Today we discussed the first set of readings – Demastes on
Newton, Alan Lightman and parts of Flatland. These were all chosen to set up
certain questions that we can address as the term develops. In order to counter
the linearity of the project on the first day I asked students to come up with
a scenario of 5 events and then a process by which to change the order to
non-linear. Some were random, some had number or letter systems, some simply
rearranged pieces. In retrospect I should have put more focus on the process
and less on the events and had them all work with the same 5 pieces.
What I like about the warm up and then exercise is the
transition nature of them. It leaves us already thinking about the ideas we
will discuss that day. Good discussion on the Lightman and Demastes articles. I
know that it may seem tedious – or in some cases a bit uncomfortable – to have
students discuss one element they got from the readings – but it really does
leave a lot of room for the conversation. I like that students come up with
things that I missed in the readings or ideas I may not have chosen to focus
on. This is part of the collective mind approach and always yields interesting
results. We didn’t get too far into the readings – which is fine since I really
want to swing back around to them after the first projects. Strange start to
the term missing that second day – have yet to find a rhythm.
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