Mutanatia was now sitting at his desk, looking eagerly at
his students. “Welcome to week #3 of It’s
All Politics from NPR, hosted by Ken Rudin and Ron Elving,” He said. “This is
also our 8th week. This unit, we’ll discuss a somewhat entertaining
take on the news. Not only do these guys report political news in what I think is a relatively neutral way, but
they also make jokes and have a laugh on the way. It is by far the place I like listening to
actual political news for a quick recap.
We’ll begin with a pre-class discussion: Considering Obama’s
stance on gay rights, is it more relevant now than it had been in the past, especially
in light of the recent Chik-Fil-A snafu?
Here are the discussion questions:”
1) Do
you think the specter of Jeremiah Wright should be raised again for this
competition?
2) Are
the attacks on Mitt Romney for his relationship with Bain Capital legitimate in
your opinion?
3) Which
is more important, the macro-economy or the micro-economy?
4) Should
Ron Paul pursue a candidacy?
He then passed out the homework:
Homework:
For the homework, please regurgitate what Elving and Rudin say
about the following:
1) What
caused Obama to give his “famous speech” on race?
2) Why
do they think Obama is using Bain Capital to attack Romney?
3) Describe
the nature of Romney’s and Obama’s attack ads as presented in this podcast.
4) Why
is Ron Paul’s strategy “hard to watch?”
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGreg,
ReplyDeleteI've been reading a few posts. Your enthusiasm shows so I would encourage you to go to grad school for teaching if you can afford it and are still considering it. Your technique needs work and school would set that straight. Some thoughts:
1) It'd be hard to make current events the main focus of a class because they change constantly. Would your class adapt mid-semester or focus on things that were happening last year? Both pose significant challenges. But if you were teaching that class, you'd want to focus on the discussion questions--they're great. They'd get a good dialogue going, which is what a class like this should do.
2) The homework is simple in a bad way. And "regurgitate" is a terrible word to use. Change that up so that it isn't just listening comprehension. It's boring and no one likes it. For a current events class, you should use talk shows like Bill Maher's and podcasts but I would hesitate to make them the main source of your lectures. When your students write papers, you want to give them more fodder than entertainment.
3) Though I'm skeptical of what corporate power does to journalism, this is a fairly inspiring video that shares some crossover with this idea for a class. Come at things from an angle. Skip to 2:40. http://centennial.journalism.columbia.edu/film/
Hope you're well.
Tim
Hi Tim,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, thank you for the positive feedback!
You're right on both accounts. First of all, the podcasts are news (just not BM ;) ) from relatively "reputable" news sources (NBC, NPR, etc.) Obviously, there needs to be some work done. Had this been a real class, you would see textbooks, such as the ones I've used in school: "Current Politics of Middle East," etc. -- these would then be the main sources, whereas news article, etc. would be used to amplify the differences in current events once something new comes along. For instance, my old text book still says Mubarak is in power in Egypt. Well, if Mubarak was removed from power during the length of the course, we would use the news and/or any scholarly articles that were following the events in Egypt. Or the killing of Bin Laden, or whatever situation occurs that would make the book moot. Additionally, there would also be focus on certain areas of the world, not just random, disconnected events such as this blog's entries are showing. I used to have a better idea for a "class" and sort of gave up on it... maybe I could try that this coming year!
Secondly, as far as an actual "class," the main reason why I use podcasts is because this is simply an online discussion/blog. I don't think that anyone reading this blog would want to buy $500 worth of textbooks... though, I could be wrong. In a college, the class would be definitely based on textbooks, online research, etc. etc. etc.
Thirdly, yeah... the homework...definitely needs to be worked on. I'll get there though, and I'll try to tweak it on my next weekly post. Also, as far as this class goes, it'll still be from last year... though your point IS well-taken I will need to start it earlier next year.
Thank you very much for the advice and kinds words. I am glad to hear that someone enjoys reading my blog :)
Mutanatia