Class Reflection

Now that the semester is over I would like to say how much I enjoyed this class and how sad I am that it is over. I always looked forward to going to this class and loved my classmates. We were a group of talkative and interesting people that made  it that much better. By the end I think we were all comfortable enough with each other that we didn’t care about getting up in front of the class and making fools of ourselves. I wish more classes were like this one. I was never bored and learned something new almost every class.

1) Episteme: I felt we learned quite a bit in this category. Out of these four I feel this aspect lacked the most. In the beginning we started out strong in this subject learning about the constitution and the separation of powers but we slowly moved away from this to focus on the other categories . I’ve also been in your other two law classes where we spend most of class on this subject so maybe that’s why I feel that way.

2) Techne- This played an important part in our class time. We had to work hard together to stray productive and try to keep ahead of the other groups in the nation state game. The class as a whole also worked as a group learning from each other’s experience as we went through the different laws and social problems.

3) Phronesis: Social skills played the largest role in this class because we were always interacting with each other. We first had to learn to w0rk together with our groups then how to work together with other groups. I very much enjoyed the videos we watched in class that taught me many things I had never known before about human emotion. I gained the most in this aspect. I have never been good at getting up and taking in front of a group of people and usually get really anxious.  By the midterm in this class I was able to get up and give a speech and then again in the final get up and dance without feeling nervous. That was something I’ve never experienced before.

4) Metis: Metis was very important in the nation states game. It was needed to know which move would keep you from being attacked or how to get some low points from Andrew or resources from another country. One example was baking cookies and brownies that persuaded Andrew to give us 100,000 law points.

Thank you Prof. Ellerman for another semester of fun! I hope to see you in future semesters!

As I write this final blog I want to say I had a great time and worked with a good group of people.  I really enjoyed Professor Ellerman's class and can honestly say I have never experienced a college class like this one.  So as I reflect on what I took away from this learning experience and am glad I took this educational ride.

I will do my best on reflecting what this class taught me using the four definitions the Greek's used to define knowledge.

1) Episteme:  I love what this means because I love both science and the law and really enjoyed studying the United States Constitution - which more of us should really read.  I like the discussions regarding a states rights vs. the federal government and how important this separation of powers is to all of us.  Reading the New York Times and discussing current stories that effect us all was a big plus to me.  How many of us, outside a class like this,  really debate the issues of today in any great depth.

2) Techne:  This area was much more out of my knowledge base and was quite difficult at first.  I have never written on a blog or facebook for that matter, but I did learn something knew.  I really appreciated the help from other younger and more technological savy group members, and thank them all for their patience and advise in this area.  Although I struggled with it I feel it is a necessary evil to make this class work.

3) Phronesis:  When it comes to emotional and social skills this is an area I feel comfortable with and really enjoyed watching the emotional life in class.  Some of the stories went on too long and should have been shortened, but overall I liked it.  We as people and a society need to learn better ways to communicate in both our personal lives and professional ones.  Most of us have a story involving a difficult working relationship with a fellow co-worker or boss and would really benefit from some sound advise in how to resolve our differences - with out all the drama!

4) Metis:  I guess the cunning and savvy this class represented was in our Nation Game and how we all had to compete against each other for resources and points.  This part of the class was definitely the funnest part of all for me.  Writing the laws for our nation of Arethusa was a challenge, but informative as well.  My only complaint is that I felt we had to write too many of them.  At times these laws became quite redundant and maybe this is part of the problem in the U.S. today.  Laws are an important part of a civil society when they improve our lives, but a liability when they restrict our freedoms and choices as citizens.

I leave this class wanting to learn more about the laws of our society and how I as a citizen can improve not just my life, but the lives of my fellow citizens.  I think you did pretty good Professor Ellerman.

Our National Anthem

The Hero of Arethusa

After the turn of the century
In the clear blue skies over Cerebria
Came a roar and a thunder men had never heard
Like the scream and the sound of a big war bird
Up in the sky, a man in a plane
Baron von Jeffery was his name
Eighty men tried, and eighty men died
Now they're buried together on the countryside

Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more
The Mighty Green Baron was rollin' out the score
Eighty men died tryin' to end that spree
Of the Mighty Green Baron of Cerebria

In the nick of time, a hero of Arethusa arose
A funny-looking dog with a big black nose
He flew into the sky to seek revenge
But the Baron shot him down--"Curses, foiled again!"

Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more
The Mighty Green Baron was rollin' out the score
Eighty men died tryin' to end that spree
Of the Mighty Green Baron of Cerebria

Now, Snoopy had sworn that he'd get that man
So he asked the Great Council for a new battle plan
He challenged the Cerebrian to a real dogfight
While the Baron was laughing, he got him in his sight

That Mighty Green Baron was in a fix
He'd tried everything, but he'd run out of tricks
Snoopy fired once, and he fired twice
And that Mighty Green Baron went spinning out of sight

Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more
The Mighty Green Baron was defeated for
The Great Arethusa by the dog Snoopy

Our Victorious Country was finally free


Our recording of the anthem that we played in class was too big of a file to let me upload on here and my internet sucks so it would have taken way to long to upload to youtube. Here is the original music video of the above song we modified.