Modern Dance Recital

I recently attended my older sister's modern dance recital at Winona State University. I really enjoyed it. Because I consider myself an artist I enjoy other works of art and this was really one. Many of the pieces had interesting themes that came out subtly and really made me think about what they were trying to show. Some of the performances though went right over my head. The ones I understood were very interesting and not only cool to watch but really made me think about a message or story the coreographer is trying to share. I think it would be very cool to try and go to more things like this in the future.

Elixer of Love

I recently attended the opera performance, Elixer of Love. The performers did an incredible job of keeping true to operatic form but I was not as bored as I usually am so they also did a good job of keeping it interesting. I can only imagine how much work it would take to put a production of that size together. My favorite part about it was the story line. It was a very clever Shakespeare like story with love, decit, and humor. Every character in the story had their certain part and all of the acters did so well portraying that. I think it would be very fun to partake in an event such as an opera and hopefully I will have the chance sometime.

Islam

This week for my personal learning goal I spent time learning about Islam. I read that portion of the book: Idiot's Guide to World Religions. I found it very interesting and realized that there was actually a lot I didn't know about the religion. I found many parallels with Christianity that I did not know existed. I also am now more able to understand the way their culture works and possible reasons for their fundamentalist groups. This really opened my eyes to the religion, people, and culture of Islam and I am now encouraged to explore more world religions to try and understand our world and the people in it better.

Healthier Sleep Patterns

My personal learning goal for this week in response to chapter 9 was to try to adjust myself to healthier sleeping patterns. My objectives for this were to cut back on caffeine, go to bed earlier, and to not waste time in the mornings by sleeping in. The methods I used to achieve this goal were: avoid going to C-Store to avoid temptation of buying energy drinks, hence hopefully the lack of caffeine will let me fall asleep earlier, and to set multiple alarms in the morning to make sure I get up. I measured my success by realizing that I was more tired more often, although I did accomplish more throughout my week. My attitude has changed in that I think caffeine helps me however too much leads to poor sleep patterns. This directly relates to chapter 9 because it is a good example of self-regulated learning. I set up a Winne and Hadwin 4 phase model. I also realized how my environment affects my sleep patterns and what I can do to help regulate them which is an example of social cognition.

Ethnic Arts Festival

I attended the Ethnic Arts Festival at Luther College. I found it very interesting. there were many booths set up on different countries with people who had either visited there or lived there. As I walked the hallways looking at different stations it was interesting to see so many different cultures juxtaposed. One booth I found particularly interesting was the South Africa Booth. I talked to someone who traveled there with a class over January and learned all about the Apartide. He told me about it and about what he saw on his travels. I also stopped for a while at the Brazil booth because I know someone who lived in Brazil for a year and I like to hear about other peoples' experiences there. I think the Ethnic Arts Festival is a great event at Luther. It lets many people tell about their cultural experiences and many more people learn about different cultures. When I was there it was not very busy and I think a lot of people missed out on this great opportunity.

Vagina Monologues

I attended the Vagina Monologues at Luther College. I think what they were raising money for is a great thing. All of the proceeds go to a battered women's shelter. There were many mixed messages throughout the show. Some of the monologues were very sad about women who were abused and some were about funny things. This was a nice contrast however I wasn't sure what to think about some the message of the show with so much variety. There was one monologue about a girl who was seduced and molested by a lesbian when she was a child, but the story was told in a funny and charming way which I thought was horribly not tasteful. There was also a monologue about how short skirts are not to show off sexy legs, which I found self-righteous and hypocritical. Most of the stories were charming and entertaining but I thought a few were unnecessary.

Does the internet and technology offer promise and hope for education and learning or does it just create additional problems?

I think that in many situations technology can make things easier for everyone. Teachers using it for grades, communication, and getting information off of the Internet are all productive things, but I have been in a classroom where the teacher could not get something to work and wasted time trying to figure it out. I have however been in more situations where a teacher has effectively used technology to increase learning and create a change of environment for the students. I believe technology should be used in classrooms of all sorts to advance learning. I find when problems happen it is because the teacher attempting to use it is not knowledgeable in what they are trying to do, so I find the fault not in technology but instead the user. A good solution to this is to require teachers to be more educated in technology when achieving a degree and have workshops for them so less class time will be wasted fiddling with gadgets instead of learning.