My thought on our class

Yes, I have noticed the level of engagement change in our class, but overall I think people are still very interested. It’s difficult for me to discern the different reasons for why this might be, but I can only really speak for myself.

As far as the content of the class goes, we started out learning about more general principles of language. It was a bit challenging for me personally, to look at language in a way I never had before, but I loved it. As the course has went on, the level of difficulty has started to decline, which I think might be a reason why the level of participation has gone down as well. As we’ve started learning about more specific examples of language (as it pertains to different cultures) I find myself still very interested, but less challenged, which is an important part of learning in general. The structure of this class is interesting that way. We started out with much harder principles, now it’s less difficult. For that reason I can understand why a typical class course is structured the way it is: start out with general principles, and as time passes, things get more difficult. It forces students to not only stay on track, but makes them anticipate “FINALS”- the most difficult part of an entire semester. However this class is not that way. I am in no way implying that we should have a final, for it may not work in this class, but I think it is a good idea to have more challenging work saved for last.

Personally, the reason for my decline in interest is much different. There’s a certain cycle I go through every semester, REGARDLESS of the class. Right about this time in the semester, I loose my stream. I start to become a little drained with all my classes, and want a break. Especially during this time of the year, the weather is nice and I just want to go out and play! This causes me to become lazier with class work and less interested in school in general.

But overall, what is more important is that I really enjoy this class. This is my most favorite class this semester. I have talked to many students who enjoy both the class and Tiffany very much. Hope is not lost…Let’s all make more of an effort to be involved!!