Presentations Response pt. II

Again, the presentation topics were all very interesting - it's great to see everyone taking different directions and spins within the realm of education.

In particular, I thought the different studies and statistics that Lindsay presented about her research was especially interesting. I didn't know so many of these facts, but assumed almost every one. It's crazy to think that we have all these studies that prove correlation, but have no guess to the causation. I also really liked your word choice for your thesis - where and not how. Your paper will be really enlightening.

Brittany - I didn't know this sort of therapy was existent. It's going to be interesting to draw out the education within your topic. This really displays that education is not one size fits all.

Jessica - Of all the presentations so far, yours is the most connected. It's great how involved you are. I would also be aware of your bias - I would try to remain generally neutral throughout the piece until your addition to the conversation.

I really liked how Jessica chose a topic that really meant alot to her. You could tell in her presentation that this aspect effects her life everyday and it was some thing that she really cared about. I also like how she showed us what it is like for deaf people everday by using the sign language. Using experiences from her life to get her point across were really useful and it really helped her connect to the class emotionally. I was really impressed with her presentation and looked forward to hearing more about her topic!

Oral Presentations

I found the presentation on the student achievement gap to be thought provoking. Especially the part that explained that black men in all black schools are better off than if they attend a mostly white school, but for female black students that contrast doesn't matter. Animal therapy was also an enlightening topic. I was aware of horse therapy for disabled children but I didn't know that it involved games like "red light, green light" and that some horse trainers provide the therapy free of charge. Dolphin therapy was something I'd never heard of before and found very uplifting. I've studied dolphins and am aware that they are some of the smartest and kindest animals in existence, therefore it seemed fitting that they participate in disabled therapy for children and adults. The topic of deaf education was something I could relate to because for years I played volleyball and interacted with the kids who went to the state school for the deaf in Minnesota. I found it interesting that they only have two colleges to choose from. The presentation made me appreciate what I have.

Friday, April 23rd Presentations

I would like to congratulate everybody so far who has presented -- All the presentations have been very impressive and I hope this following week lives up to the standards already set!

Lindsay, your presentation was very thought-provoking. The achievement gaps that are present among races is more than a problem than people sometimes realize, or admit to realizing. I found your statistics and predicted validity slides especially interesting -- if you want to add more to your research, definitely go and pursue these topics. Also, what I meant to say in class when Lindsay asked why the university wouldn't mind having an achievement gap is that universities tend give more scholarships to minority students which can be unfavorable to the university-- I did not mean to say that universities loan more to minorities because that can be interpreted as insulting. I'm sorry!

Brittany, you probably have the most specific topic so far, which is great. I found the different types of therapy used to be especially interesting, and how those therapies effect autistic children differently. I'm going to have to agree with the other students though and disagree with Mary -- you should at least talk about education in some way and relate it to your topic. This will add a great deal to your paper!

And finally, Jessica, I found the most astonishing thing about your topic was that there was only one deaf school in Wisconsin. Wow, that should really be changed... but that is besides the point. I agree with your answer and I believe you have enough information. So you should pursue taking a poll like the students suggested to add depth to your paper.

Let's go, Monday presenters! Woo!

Racial Gap, Animal Therapy, and Deaf Education

Another day of presentations, props to all those that presented. Just a few quick comments.

Lindsay- Racial Gap in Higher Education- Well informed, great presentation. I feel that you have a firm grasp of the subject. Not much else to say, something interesting that I found when I was researching is the importance of ratios in statistics. I would be curious to know the ratio of minority students to college aged minority students. Than compare this ratio to that of white students.

Brittany- Animal Therapy- Really interesting topic, I was unaware of this sort of therapy. Your personal experience in relation to the subject is valuable to the strength of the argument. In respect to your question, I believe that the inclusions of all three types of therapy are required to be included. A synthesis of the three therapies would strengthen each individual program. Good Job.

Jessica- Deaf Education- This presentation caught me off guard, for I was taken aback when you began signing. Really interesting topic, which was thought provoking. I greatly enjoyed your presentation. Thinking about the topic later in the day, I thought about your counter-argument. I am sure that you are aware of this, but does the exclusion of deaf students from standard schools inhibit their interpersonal skills with people capable of hearing? Really interesting.

Presentations: Day 4

Well I thought today's presentations were particularly interesting. Lindsay's presentation on racial gaps was really informative. I'm sure a lot of people in class didn't know what the SATs and/or the ACTs tested for because I was surely not aware either. It really showed how unfortunate it is that there are gaps in testing and upper level education when the people that on average do better on these tests don't even know what they are measuring. As for Brittany's presentation, I think it's really awesome that disabled kids get a chance to interact with the world in different ways, even if it is with animals and not particularly people. I was really interested in the information she gave about how the kids do better with different kinds of therapy. It was enlightening. As for Jessica's presentation, I also thought it was really interesting. I'm also doing my paper about deaf individuals, although our focuses are different from one another. I really don't have as much knowledge as she does on deaf culture, I'm sure of that, but I'm looking forward to seeing what the class says about our different pieces of information that we've gathered as well as our use of the information.

4/23

All the presentations today were very well done and interesting as well. The topic of using animal therapy was very interesting in my opinion. I knew that dogs were used in hospitals to make the patients feel better, but I didn't know they were also used for autistic therapy. There was a girl in my school who was autistic and was on the same gymnastics team as me, and it was hard for her to communicate with the other members of the team. She didn't know how to be involved. I think using animal therapy is a great way in which to help children with autism. I think this idea is a neat way to include education in non conventional ways because education is everywhere. Jessica's presentation on deaf culture and mainstream schools was a fascinating topic. I think that there should be more schools in which deaf children can go to school because I think that kids don't understand children with disabilities and that makes it hard for those children to make any friends. I was surprised in Lindsay's presentation that the ACT/SAT measure your expected college grades. I think racism is still a big problem and that it really affects how these students perform due to the environment they are put into.