Category: Unit 1 (Page 5 of 26)

I still Remember During my sophomore year in High School it was a spring semester in the afternoon, I did so bad on my writing exams that my English teacher wrote me a letter for me to go to a tutoring center in the school. So everything Jump back to before we even start taking the exam, we have to read this book and were assigned homework to it. And we usually get a small reading quiz the next day when we attend class so the teacher can see which students read and who didn’t read. so I normally never submits the quiz up because I know I will get a zero either way because I didn’t read the assigned pages. I just know that reading books will make me feel overwhelmed so that’s the main reason that I never read. And to the point when we had a writing exam In class, I felt so lost that I look at the students around me writing nonstop. At that point my head felt so empty and questioned myself Why didn’t I read the book. When the test were all graded and handed back to us, all I hear is students asking and exchanging their exams with other students asking what they got on the test. When I looked at my grade on the exam, I couldn’t say much because I didn’t do what I was assigned to do. I received my exam and a tutoring center paper attached to it saying I need to go check out the tutoring center during my free period which is my lunch period or after school, and its mandatory to go or else I wouldn’t be able to pass this course for this semester. So it gets serious that I have to take actions to account this, right after my English class ended I have lunch afterwards. So I went to look for this tutoring center room on the second floor of the building and I showed them the paper that I needed to come here everyday on my free period. Then they assigned me a specific teacher to help me throughout the semester, and If I don’t Improve well enough I will have to keep coming here every semester until I get better at my grammar and sentence structure because that’s what I needed to help with most. At first I was feeling very overwhelming because of the fact that I have to show up here every single day on my free period which is my lunch period. I usually spend my lunch period doing other classes homework and study for a little more for test before next class begins. So if I have to come here every single day I won’t have a free period to do stuff or to take a break from. The teacher in the tutoring center said that I can go to the cafeteria to get lunch and eat it up here while we do our lessons. It started bad in the beginning because I was skipping days that I didn’t want to come and I was getting a whole lecture by my English teacher saying If you decide to skip again you’re not going to pass this class for this semester, So I didn’t have a choice but go. As time goes on It wasn’t as bad as expected to be, because the tutoring teacher was so nice that she brings lunch for me so I don’t have to waste time going down to the cafeteria and get food. And honestly I’ve had a lot of fun while learning and till this point I still remembered everything and If I can get to choose again I would go there every single day because that teacher was treating me so nicely unlike other teacher.

Another experience I had in Highschool was my U.S history class, this happened in spring semester of my Junior Year of High School. On the previous fall semester I had another teacher for U.S history, but I couldn’t understand what they were teaching and I just thought I wont be able to pass my regents for U.S. history In June. But everything changed after the spring semester came, I had another teacher for U.S history and I heard about people saying he is a really strict teacher and how hard it is to pass his class or do anything in his class. So I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to do well In his class as well, and even more worried about my regents In June which is a few months from January.  This teacher talks really loud and tells instructions really clearly, because he used to serve in the military as a tank officer. I think that is the reason why he treats us strict because he looked at us like his soldiers. You can skip his class or walk out of his class all you want or even be distracted on your phone, but you have to take your responsibility on doing these things because he is not going to repeat or make up your absences. He assigns Home work everyday on the website and you have to print them out yourself everyday and do them. He is not going to print them out for you like other teachers are doing in High school. Is is your own responsibility to have your homework done and prepared for the next class because we will discuss it in class and If you don’t have it then You won’t be able to participate in the class discussions. Overall I like this teacher because he Changed the way I look at things , and even motivated me to be an even better students. He taught us that no one Is going to be on your back watching out for you, you always have to be prepare at all time, If you’re not prepared In war then you wouldn’t be able to survive and will get eliminated. I was not the type of students to do well in class and do homework or study for my test until I had this teacher for the semester. I tried to be more discipline today to Improve myself every day and I know we always have that day off and doesn’t feel like doing anything for the day but laying down and sleep, but time doesn’t stop for us. We have to keep going and working because We have to keep up with ourselves and compete with yourselves everyday to Improve.

It was a cold breezy morning going to school, I could feel my hands freezing in my pockets. On top of that my sat scores just came in, and I was feeling nervous. It was my first SAT score. I was very curious to see what my score was. However, I had to wait until third period, my English class. After hours of hours of waiting and staring at the time, it was finally time for English class. Once I received the paper, I could hear all the students around me asking each other, “what did you get” and “did you open it yet?” But, even through all the noise, all I could focus on was opening the paper. My friends and I who sat at the same table as me agreed to open it together. Now, my friends were good students, they always received good grades on their report card, and always did extra credit work. However, I, on the other hand, never cared to do the extra work. Finally, when it was time to see the test score, we all noticed that I had received a higher grade than everyone else at the table. When I looked around, they all looked confused. They began to ask “how” and they kept looking to see if what they saw was correct.  

Although I loved my test score because it was on a higher percentage compared to everyone else, seeing their reactions to my score really made me feel mixed emotions. I was super excited, yet my head was burning. I was angry. They had this image of me in their heads where I am not as “capable as them.” All because I do not have grades like them. I explained to them that, “your grades do not reflect on what test score you will receive” and I live by that. I mean there is lots of evidence to support this. Grades do not reflect intelligence.  

