My Learning Fall and Rise
On the first day of school, I had it all planned out. Meet my teachers, they'd give me some papers and tell us how school would go, and then I'd move on to the next class. I've done this game of school for eleven years. I knew exactly what to expect.
Or so I thought.
What I never expected was to have the teacher shake my hand and introduce himself to me before I even walked inside. I never expected him to give us a choice and to trust us so quickly and completely. He started out by telling us what Open Source Learning was, and explaining why it was a different way of learning that we should try. Then he said he wanted us to make a choice about whether we wanted to do the normal English class stuff, or try something new. Then he just walked out of the class.
I sat there in my seat, shocked. I leaned over and asked the girl next to me if he was serious. She just laughed and said that he did it every year. We decided to do OSL, and we got on with the class. The girl I turned to on that first day soon became one of my best friends. Her name is Diana, and we connected almost instantly.
During the next two weeks we started writing in journals and created our blogs. It was a whole new experience for me, and it was difficult. I have never written something for others to see, so I had trouble letting go. Eventually posting on my blog was a daily routine. When we had to memorize poems and post a video of us reciting them, I thought it was cool. Reading Fox in Socks was so much fun, that I had my cousin do it too. Doing the things required for this class was new and interesting. There was not a single day that I was not pleasantly surprised to see what we had done that day.
When the first progress report came around, I freaked out. Not knowing what my grade was scared me, and I felt that I had not done enough to get a good grade. I had procrastinated for several weeks, and was under a lot of stress. I was able to get myself out with and A-, but I lost several nights of sleep and a lot of my sanity. I learned then that I should not let myself procrastinate that much, and I learned my lesson that day. My life is my life and there are always ways out.
When I wrote my favorite blog posts, I was surrounded by noise. Usually they were written in class, maybe while my teacher was teaching. When it gets noisy, I start thinking about what's going on around me. Then, my mind spins off in many directions and somehow connects to the topic. Eventually, my mind just sends off a light bulb, and I automatically start writing.
I remember the day Dr. Preston played a song that started with the words 'shut up'. That isn't something a normal teacher would play in class, and all my classmates started laughing. I think that was the day that I realized that Dr. Preston truly was different and actually cared, unlike those teachers that pretend.
Now, I write as soon as I can, and I do what I have to immediately. I try a lot harder, and I help my classmates. I created a list of required blog posts to help my classmates as much as myself. I love this class, and it has taught me so much. I have to remind myself sometimes of a line from The Laughing Heart: "your life is your life". If I remember this, I won't need to worry about everything that is out of my control.
This semester has been really amazing, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Whenever someone asks me what we do in that class, I say everything. I have learned how to make a resume, apply for a job, and post on a blog. If I still go to this school next semester, I can't wait to see what we will do next!
~Donadagohvi
Or so I thought.
What I never expected was to have the teacher shake my hand and introduce himself to me before I even walked inside. I never expected him to give us a choice and to trust us so quickly and completely. He started out by telling us what Open Source Learning was, and explaining why it was a different way of learning that we should try. Then he said he wanted us to make a choice about whether we wanted to do the normal English class stuff, or try something new. Then he just walked out of the class.
I sat there in my seat, shocked. I leaned over and asked the girl next to me if he was serious. She just laughed and said that he did it every year. We decided to do OSL, and we got on with the class. The girl I turned to on that first day soon became one of my best friends. Her name is Diana, and we connected almost instantly.
During the next two weeks we started writing in journals and created our blogs. It was a whole new experience for me, and it was difficult. I have never written something for others to see, so I had trouble letting go. Eventually posting on my blog was a daily routine. When we had to memorize poems and post a video of us reciting them, I thought it was cool. Reading Fox in Socks was so much fun, that I had my cousin do it too. Doing the things required for this class was new and interesting. There was not a single day that I was not pleasantly surprised to see what we had done that day.
When the first progress report came around, I freaked out. Not knowing what my grade was scared me, and I felt that I had not done enough to get a good grade. I had procrastinated for several weeks, and was under a lot of stress. I was able to get myself out with and A-, but I lost several nights of sleep and a lot of my sanity. I learned then that I should not let myself procrastinate that much, and I learned my lesson that day. My life is my life and there are always ways out.
When I wrote my favorite blog posts, I was surrounded by noise. Usually they were written in class, maybe while my teacher was teaching. When it gets noisy, I start thinking about what's going on around me. Then, my mind spins off in many directions and somehow connects to the topic. Eventually, my mind just sends off a light bulb, and I automatically start writing.
I remember the day Dr. Preston played a song that started with the words 'shut up'. That isn't something a normal teacher would play in class, and all my classmates started laughing. I think that was the day that I realized that Dr. Preston truly was different and actually cared, unlike those teachers that pretend.
Now, I write as soon as I can, and I do what I have to immediately. I try a lot harder, and I help my classmates. I created a list of required blog posts to help my classmates as much as myself. I love this class, and it has taught me so much. I have to remind myself sometimes of a line from The Laughing Heart: "your life is your life". If I remember this, I won't need to worry about everything that is out of my control.
This semester has been really amazing, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Whenever someone asks me what we do in that class, I say everything. I have learned how to make a resume, apply for a job, and post on a blog. If I still go to this school next semester, I can't wait to see what we will do next!
~Donadagohvi
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