Part 1:
Task: Before reading any further, take out a piece of paper and write down what is the most important thing to you in your life. Don’t agonize over this. Just imagine you were in a classroom with thirty students and I went around the class, pointed to each student and asked you what is the most important thing in your life, but instead of saying it out loud, just write it down.
Just like the twenty statements, you shouldn’t be reading this part if you haven’t written down your statement. This is also a pretty interesting exercise that you will learn something from if you do it in the manner I suggest. If you continue to read on it will bias what you write down, and yes once again I will personally be disappointed in you. This is your last warning.
Hopefully you have completed your statement before reading this next part of the task. I now want you to write down what SHOULD be the most important thing in your life. Please write this down before moving on.
Part 2:
Dear students,
Please follow the directions or I will take off points. Your original forum post should be a minimum of one paragraph that is AT LEAST 250 WORDS LONG (There is a word count function set up in Moodle), but no more than 500 words long. Your additional forum post SHOULD BE ABOUT THE TOPIC and must be AT LEAST 125 WORDS LONG and no more than 250 words long. You will receive up to 6 or 7 pts. for your initial post (If done correctly), and an additional two points for your follow-up. Remember that I am a professor and expect correct grammar. Also, the single letter word you use to refer to yourself is always capitalized (I not i).
Forum Topic: Describe a situation in which you or a “friend” (If you don’t want to talk about yourself, you may use a “friends” example), through no fault of your own, were judged or treated unfairly. Explain why you think you or your “friend” were treated unfairly.
The point of the exercise/forum is for us all to realize that the perceptions that people have of us are often out of our control, but often based on misconceptions and perhaps past experiences. Some examples might be how someone is treated unfairly because of their accent, clothing, race, age, gender, etc. For example, I used to have long hair and wore ripped up jeans because I thought it looked cool and chicks dug it (Give me a break, it was the 90’s and it seemed to work for all of those hair metal bands even though I was more “grunge” myself). The negative side of this is that people were always asking me if I wanted to buy or sell marijuana, which I didn’t, and that I consistently received tickets and poorer treatment from law enforcement than I do now. The people judging me were basing their perceptions of me with what they thought men with long hair and ripped up jeans were associated with (drugs and unruly behavior). Have fun-
You are now to submit your second discussion forum. Be honest, most of you listed something different for what IS and what SHOULD be the most important thing in your life (I know I did the first time I did this exercise, and when I do the exercise in class something like 80% say something different, or wish they hadn’t said the first thing, because it was just the first thing that came to mind and really isn’t the most important thing).
Reflecting back on the first forum, when I do this exercise in class it is amazing that those who are white males almost never write down their race or gender. I know that I never really think about what it means to be a white man in our society, but if you are a racial minority (African American, Hispanic, Asian) and/or female you often have to think about your race and gender as it can be an issue from time to time. If you don’t think so, then why do the vast majority of women believe that sexual discrimination is an issue, especially at work, and far fewer men do. Why do racial minorities feel that racial profiling or other issues concerning race is relevant to them and society at large, and most white people don’t think race is a very big deal. The death of Trevon Martin comes to mind here. In a public poll assigning blame for Martin’s death, over 60% of Whites feel Martin was to blame while over 80% of African Americans feel he was not.
For me on this forum I listed family as being the most important thing in my life. Because of my religious beliefs, I realize that I should have listed something else that SHOULD be the most important thing in my life. Having said this my family actually is more important to me. Perhaps I should have listed the fact that I am alive as the most important thing in my life. What else would it matter if things were different?
Please follow the directions or I will take off points. Your original forum post should be a minimum of one paragraph that is AT LEAST 250 WORDS LONG (There is a word count function set up in Moodle), but no more than 500 words long. Your additional forum posts SHOULD BE ABOUT THE TOPIC, and not that you have a dog named Sprinkles too. That was fine for the first forum where we were getting to know one another but not now. I have a dog named Candy who looks scary but is as sweet as her name. Your additional post should be AT LEAST 125 WORDS LONG and no more than 250 words long. You will receive up to 6 or 7 pts. for your initial post (If done correctly), and an additional two points for your follow-up. Remember that I am a professor and expect correct grammar. Also, the single letter word you use to refer to yourself is always capitalized (I not i). Have Fun!
Part 3:
Dear students,
Please follow the directions or I will take off points. Your original forum post should be a minimum of one paragraph that is AT LEAST 250 WORDS LONG (There is a word count function set up in Moodle), but no more than 500 words long. Your additional forum post SHOULD BE ABOUT THE TOPIC and must be AT LEAST 125 WORDS LONG and no more than 250 words long. You will receive up to 6 or 7 pts. for your initial post (If done correctly), and an additional two points for your follow-up. Remember that I am a professor and expect correct grammar. Also, the single letter word you use to refer to yourself is always capitalized (I not i).
Forum Topic: Describe what is SACRED to you and WHY? As always, please read and think about what was discussed in the Lecture (#4) before proceeding whit this forum. If you don’t think anything is sacred, please describe WHY.
I don’t want to offer my own thoughts on this forum up front as it has the tendency to bias what all of you might think to write about. Have fun!
Part 4:
Dear students,
Please follow the directions or I will take off points. Your original forum post should be a minimum of one paragraph that is AT LEAST 250 WORDS LONG (There is a word count function set up in Moodle), but no more than 500 words long. Your additional forum post SHOULD BE ABOUT THE TOPIC and must be AT LEAST 125 WORDS LONG and no more than 250 words long. You will receive up to 6 or 7 pts. for your initial post (If done correctly), and an additional two points for your follow-up. Remember that I am a professor and expect correct grammar. Also, the single letter word you use to refer to yourself is always capitalized (I not i).
Forum Topic: Describe a situation in which you or a “friend” (If you don’t want to talk about yourself, you may use a “friends” example), tried to hide your feelings/emotions from the people around you. Explain why you think you or your “friend” felt that you shouldn’t just let your feelings/emotions be known.
Read the section on Emotions in your book first. Your authors claim that feelings “are the most authentic manifestation of our inner being,” and that “we can manipulate our thoughts, but emotions are beyond our control.” If this is true, then why are we so concerned about what others will think of us if we let our feelings/emotions be known? Certainly we all have examples about trying not to laugh in church, or trying to stifle a laugh while someone is praying and you may use one of these examples if you like. Other examples would include the entire year I spent in high-school arranging my schedule so that I could walk by Julie Ruggles locker before and after every class. I never did talk to her and even though I was fearful of rejection to the point that I became ill when thinking about talking to her, I probably should have. More intense emotions might include not telling someone you love them (or not telling them that you don’t love them). Trying to remain calm when someone is critical of your child’s behavior. Not choking someone when you catch them in a lie. My favorite from the teaching realm is the whole “There are no stupid questions” line that I am supposed to use when someone asks a stupid question. There are stupid questions, it’s just not polite to tell someone that their question is stupid, and telling them may keep them from asking a good question at a later time. In any case, there are good reasons why we hide our emotions, but it also expresses how deceit is, at times, necessary in our daily lives. If your not convinced, the next time you are bowing your head for prayer or a minute of silence and you feel like passing gas, just let if fly and see how the people around you react. Perhaps a crude example, but I think it makes the point. Have fun-
