Week 14

Casey

This week in Pegeen's class the students went over their first draft for Project 4. I really like this project because it gives the students a choice with what they want to write about, and I think in turn this will produce better written essays and more enthusiasm from the students.

It has been my experience while observing the classroom that the students in the Tuesday afternoon section are very reluctant to discuss Gladwell, mainly because they either didn't really understand his ideas or thought they didn't understand them. In class today, however, the students were much more involved in the discussion, which made me happy to see. I think this is due to most of the class choosing the same option for their last essay (#3 - Anti-success), and we read over one example of a student's essay who chose this option, which answered a lot of questions the class had about their own essays. This particular student used the phrase "Gladwell would say that..." instead of actually quoting Gladwell. Pegeen emphasized that it is important for the students to use Gladwell's actual ideas and implement them in the essay rather than guessing or assuming what Gladwell would say about a certain topic or situation.

We also read a student's paper that was doing the second option, sending a letter to Gladwell. It seemed that the common question among all students, no matter what option they chose for this essay, was using Gladwell's ideas in the correct context. We spent a lot of time in class discussing and evaluating some of the big ideas that Gladwell brings up, like cultural legacies, innate talent, and extraordinary opportunities. She suggested looking through thosed sections in the book again to make sure the students are using these ideas in the right context.

I feel that the students overall are understanding Gladwell better and more fully. This shows with them being able to use his ideas and relate them to their own experiences. I am really happy with how this assignment is going so far, so I'm excited to see what my student's paper will look like.

-Casey