Mac vs PC

This is an example of Parody featuring characters from the comedic series South Park. What do you guys think can we take anything away from this that tells us something about our culture. What does this say about business practices in the United States.

-- Todd

Wii Fit

What does this parody tell us about our society and our use of technology?

Hey guys,
I found this video on youtube, and I thought it was a good example of parody. Please comment below the implications of this video on us today. Do you agree with what the creator's message is?

-- Todd

Plato's Cave

What is Plato saying here about our humanity?

Hello All,

I found this video on Youtube as well. I have always like Plato, so this popped out to me immediately. To me, this is an excellent example of Satire. What do you guys think?

-- Todd

In Class Workout #9

Station 6: Language Arts- Persuasive Speaking Survey

Members of the Group

Samantha Shockney
Josh Quimby
Jeremy Harrison
Courtney Payne

This station worked on persuasive English. The debate was whether or not it would be wise to reconstruct the 45/46 bypass to include more lanes. Some felt that the bypass was unsafe, so we decided to create a survey that determined how many people shared that opinion. Not only did we want to determine whether people felt the bypass was unsafe, but whether the accidents on the bypass were due to the road itself or due to highly aggressive driving in that area. The results of the survey were sent to a Google Spreadsheet. (see link below). I contributed by aiding the other members in our group create the questions on the survey. Together, we collaborated to create the survey questions.

We found that many people feel relatively safe on the bypass, however, 100% of the surveyed population agreed they'd feel safer with more lanes on the bypass. All the surveyed individuals said that they drive on the bypass, so this is clearly a widespread issue. While none of the people reported being in an accident, they reacted differently about the safety of the road. One reported that it's often "hard to get where I need to go" on the bypass. It's safe to say that more lanes would aid in this problem. Overall, although most people have managed to avoid accidents, it is clear that they would be open to construction to add more lanes to the bypass.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dEtkMGxHSi1OZXhqX0c3QlZIWHhSQ1E6MA


I think that this type of activity would be very valuable to students because it allows them to experience being persuasive in a way other than giving a speech or writing a paper. It also allows students to analyze data and combines persuasive thinking with scientific analysis. I think that combining these skills makes both stronger and improves the quality of education. The teachers can also benefit from this activity. They are able to see how well students are able to articulate and present their ideas. It also lets teachers see how well students are able to analyze data.

One drawback is that this activity really depends on the ability to ask questions that will give them good data. If students are not able to ask good questions, they won't get good enough data to make informed observations. Also, it takes a lot of feedback for the survey to get much data. The drawback for English teachers is we don't get to see how well students can write about their ideas. The answers are relatively short, we are unable to get much detail about student's opinion.

The most surprising aspect of this activity was how easy it was to make a decision and argue that position based on the data we collected. This could be a valuable lesson to students encouraging them to argue rationally.