Think of one specific incident that changed your views on education. Picture the scene, in detail.
Thinking about the slideshow on paragraphs, write at least two distinct paragraphs describing the incident that changed your views on education. Make sure your paragraphs have a clear, and singular, point, as well as utilizing elements of both information and explanation.
Specialized Highschools is something else. All you need is some random test and you get in if you score high enough? My middleschool self saw this as the easiest ticket to highschool. I could stop caring about all the classes I’m not interested in, and just do whatever I really wanted. The best part? I was still able to pass my classes. All I had to do was just wait until my highschool years arrived.
Of course, my mother doesn’t approve of my methods. I can’t blame her though, she only wanted what was best for me and my future. Unfortunately for her, I don’t like thinking about the future. As long as I’m having fun now, that’s all that matters to me. Any problems that arises, I’ll just solve them as they appear. Awful mindset is it not? But my issue is the fact that it has not failed me during the entirety of highschool. I did whatever I wanted, and I managed to get into college.
During the summer of 2008, I was in my second or third year of college. After our finals, friends with similar ideas and views on life decided to go on a backpacking trip to the mountains. Whenever I think back to that trip, I can almost hear the meditative sound of the train we took. I remember how hot it was in the cabin, and we couldn’t wait to reach our destination and the sweet scent of wildflowers and thyme in the air. The railway road wound around meadows and mountain rivers, and we eagerly stuck our hands and heads out the windows to catch this smell first, as if there might not be enough for everyone. Who we are? A bunch of slackers, bookworms, believers, cinephiles, hippies, and nerds. Students thirsty for life knowledge and adventure are looking for meaning and acceptance. I felt happy feeling the wind in my, then, long hair. The only thing that was bothering me was my grades; I missed a lot of classes and failed a few courses. After the trip, I had to take a summer semester to catch up. And it was the last thing I wanted to do or think about.
Sashko, my good friend, was reading an article. I was sitting across from him, sipping tea, thinking my heavy, unpleasant thoughts. He knew what was bothering me. Sashko said: “Hey, listen to it.” He looked at the page and read aloud: “You can expand your knowledge only when you look directly into the eyes of your ignorance.” He smiled and added: “You will see; you will be fine. Just take your time and think about it; you’ll know what to do and why to do so”. I did think then and still do. I graduated from university, and my bachelor’s paper was graded at the highest score in my class. And I apply this quote to education and other aspects of life. Whatever feels wrong or “unpleasant,” that’s where I go. To face and solve it, talk about it, and lift that “heavy mountain” off your shoulders.
My perspective on education underwent a significant transformation during my high school years. Upon entering high school, I initially held the common aspiration of achieving perfection and maintaining impeccable grades. However, my experiences along the way, possibly influenced by the challenging nature of my high school environment, prompted a shift in both my behavior and mindset.
From the outset of my ninth-grade journey, I exerted considerable effort to excel academically. Nevertheless, I observed that many of my peers seemed to prioritize enjoyment over their coursework. Initially, I reasoned that my diligence would ultimately yield substantial rewards. However, this mindset was short-lived as I came to realize that, regardless of our varying levels of commitment, our academic performance remained fairly uniform.
Recognizing this disparity, I underwent a personal transformation, which led me to gradually disengage from my classes. This disengagement escalated to the point where I accrued an astounding 125 absences, yet astonishingly managed to pass all my courses. At the time, this approach appeared enticing and enjoyable. However, in hindsight, I find myself grappling with considerable challenges, particularly in mathematics, where my proficiency has regressed to a level akin to that of a fifth grader.
The difficulties I currently face have compelled me to reevaluate my perception of education once more.
One specific moment in my life that changed my views on education significantly is when I entered High school. I was able to pass middle school with copying off my friends and turning in bare minimum assignments. However once I entered high school the workload increased and the difficulty level. Not only was I not prepared for the workload, I was also introduced to a whole new world of people and their lifestyle choices. You can say I was easily influenced by my new friends. What freshman trying to fit in isn’t?
Having a Puerto Rican mom is not for the weak. When she seen my report card and multiple emails by my teachers… I realized in that moment I need to get my act together. I stopped ditching class and not paying any attention in class. I realized the work was never hard to begin with, I just had to pay attention. Therefore, Once I received my high grades and compliments by my teachers I felt very proud and accomplished. Ever since then I always try my best to achieve the grade I deserve, not just barely passing.
