Monday, January 08, 2007

First Day of Class

Today was the first day of class in my statistics classes, so I was up bright and early this morning. To be honest, I was a bit nervous--today was the day that I would pitch this project idea to my students! I tried to anticipate what their reactions might be--surprise? excitement? shock and horror?!?

To add to my nerves, we also filmed the first day of class for the documentary. Jim Yocom, Director of Instructional Media Services, had two cameras to record my lecture and my students' reactions to the project. Sure, no problem--this sort of thing happens everyday in the classroom, right?!? :0)

In short, I think today's lecture went according to plan. My students definitely responded to the project plans for this semester! And I think we have a great group of students, so I'm confident this will be an incredible learning experience for everyone (myself included). But instead of wondering what my students' thoughts are about this project, I want to hear from them directly.

So to my stats students: Please share your thoughts. What do you think about this project?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! What a whirlwind of information! Not at all what I expected from this class. To be honest, I thought I'd barely be able to stay awake for 8:30 Monday morning stats, but you definitely got my attention. I must admit that I am intrigued by this project. I'm not a big environmentalist, but I do find all those plastic bags annoying. It especially drive me crazy when you buy one thing and the cashier puts it into a plastic bag and then if you say you don't want a bag, she throws it in the trash can. At this point, the project seems like a lot more work than I was expecting from this class, but seems like it will be interesting and certainly a fun way to learn statistics. I look forward to also getting to know some of my fellow classmates through this project.

Unknown said...

I already had Professor Verges last semester, so I already knew she was one of those teachers that somehow manage to energize the class at 8:30 in the morning. Though I already knew she could be crazy, this kind of surprised even me! I am really excited about this project! After seeing, Al Gore’s movie, An Inconvenient Truth, I was concerned and left the movie feeling encouraged, yet uninvolved. I think it is a great way to incorporate the real life in stats and to utilize and involve us, stat students. :)I look forward to doing more with my plastic bags than just reusing them as pooper scoopers for my dogs! I’m glad Professor Verges has placed this task before the stats classes.

Amanda Ashley said...

To be honest I was thinking to myself "what is this woman thinking, this is a statistics class!". However, after letting it sit for a day I have become to realize why I love this professor so much. It seems Michelle is so very passionate about everything that she is involved in. Somehow she has the ability to encourage me to become involved. This idea of hers is truely unique! The bag Fest is practical and will ultimately make a difference. I'm excited to be a part of such a project.

Ryan Strzelecki said...

This plastic bag festival sounds like it could teach the community alot about recycling not only plastic bags, but other things as well. It will be a great step in the right direction for everyone. Professor Verges seems so dedicated, it makes me want to jump on in... but do we still have to do stats? Probably so.... alright..we'll give it a try.

Ryan Strzelecki said...

what is with the weird word verification box? Is this a game? If so I am losing..

Michelle said...

Hi Ryan,

I like your attitude! Hey, maybe you'll even come to enjoy statistics by the end of the semester. (Yes, I suppose I am an optimist!) By the way, the word verification "game" is for avoiding spams on the blog.

:0) M