway and telling him exactly what he needed to change which he did in fact do. But it was a response from another teacher who said "you grabbed him!?". It's odd to see how helpless some teachers are when they have to follow a strict set of rules. Only being allowed to use your words,limited as well, can be difficult.
All of the presentations have definitely given me more to think about and have questions of my own I might do more to asses just how I might improve the way that I go through my daily life. I am very happy to have gone and I got a couple bagels out of it too!
-Tanner Peltier
The veterans teacher event was one that caught my eye and interested me. I thought the insight on the different systems of school vs military was interesting. It makes a big difference coming from a disciplined, structured, institution where failure is not an option and then moving into an institution where you have to figure out what your next step is. It makes you think about whether enough responsibility is put on the teachers for a student's failures or inability to learn.
ReplyDelete-Bianca Rosa
I was really interested in hearing what the professors who are veterans had to say because I want to be a teacher and I am also in the military. So this topic really hit home because it actually help me understand why I see things differently from my peers. Things like responsibility, needing feedback, and why I need structure in my life. I have never considered why these things are so important to me and how my military career has carried into my education and professional life!
ReplyDeleteSarah Secker