My perspective about education changed once I realized that in high school teachers and lectures are nothing related to what we actually need to know now as an adult . Being in your 20’s you have so many questions and situations in life that could have been answered if school would have educated us in lessons we need in our every day life. I find myself using middle school or elementary school knowledge more than any subject we were taught in high school. I feel like high school could have done better and encouraged us better before we step foot into the real world and begin college (careers).
In addition I also criticize the format in which schools have become less hands on learning. Specially as a teenager you want to learn throughout activities rather than sitting in a classroom for 2 hours staring at board or having someone speak for hours which is understanding on some occasions. Although some college classes do seem to give about 10 minute breaks which is better and us students get to give our minds a break from every thing we are absorbing . Overall todays education has definitely improved from what it used to be like years ago based on stories my older cousins or aunts tell me but I know there is still more room for improvement and better lessons or information that can be tough to students before going into the real world .
An incident that changed my view on education is where most of the things we learn in school we don’t use in our everyday basis. for example like the y intercept we don’t use that on a day to day basis, only if your job needs you to use it for your job. Also I feel like things that stick and holds value in your life. For example I only use subtraction, addition, division, multiplication but everything after that I was taught in school in math I don’t use so it wouldn’t really matter to me but then in english class I always learned something new from each class and it also helps with your vocabulary and certain skills that you could use in like like write and email etc. But life things or things that hold importance in your life you’ll never forget for some people its family once a family member passes they learn how important it is to reach out to family, but for me its about safety. someone once told me if I feel like I’m being followed turn 5 times and if they’re still behind you then your being followed, also if your being followed in a car (while you’re driving) also do the turns but once you know for sure your being followed drive to your nearest police station. things like that I don’t forget because it cost me my life.
Many students expect high school to be an easy transition from middle school. In my case, high school wasn’t so great. Throughout my four years of attending secondary school, my view on education drastically changed. As high schoolers experiencing major changes on our education journey, we are assigned a guidance counselor, a person whose job it is to focus on meeting the needs of every student. As a young adult in need of that support and guidance, you idolized the help and resources being provided by this new person.
Sadly, this was not my case, and I was one of those few students who struggled through my four years of high school. I went from being a straight-A student to doing the complete opposite. My counselor was so set and focused on playing the role of his profession that he never collaborated on creating a deeper connection with me. a connection that made me comfortable enough to talk about more personal situations than my academic progress. Due to this situation, the few times I was called into his office were only to discuss my risk of not graduating. Instead of feeling motivated, I felt misunderstood and incapable of achieving a better outcome from my learning skills. The few times I was able to open up and speak about the reasons behind my poor academic progress, I was misunderstood and even called a liar. It was at these moments that I realized that I didn’t have a support group that I could count on and that I was on my own. Due to such events, I now view the education system as a system whose major goal is to make sure you graduate and are out by June, a system that views you and evaluates you based on a GPA instead of your actual abilities. Because of my experience, I believe that educational staff should go beyond what they are hired for and ensure children’s well-being before their academic progress.
A moment that changed my perspective during my education was the moment my teacher changed for the second semester of the school year. There always a teacher that boost your self confidence when it comes to school. There always different ways each teacher grades work. Therefore for my history class we did a lot of writing but before we started the teacher always told us what they are expecting. Such as go over rubrics and teach us different methods to write. I’ve always liked writing essays and I would say my writing has improved. In that course I started to learn how to write the way the teacher expected and slowly began to grow from there. The teacher would grade my work and put comments saying I successfully completed what was need. I do think he did it based on his teacher experience and not just because he was being nice.
For the second sesmter my teacher changed and even if i didn’t agree with it there was nothing i could have done. Than came the writing assignments and i used the same exact methods as i did for the pervious semester. I personally thought i did a good job since i felt like my writing improved from the beginning of the year. It was the same exact assignments as the pervious ones. But my grades weren’t the same and i read the comments she wrote in the side and didn’t expect that response. That caused an impact in my education since the way that teacher taught was differently. In which i had to improve quickly because the regents exams were in a couple of months. Having to start all over with my writing progress was difficult because not only did it hurt my grades but also my thoughts as a writer. Each teacher has a different way of grading, that can be a negative thing but also polstive. since it teaches you different methods on how to write and gives you the opportunity to take your own writing the way you want your reader to.
