Paradigm Shift

As we began to talk about paradigm shift and we thought about how it connects to the book, I began to realize that no only is it often present in PWB, but it is all over in the real world today. It is nearly impossible to accept many things at once. I personally don't like change very well and as I thought about this and connected it to myself, it started to make a lot more sense to me. College english has opened my eyes to a different side of me. At first I was really nervous about this class but it has made me more creative and made me think out of the box. In a way it has been a paradigm shift in my life. I couldn't except this big change in how this class is run but now I am so much more open to different things that we do.

Lurking in the Shadows

I really liked the conversation we had in class about how the truth is much like a shadow. Plato's example of this was so interesting to think about. In many ways I think much of our lives are portrayed as shadows. We may only see the 2D, single shade, shadow, but behind it lurks something so much more! Compared to a shadow, what makes it is so much more complex that to imagine an idea being that is amazing. To relate this back to PWB, I think the entire book may be a 5 person witness acount to the unveiling of the truth for their family. In the beginning they were all very naive and comfortable with their lives. As it goes on, I notice them acting alot more 'human'. I thought it was an interesting point of view to ponder with.

Senior Project Topics

Topics for the senior project are as follows:
Sarah Pranger--Arts Education
Noble Graham--Alternative Curriculum
Andy Brozek--Year Round School
Casey TenBrink--Merit Pay
Taylor Hegg--Sequential Grade Structure
Alexandria Sutton--National Curriculum (Common Core)
Becca Schmieding--Charter Schools
Nora Andrade--ESL
Amy Trevino--School Substance Abuse
Alex Kleiner--Drop Outs
Ross Ray--Grade Inflation
Tyler Ashbaugh--Bullying
Bethany Henion--Sex Ed
Sarah Sylvester--School Violence
Brian Schroeder--Sports in Schools
Emily White--Foreign Language Requirements
Henry Moron--Military Academies
Domanic Viterna--Public School Funding
Chelsea Smith--Standardized Testing
Kristen Wagner--Special Education Inclusion
Jake Smith--International Competition (I know you didn't sign up for this... but it is a great topic!)
Luke Smith--Tracking
Sydney Sherman--?
Eric Carballido--?

I didn' t hear from Sydney or Eric (unless I lost your slip Eric).  Here are some topics that aren't taken that I highly recommend:
Teacher Unions
Tenure
Parental Involvement
Teacher Evaluations
Privatized Schooling
(There are more if these don't interest you...)

I will be grouping these during break.