17 Sept 10 Post, Functionalist Theory

I found myself thinking sociologically during German class. The German teacher, Frau Knecht, is always so energetic and full of life, just completely ready for class. She smiles, jokes around with the students and gets excited while teaching any sort of concept. Knecht always seems like she enjoys coming to class every day and tries to lift people up if they seem down. One might also describe her as a big ball of sunshine!

My class, however, is a bunch of very distracted freshmen, all whom happen to have lunch the very next hour. The class is not always ready to participate with as much enthusiasm as Frau Knecht would like, therefore making class learning not as successful as possible. Like the functionalist theory, everyone in that class has a role: as a student, participate; as a teacher, teach. In order for our class to progress as much as the teacher would like us to, we all have to participate, because it's our role. The class only works when everyone is participating because every role is crucial for the greater good of the entire class, which is an awesome, active learning experience.