What I Think of FFP

There are definitely aspects of this course that I really like, and other parts that I'm not too fond of.

In particular, I like the choice available in the projects that we are doing. For example, the fact that we got to choose our own lit circle book was much better than having just any book forced upon us. I also appreciate choosing the projects that we are interested in doing, and then being marked on more of an individual scale. In the History of Democracy project, for example, I liked that we got to choose the assignment as long as it showed our understanding on the topic. The individual projects that we have coming up seem really interesting, too. I'm looking forward to them.

Some things that I find aren't working too well are the loose deadlines. It could be a good thing because it would allow me to work away at small pieces of a project over a long time. In a perfect world, that's exactly what I would be doing; I would spread the workload out evenly over a long period of time. In reality though, I often find myself putting the work for this course on the backburner because I know it has more lenient deadlines. I find that due dates make me more productive, because I know that there is a specific goal I must work to finish in a set amount of time. I wish there were a few more concrete deadlines in this course.

Another thing is that the online collaboration with other FFP students seems disorganized to me. When this course was first described to me, it sounded like we were going to be collaborating and sharing with all the other students often. This hasn't worked out too well, in my opinion. Recieving submissions from other schools for the magazine was pretty disorganized, and one school was late.That very first TED talk with the twitter feed was also unsuccessful, and that's why I'm wondering what the upcoming book clubs are going to turn out like. In the future, I don't think working with other FFP schools should be a part of this course, unless all the kinks can be worked out.

One thing I do appreciate in this course though, is that the subject matter is much more interesting and useful than what I have heard is taught in other careers and civics classes. I think learning about activism, and having guest speakers for careers into the class is a great idea. This is much more valuable teaching than career aptitude tests and personality tests are.

I also appreciate the focus on media in this course, because it seems like many industries are becoming more and more tech- savvy. I feel like I'm learning a lot of useful skills.

Having no exams is also a bonus!