BARNGA Blog

    1.       Confusing.

    2.        I didn’t know how to play so I was expecting not to understand how to play the game.

    3.       When Brooklyn and Tyeson came to the table I was at and they had gestured that the diamond won, but my instructions said that heart was supposed to win.

    4.       I just went with it.

    5.       Nothing, I usually don’t talk so it didn’t affect me.

    6.       Yes, because it is a game and at the same time it isn’t a game at the same time.

    7.       No, because if people would not bother other people and make a small thing into a big thing then there would be world peace and harmony.

    8.       That we play it one way and other cultures might play it a different way.

Sociological Mindfulness

The video we wanted made me think and understand the ability to be able to put my feet into someone else’s feet. It made me understand how other people have to live life and sometimes that life really isn’t the greatest. How that video relates to me and the life compared to my boyfriend’s life. My life is very simple and dull. I currently have to part-time jobs, I am a senior in high school, and I am also currently getting ready to enroll in college. My at home life is very boring, and sometimes chaotic. I am a normal teenager, sometimes I listen to my parents and sometimes I don’t and when I don’t I get yelled at and basically it just grows from there. My life is basically life any other high school senior, just waiting for graduation day so I can move out and be on my own. My boyfriend’s life on the other hand isn’t so normal. He has ADHD and was diagnosed with it when he was very little. His mother didn’t except the fact that he had it, so she sent him to “treatment” for it. He was in treatment for little under ten years. After he got out of this so called “treatment” he was put into foster care. He was then currently 15-16 years old he was living with a family in Groton, SD. After he turned 18 right before his senior year he moved back in with his mom. After living with his mom for about half of the summer of 2017 he moved back to Groton with a pastor and his wife. He has been with the pastor and his wife now for a little under 2 years. He has been so much compared to me. I never knew how to understand what he went through, but watching the video made me understand how easy it is to try and understand how he feels and what he has been through. The video we watched made me change the way I think of people how I understand how they live and kind of get an understanding of how they feel. I see myself fitting into the big picture of society as a girl that people can come and talk to for advice. I see myself as someone who can help a person who is struggling through any situation. I find it very easy to relate to most situations, but if I don’t I usually am able to understand and help someone through their current situation. That is where I see myself fitting into the big picture of society. 

Freaks and Geeks Assignment

Q: Thoughts and ideas from the episode.

                        A: I thought that it was a really good episode for trying to understand each conflict. Conflict Theory Example: Nerds trying to decide if it is a good idea to fight the bully in this episode. Functional Theory Example: How Lindsey interacts with the “bad” kids. Symbolic Interactionism Example: When the boy asked his older sister, Lindsey, if she thought that him and his friends could beat up the kid that was bully them.

Q: What are the groups and what functions do they serve?

                        A: Nerds, Bad Kids, Smart Kids, Popular Kids…they serve a purpose to show us how the sociological theories play out in real life.

Q: Are there negative influences from any of the groups (dysfunctions)?

                        A: The Bad Kids skipped school, so they have a negative influence. None of the groups really didn’t have any dysfunctions, just the bad kids picking on the nerds and making fun of the kid with autism.

Q: Who has power in the episode?

                        A: The girl, Lindsey, who is supposed to be a smart kid, but basically wants to make her parents mad and become a “bad” girl.

Q: How or why do they have power?

                        A: She has the power because she can choose her own path and life. She has the control for her life and she had influences telling her what to do, she just had to choose which ones to listen too.

Q: How do they use it?

                        A: In the beginning she chose to use it for the bad, but meant it to be good, and in the end, she finally chose to do the good thing and to become smart kid, and dance with the autistic boy at the dance.

Q: What are the important symbols in the episode?

                        A: The nerds struggling with a bully. Lindsey struggling with life. Kids finding dates for the dance. Bad kids struggling with what they want to do with there life.

Q: How do the characters act based on the symbols they find important?

                        A: Nerds decided to fight the bully. Lindsey decided to dance with the autistic boy, and chose to become the “good” girl. The younger brother to Lindsey didn’t find a date to the dance but went because he got promised a dance by the cheerleader in the episode. Lindsey ended up working the refreshments stand at the dance then went and danced with the autistic boy. Bad kid found that he wanted to be a drummer.

Q: Can you relate any of these theories to your own life?

                        A: Yes, the conflict theory.

Q: How can the things you do be interpreted through one of these theories?

                        A:  I can relate the conflict theory with my own life because I always second guess myself on anything. Then, I’m always conflicting between two or more things to decide or choose.

Silence Questions

1.       What do you think about the awkward silence?

a.        I think that awkward silence could be avoided in most situations, but people make a big deal about it, when awkward silence could be avoided. Therefore, I think that awkward silence is not a big thing and that it can be avoided if students, kids, etc. didn’t make it such a big deal.

2.       Do you see how we set expectations based on our experiences?

a.        Yes, because we are so used to someone or our teacher, being there telling us to do something or what not to do, it is just the norm and we are used to the norm.

3.       Did you know what sociologists studied before taking this class?

a.        Yes, these study the way groups of people and try to find a pattern or a reaction to what they are studying specifically for that group.

4.       Do you realize that students expect the teacher to tell them what to do?

a.        Yes, students are used to that because that’s the way we have been taught and have adapted since elementary.

5.       Can you see how this crushes a love for learning?

a.        No, students just get used to the way teachers teach

6.       What do you think about the idea of blogging as a way of teaching others?

a.        I think it is a good idea, because it is easy for students to find a blog on the internet knowing that most students have a laptop or a computer on hand.