Wednesday, April 21 Presentations

I thought Malika had a really unique idea to write about knowledge of the genocide in Darfur. Her connection to Africa with her dual citizenship is definitely not something that very many people have! Her focus kind of made me think of Greg’s presentation on how very little Americans really know about geography, but rather, she is writing about peoples’ knowledge of the genocide. I learned about the genocide in Rwanda for a French project, and I watched the movie Hotel Rwanda. I feel like it is movies like Hotel Rwanda that help make people aware of genocide in other countries. In her paper, Malika could possibly discuss ways to educate more people about the issue, such as watching (nonfiction) films, as well as discussing what classes knowledge of the genocide would be taught in, such as current events, and as she discussed, international studies.
It was interesting how Lauren involved her own experience of her sister’s ADHD with her topic of parent and teacher involvement with children who have ADHD. Her outline of responsibility in education including in home, at school, and how they work together are really good focus points. I think that if she discussed each in separate paragraphs including information about what can be done for the ADHD child to learn in each setting, her layout would flow nicely. She could possibly include relevant information as to how the teacher can be highly involved with the ADHD student as well as the rest of the students in the class, so as to not take away any time from the rest of the class. The online activity that Joey did was a really cool example for Lauren to show the class. She presented her information very well and in a fun way.
I liked Joyce’s idea to discuss holistic and child-centered education in her paper. It was nice to hear some background information on the Montessori and Waldorf schools. The educational approach in which it is believed that learning comes from the whole child with an emphasis on the arts is a very different educational setting and experience, straying from traditional education. It would be interesting to see Joyce incorporate the possible costs and benefits of students attending a Montessori or Waldorf school. For instance, students who attend these holistic schools may greatly excel in art or theatre, but other skills and areas of learning, such as reading and writing skills, may in effect be lacking. She could also incorporate information on the balance between traditional education as well as a more holistic, seemingly more creative, approach to education, possibly toward the end of her paper in order to kind of touch on the future of education in schools.