Jeremy Blake Post 4

I have found that questioning has been the best method for this class and myself. Cooperative learning has not worked well, but often the class can get into heated and useful discussion if I ask the right questions. The bellringers have become more of a beginning discussion board than an activation of prior knowledge, but students are becoming interested in the rest of the lesson because of it. When I asked them when a global plague would be a good thing, the entire class got into a heated discussion about overcrowding, hospitals, and even how people could make money off of a sickness. Though some students seemed a little too into it, every student was excited and prepared to discuss the Black Plague and the Middle Ages. I'm not sure that my supervising teacher loved that idea, but it seemed to work. Engaging students sometimes requires a little controversy. Unfortunatly (or perhaps fortunatly), this occured just days before the Swine flu scare, otherwise it could have been a totally different environment.