Your grades are based on how much homework you do, if you are attending your class, and if you are doing classwork, as well as getting good grades on your tests. Grades show that a student is organized, and are on top of what is due when, that they have time management skills. Students who want to get high grades put a lot of time and effort into it. Meanwhile tests are based on how much time you put into studying that topic and how much knowledge you have on it. Test scores show students strengths and weaknesses, what topics they excel on. Test scores correlate with your IQ not your report card grades. 

The education system judges students based on the grades they receive. They decide what class the student should be in by looking at their grades. I believe that the education system should not use grades to judge students. It is unfair. Grades do not show how smart a student is. In school, I have witnessed a lot that makes me think that. A lot of my classmates who participated and were not afraid to participate were average students. The ones with good above average grades barely participated. Grades do not show how creative the students are, it does not show their true skills. Or how innovative a student is.  

My experience with test scores and grades showed me that I should not stress my grades. I will continue to work as much as I can without stressing myself. I know how hard I work and how much I can work, because at the end of the day, I know how talented I am. But the education system will not show that.  

 Students stress themselves so much over grades, stay up late at night to finish their projects or homework. Now, I am not saying that it means that students should not continue doing their class work or homework. I believe that they should. But they should not keep this idea in their head that if they do not get their classwork or homework in, in time that they are a bad student. I believe schools, teachers should not say a student is “good” or “bad” because of their grades. Students are much more than just a number or letter on a paper. Focus on doing your best.  

The sun was shining throughout the tall classroom windows. I would describe it as a peaceful hot day. I was 16 years old sitting in a classroom in the lower east side on a summer hazy day. You could hear a pin drop. It was the perfect scene. I was in math class with 4 desks made into a table surrounding me sitting alone. My other classmates sat together and worked on the math problems due they seemed to know what to do. I had the school’s laptop opened up to kalans academy. I felt pure emptiness and stress. I was overwhelmed staring at this laptop and worksheet. As time passed I sat there choked up. I felt like a failure struggling with something that the class knew in a heartbeat. I felt my emotions and frustrations getting to me. I cried in silence because crying over a math problem is a different type of hurt. I whipped away my tears and walked to my next class like nothing but deep deep inside. I was so hurt because it felt like I was against a wall with no way through. 

  Throughout highschool i struggled tremendously with mathematics, barely hanging on. I had transferred highschools due to some issues I had and then had a teacher I didn’t quite understand their teaching ways. I’d literally sit there listening to the material go through one ear and exit the other. As if that wasn’t already enough. Then the pandemic hit everything went online. Being solo just threw me off mentally. I felt like I had no hope. I realized that I had to get it together. It was either drown or swim. I chose to swim but I had to do it for myself. I had to learn to really focus. I teamed up with a peer and had 1 on 1 sessions with my teacher and saw progress. Simply putting in work gives a greater outcome. In the end I slowly became in love with mathematics and helped peers in need. I slowly progressed as a student, graduating with a high grade in class. It changed how I view school material. Anyone can do it just by putting in the work. 

  I always thought that school was so hard, especially mathematics. Prior to the experiences I had earlier in highschool I’d catch myself having mental breakdowns every now and then from the overwhelming fear of failing. Id honestly blame it on school like fuck why is this so hard why cant i get it like everyone else or id even blame it on my teacher. I understand all teachers have their ways of teaching but it took me sometime to realize that yes it might be hard to learn from people because not everyone teaches the same but they are all teaching the same thing. With time I put it in my head that I can be comfortable in the school system and that I’m not automatically going to understand the material easily. I also used to say that the school system was trash that’s why I wasn’t learning. Everything in life will be a challenge and a rollercoaster, something unavoidable so I decided to take on that challenge and figure it out. Having one on one sessions with my “unlearnable” teacher opened up my eyes that it’s not the school system’s fault why I’m failing. Yes it might have its bad tweeks but the world is in my hands and the only thing that’ll change everything starts with myself. 

  It changed the way I viewed school because I slowly realized throughout that it was all in my hands. My future was in my hands. My view went from a negative mind set to a more open minded mindset that school isn’t so bad after all nor is it out to get me to fail. It’s simply just trying to challenge me so I can get further in life but at first it was hard to understand that. Now I’m well aware that school is a very important thing to do in life. It really can change you or break you. Having my younger siblings and cousins in school is interesting because I hear them talking about the classes I took and how much they hate school because it’s so hard or boring. I try my very best to educate them, tutor them and really try to be that meteor for them for school because I didn’t have that. I always try to give them little chats about how everything is in their hands not to get distracted and to really focus because they can really thrive. I always try to explain to them that school isn’t a jail cell even though it might seem like it.it’s actually their escape from whatever we have going on now. I’m really glad to have gotten it together in school. It wouldn’t have started if it wasn’t for me. Now I’m happy to be in school and learning new things. I’m so so ready for whatever challenges I have next in my chapters.