Day 2 - 259 -- A Surprising Discovery

I made a surprising discovery today. I had a parade of student meetings to choose individual topics for the term assignment. As I'd heard yesterday and the day before.most students stated how excited they were to dig into their topic of choice -- this statement came without prompting on my part <smile>. To be truthful, even if they didn't state it, their enthusiasm was clearly evident in their facial expressions, vocal inflections, and gestures. From my perspective, it is fantastic to see others feeling excitement for a subject near to my heart <smile>.

I've always tried to let students choose a topic that interests them rather than everyone writing on one topic that I assign -- the one size fits all approach -- and we all know that one size doesn't fit everyone <smile>.  I approve each topic only once, so there are not two people working on the exact same topic. It has worked well and students report greater satisfaction for using their interest area to explore and understand the broader course concepts. There are pluses for grading, too, since each topic is different even if all papers address the same ideas, they do so from different perspectives. I find the different topics help them to show their strengths in critical thinking and application of knowledge so much better. It helps me to see that rather than become bored with reading the same argument with the same examples repeatedly. I feel that I can be more objective with grading -- a small benefit when placed beside improved learning.

The song choice for today deals with the ability of one's expression of enthusiasm to spread to those nearby. The singer and band are Canadian, yet have a sound that is recognized much further afield. Enjoy!

P.S. I apologize for the lyrics format of the video, but couldn't find one with the band members depicted.

Chain Lightning -- Rush