Fishbowl!

Hi everyone!
I wanted to thank you, again for participating in Friday’s fishbowl discussion. As promised, I will sum up some of the points I made at the end of class. Please use this space to provide additional feedback, reflections, and observations on your experience with this activity.

In answering the question, What type of space did we create/participate in on Friday’s discussion section?, I proposed the following observations based on Elizabeth Moje’s article, “Powerful Spaces: Tracing the Out-of-School Literacy Spaces of Latina/o Youth:”

A space influenced by institutions: we are at the University of Michigan, which implies a relationship between UM and education/learning

A space influenced by time/temporality: our discussion section length (50 mins); but also, how did your observations/comments in class differ from what you may have thought at the beginning of the semester? Or, how have you changed based on your experience in this class?

A space influenced by things material/physical: your level of comfort varied (depending on whether you were in the inner circle or outer circle); differences between being an “observer” vs. being the “observed.”

A space influenced by identities: how was our space complicated by identity? Which identities did you prioritize? What assumptions were you making about other people’s identities? Which identities were less obvious or not really addressed?

A space influenced by power: your relationship to each other and to me (GSI vs. student); what other power dynamics did you observe? How do these power dynamics affect your participation in class?

Also keep in mind that these categories often overlap.

I look forward to reading your responses!
-Isabel