Response paper#10:End of Quarter -Self evaluation

1.How much time and effort did you put into this?

I had to take one or more hours per week,in order to make the different blog entries,Besides,the different readings absorbed me time.So,I can say this course made spend some hours per week.

2.What do you think your strengths and weaknesses in this course?

My strength was that I tried to learn as much as possible also I tried to do everything in the best way.About my weaknesses was to talk in front of the class.I usually feel nervous and forget a lot of things when I have to make a presentation.

3.How did you feel you performed in this course?

I feel that I performed well

4.What are the most valuable things you learned from this course?

The different issues of the dimensions of culture.Also,we put into practice some of them.For example,the elaboration of the quilt and the presentation of it.It was made in a real intercultural environment,where we interchanged with people of other culture.

5.What would you do differently if you had a chance to do this all over again?

I thing the same,I won not change

6.How do you feel the cooperative learning approach worked in this course?

It is difficult to answer this because this involves several results but I could say that yes at first sight

7.What else would you like to add that I did not ask?

Culture is a wide issue so I think that four months is not enough time to cover all the aspects the culture involves.

Response paper # 9: The quilt-Cultural experience

As we know culture involves the totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns,arts,beliefs,institutions,and all other products of human work and though.These patterns,traits,and products considered as the expression of a particular group.So, is for this reason that culture has five dimensions:products,communities,perspectives,persons,and pratices.Besides each dimensions has a framework ,for example in the case of products ;these can be art forms,institutions,places, or artifacts.About practices,these can be acts,operations,scenarios,and lives and so on.

It is very interesting to see how people have different perceptions about something that belong to the same culture.A clear example of this was the quilt elaboration where we saw different ways to present it.In spite of it was about Costa Rican culture.So,this is culture,diversity.

Each person is a distintic mix of communities and experiences.Then culture resides in the individual and collective ways in the different social groups or communities that all of us belonged.Culture is based on the human capacity to classify experiences and all these experiences are different in each person.

So,for me, the quilt elaboration was a challenge because I did not know anything about it.Also,I did not know how to start it.But after some researches and thinking about it,I started to work on it.I decided to represent on my quilt a typical Costa Rican breakfast ,because this was a cultural practice very common in our society.This practice is located in operations where members of culture to manipulate a cultural product.

The most interesting of this work, was the presentation of the quilt,this was made in a different way,in a real intercultural environment where we interchanged with people of other culture .Some of them already knew about "gallo pinto",but others did not know any about it.

My partner was a boy who came from Austria a country in Central Europe.He was friendly and he told me that it was the eighth time that he was here in the country.So,he knew a lot about Costa Rica.Then,he did not guess too much about the different clues that I gave him about the Costa Rican typical breakfast.In the first time he said:"gallo pinto" and he had tasted it and He thought that was delicious.After, he asked me ,if he could talk in Spanish because he needed to practice this language.So,this activity was a mix of culture and languages which are part of culture.

So,in conclusion it was a real interchange of cultures through a dynamic activity where we shared different information and ideas with people of other culture.I like it.

Response paper# 8 American culture and American diversity

Learning about other is intersting because in this way we know why people from other culture are different but only different in relation to a particular standard that they are being measured against.This according to the reading:American culture and American diversity.So, we have to know that diversity means the way in which people differ from one another.Then,we need to be objective ,we must have an open and trying to understand the differences.For example,gestures have different meaning around the world.So,a smile can relay many emotions,not just happiness or pleasure as in U.S .In Japan people smile when they are sad ,angry, confused, and happy .Asians smile to show disagreement ,anger,confusion,and frustation.So,we can see how there are a diversity of behaviors according to the culture where people had grown.

Specially in United States we can find a huge ethnic diversity ,where each cultural group has made significant contributions to development and social customs of the U.S .For example,while English is the official language ;many words of other countries and cultures have been added to English vocabulary.Such as: yam ( African),cookie ( Dutch),pretzel (German),tobacco( Native American),and ranch ( Spanish).These are words describing things we think of as being "American".So, we could say that the United States is a product of its rich cultural diversity.

My quilt topic: Costa Rican typical food

My quilt topic will be about typical Costa Rican breakfast which is a cultural practice of our country,Costa Rica.

Response paper seven: The values American live by

According to Roberth Khols there are thirteen basic values that americans live by which are:

personal control over the environment change and mobility,time and its control,equality and individulism,independence and privacy,self-help,competition and free enterpise,future orientation,optimism,action and work orientation,informality,directness,openness,materialism,among others.

All these are considerd as positive values.

Perhaps,freedom is the most important value

The values of children are developed in certain places like school,church,and other social places but values are heavily dependent upon the rearing that a child receives at home.

Americans see life like a race so people must run it in order to succeed.So,learning to compete is part of growing up.

In conclusion Americans are independent people who likes to have the control of everything.Besides,they like to have their own life by

Response paper # 6 Shall we dance movie

As we know each culture has its own features ,so it makes that the world has a diversity of cultures.About the two movies watched in class, these showed us this diversity which involves several aspects.Such as:backgrounds,different viewpoints about similar situations.
I think that both movies tried to develop the same story but in a different way due to the culture.
We have to remember culture involves five dimensions:products, practices,communities,perspectives,and person.This according to the book teaching culture:perspectives in practice.So, perceptions are going to differ according to the culture.In here we have to take into account the time and the place,too.In order to understand more about culture.
The first movie showes us different characteristic about Japanese culture while in the second movie were showed characteristics of American culture.

Response paper#5 Cultural products( part third)

The part related with 5.4 learning culture:flowcharts .It is in blackboard,because I can not download flowchart in this blog.
So about 5.5 Teaching culture:personal reationship to cultural content
It is essential for a teacher to know about diversity and complexity in the classroom related with culture.In order to avoid offending out of ignorance.This implies knowing about dimensions of culture(products,practices,perspectives,communities,persons).So teacher must treat student as an individual and respect each student for who he or she is.If we as a teachers are unfamiliar with our own culture,we may learn more about it.Attending lectures,taking courses,among ther things.