Truthfully, I used to think nothing could hurt me or phase me. I was a growing teenager, taking one day at a time, learning more and more as I went through school. I never had a struggle story thanks to the sacrifices of my loving parents. I lived a good middle-class life, going to school on weekdays, hanging out with friends on the weekends, and trying to find time for family when possible.
That is what I believe was the most educational thing I’ve learned throughout the years. Is that you don’t try to make time for family when “possible”, instead you make time for them because you never know when it will be their last time. I had a tragic and unexpected passing in my family that taught me this valuable lesson. I never experienced a death so close to me before so this one hit home. I think everyone had hope that the news wasn’t true and that there had been some terrible misunderstanding. It was so shocking that no one would have seen it coming, I feel like this is what honesty made it worse.
All throughout my academic life from middle school I was in the simulation thinking school was just all about academics and that was just the base of education. Middle school made me think that school wasn’t important and it wasn’t gonna help me in the future. Truthfully, I think also growing to have a education where teachers didn’t even tend to try to make sure you understand hurt my education deeply. It hurt the way I was taught and the way I learn and look at the aspects of education throughout that time in middle school. I feel like everyone’s thought of education depends on how they were taught and the levels they were taught compared to other students throughout the world.
Highschool changed it all for me. Once I got to Highschool I seen what education was really about and how it can really help my future. I went to a trade high school which taught me graphic design. Trade classes helped me think deeply and helped me change my whole overview of education. Graphic design courses h showed me that education isn’t just about textbooks and academics. It’s about critical thinking and always learning.
A moment in time where my view on education has changed was during my third year of high school. Before my viewpoint changing, I always viewed education as something that I need to impress my parents or something that I need to move on during life. Each time I was given an assignment I would always brush it off as something to do instead of taking in the lessons that were within the assignment. To me, I only told myself that I needed to do good in these assignments in order to do well in my future.
That’s when my viewpoint on education changed as I was entering my third year of college. I’ve meet my AP English Language teacher and I have met my Cisco teacher. Both of them taught my that education wasn’t just some work that needed to be done, but things that are applicable to your life. My AP teacher would tell me that speaking out and spreading out your voice is something that is very important so others know what are you talking about or see your viewpoint. My Cisco teacher has also taught me the fundamentals of problem solving instead of being overwhelmed by anything. Without these teachers I feel that I still would have my old viewpoint that I had before and I appreciate learning everything that I got from them.
Something that changed my viewpoint on education is when sometime in Junior year of highschool I made new friends and my focus on schoolwork diminished. While practically everyone would see this as a bad thing, even me at the time, it was actually beneficial to me. At the time, a family member was sick and it was really affecting everything in my life. But when I made those new friends, I started doing different things. I got a phone and a line, so I was able to gain more trust from my parents and make them worry about me less. This enabled me to stay outside afterschool for longer than I ever could before. I finally had freedom to do things on my own. All of these things, and the presence of people in my life, other than my family, made me happier and understand that there is more to a high schooler’s life than education.
But this freedom came with a cost for me. As a result of everything at the time, I started focusing on school way less. Whenever I got home, my parents would ask if I had any homework and I would just lie and say no, but if I decided to do my homework at home, I would then say that I forgot about it and make up some other lie. My grades definitely started slipping. I was usually a high 80s student, but most of my classes started falling below 80 when I obtained freedom. It didn’t take long for my mom to say something once report cards came in, I was basically forced to stay home at this point. But it made me have an even stronger desire to stay outside whenever I had the chance.
Being forced to stay inside only made my mood worsen but it did improve my grades since my focus split into two. I was able to focus mainly on school at the time, but also think about what to do with my friends outside. Today, not much has changed I still have that divided focus. I just have a greater understanding of the way I have to manage my time. I am currently typing all this during my 3 and a half hour break between classes because I knew I’d be able to. When I get home I’ll think about any other homework I have to do and determine if it is crucial to do it today, tomorrow, this week, or what. Then I go outside and do whatever according to my homework load and my class schedule. But each week has a different balance to it.
