role play response

I believe that role playing and mock arguments can be very successful approaches to learning, however not for me. Everyone learns differently; arguing can help some people stick information to memory, and others (like myself) struggle to do so. I get very caught up in the moment and start thinking too hard about winning the debate and not focusing on my learning. I am also very quick to judge, so regardless of their true opinions, I become very frustrated with people, and this too distracts me from learning. A third reason I dislike arguing in the classroom, is that it becomes very dominant. Only one person can talk at a time or else it gets out of control and turns into a yelling match. Often it becomes just a few people doing all the talking though, and not giving others a chance to speak. Going off of that, the argument becomes way too personal and emotions get involved; people start just throwing in their two cents about everything. The discussion gets way off topic to the point that learning cannot occur except for the fact that school teachers in California are way too relaxed, Edina High School is way too rich, and it is never too young to start your kids in competitive sports.
I felt like the role playing activity was an ok introduction to learning accountability because many issues were brought up, and we were forced to think from many different perspectives. However I do not feel like any deep learning was accomplished, at least no more than I could have learned just thinking about each viewpoint and some lecturing. I do not grasp much of the no student left behind legislation, following that activity, and no work was done. We did not further anything but instead just yelled about the problems already encountered. I believe people found the role playing much more enjoyable than just a lecture, so for that reason I think role playing was preferred over a regular class, but in our class, a regular day is a big argument anyways, so whats the difference?? Maybe you cannot tell, but I hate our classroom environment. It is just one big argument amongst a small group of students, who each want to tell their personal story from school and say the politically correct thing. It is very hard to focus on what is being taught because we get off topic so quickly every day.
I agree with the belief that before students engage in learning a subject they should have a basic understanding of it. I think it would have really helped me out, and like I mentioned before I did not know much about NCLB and still don’t. It’s the same reason we read the chapter before we discuss it in class. Without any basic knowledge, a lecture is just a teacher talking at us, not to us. The student will be learning everything on the fly, and the information will not stick. I also believe that it is important to have some emotional engagement in the learning process. Whether that be just a desire for a good grade or fighting to win an argument; without a desire to learn, the student will not retain any of the information. A student has to want to learn something, to learn it successfully. It is so hard to focus in classes that you do not care about, and therefore you may learn the information, but will not retain it, but rather forget it as soon as you are finished with the test or class. Finally, I do believe that we pay more attention to high achieving and more influential people. If someone is more influential, and has more pull or more wealth, they may contribute more than someone failing school and working minimum wage. It’s pretty simple. A high achieving student will definitely get more of the focus than a student barely getting by. There is a natural infatuation with success. People like the star quarterback; people are not fond of the quiet kid in class.
I believe that role playing can be a very successful tool in the classroom with enough cooperation. However, in the Monday class situation and with our class specifically, it does very little for learning. But maybe that’s just me.

-Mike