C4T #2- Summary

My Teacher for C4T #2 is named Mr. Chase. His blog is called Autodizactic . From reading a few of his posts, I realized he is a very opinionated but honest man. He had discussions of all kinds, but mainly about college and his opinions on his classes.
The first post I commented on for Mr. Chase was called “Class Blogs should be open spaces”. It was a relatable post and easy to comment on since we blog weekly in EDM 310. In his blog, he discusses how is two colleges class do not all him to have a public blog. In his first class,  few students are assigned each week to post their thoughts on the reading leading up to that week’s class. Each other student is required to reply to one post per week with the option of passing on one week during the semester. In his second class, each person is encouraged to post weekly. The posts’ content might be related to the readings or simply to the topic for the week and comments are not required.  He felt like his classes were in a “Walled Garden” because they were not allowed to receive comments from the outside world. I commented to him about the set up of our class and told him that he may not want his class blog public because that means  people will start to critique you in ways you may not like.

The second post I commented on for Mr. Chase was about a group of students who go to school on South Dakota’s Rosebud Sioux Reservation. The students have had new articles and documentaries made about them that discuss the issues in their lives. Their families deal with a lot of alcoholism and gambling and now the kids are suffering educationally and financially. There was a documentary on ABC called Children of the Plains about these students and their struggles. The documentary opened the viewers’ eyes to their situations but it made their situation look hopeless. I’m guessing these students saw what was being said and portrayed about them and took charge of the situation. They created a video that discusses that they are more than what we have probably seen. They have hopes and dreams. They may have a struggle but they are trying to be successful in their future just like any other American teen out there. I really enjoyed this video and told Mr. Chase all about it. I told him that I had watched the documentary and it inspired me but the students’ video inspired me even more because they endure so much on a daily basis yet they still push forward everyday.