Brian Berdan

Prof. Wilson

English 101

27 August 2019

Class Participation Reflection

I have never been one for class participation. I usually sit in a corner, mind my

own business, and let someone else do the talking. I often observed what the text points

out, a series of hands shooting up just to one-up whatever was said last. Points often

felt isolated, and almost never acknowledged previous discussions. Framing the

conversation in a way that actually acknowledges that the other party exists seems like

the way to go. I cannot count the number of times that I have gotten lost in the flow of a

discussion because of the lack of connection between points.

On the few occasions that I do speak aloud in class, my number one priority is to

not sound dumb. This includes the content of what I am saying, as well as the format.

Some of the templates provided for bridging conversation feel clunky to say aloud, but

its usefulness outweighs its clunkiness. One of the best ways to not come off as dumb,

is to show that you are actually listening to what is being discussed. On a side note, I

will exclusively precede passing salt with, “If I understand you correctly, you have asked

me to pass the salt. Yes I can, and here it is.”

Changing subject matter has always been what slows down my personal

comprehension of a discussion the most. These bridging templates would make it much

easier to understand both where a conversation is going, as well as where it has been.