One incident that changed my views on education was when I realized that the teachers can put whatever grades they want no matter if you earned it or not and that showed me that your relationship with your teacher matters.
The second grade was one of the times that I learned that your relationship with your teachers matter. No, you don’t have to be best friends with them but, that definitely helps, having a good relationship matters. This goes for all grades even college but if you have a bad relationship with your teacher they are less likely to be more lenient towards little mistakes on tests, homework or projects. Most teachers would let you slide for some things but if the teacher doesn’t like you it’ll be harder for u to get away with little mistakes.
Even though my relationship with my teacher was bad in the beginning of the year, as the year went on I started taking school a little more seriously. My teacher noticed I was improving and I was actually trying so she opened up to me more. She would help me with classwork. She would let me sleep in her classes more often as long as I finished the work and she stopped sending my mom bad emails about my performance in class. I know this is only second grade but that’s not what matters. What matters is how my relationship affected the enjoyment and difficulty in class.
Before high school, I didn’t take school seriously, but after I finished middle school and entered high school, I started to value my education much more. The reason for this is that In middle school and elementary school, I didn’t have to do much work. I still passed but that all changed when high school started because after the first month, my grades weren’t the best and my parents talked to me about how I have to do good in high school because if not I wouldn’t end up in a good college and I wouldn’t get a good job. After that experience, I started taking my education seriously doing all of my work and studying for upcoming exams.
My first day of junior year was like a grapefruit bitter but sweet.I felt like i was on top of the world because i wasn’t a small fry freshman or an ordinary sophomore. I was a junior and I felt like such a young adult. Life was looking up i had just came back from DR and missed the first week of school so i was kinda behind but not because we all know in highschool week one is just formalities.I enter that white and blue building that rusted from head to toe and make my way to the main office to pick up my schedule.The staff in the main office were not the friendliest but i wasn’t worried about them.I was so happy to be back in school because school means friends,adventures,clubs,social life,and good grades.When i received my schedule i see the “AP” symbol next to my favorite classes english and social studies. A feeling of disappointment passed through me but nevertheless I remained excited because school has always come “easy” to me and I saw this as a new beginning, a little too new if you ask me.I walked into my AP government class late and confused not the best look for my first day.I get greeted by a tall teacher with a heavy accent and a blank expression “what a welcome!”.She assigned me a seat and continued to teach the lesson.As the class is coming to a close i’ve realized i have not retained what was said yet i walked out that class with my head high.Next few class fly by and my teacher announces we are having a quiz. A quiz on the 2nd week sounds crazy to me and that’s when the panic begins to set in because I haven’t done a single thing in that class but stare into space and take notes occasionally.Fast forward I fail that test and the next one after that as well.
It’s now the end of the fall semester i’ve realized I basically flunked my government class, I begin to fall out love with government bc of my grades.i had a talk with my teacher and we looked into solutions its funny how most people never start with a simple solution before getting into something more complex.She had asked me i reviewed my study sheets or even studied. I said yes knowing i’ve never studied a day in my life.Im not sure what really sparked me deciding to take a few moments out of my day and study but it was best academic decision i’ve made for myself.it seems so trivial but there’s a method to the madness.Ever since I mastered the art of studying I noticed a big change in my grades.
One incident that profoundly changed my views on education occurred during my junior year of high school. I was enrolled in a history class, and our teacher, Mr. Thompson, decided to organize a mock trial to bring the subject matter to life.
The mock trial was based on a historical event that we had been studying in class – the Salem Witch Trials. Each student was assigned a role, either as a prosecutor, defense attorney, witness, or jury member. We were given time to research our roles and prepare our arguments and testimonies.
On the day of the mock trial, the classroom was transformed into a courtroom. Mr. Thompson acted as the judge, and we were expected to follow the rules and procedures of a real trial. As the trial began, I was amazed at how engaged and invested everyone was in their roles.
The trial proceeded with the prosecution presenting their case, followed by the defense presenting their arguments and calling witnesses. Each student had to think critically, analyze evidence, and present their arguments persuasively. It was a dynamic and interactive learning experience that required us to apply our knowledge of the historical context and legal principles.
Throughout the trial, I witnessed the power of active learning. We were not just passive recipients of information; we were actively involved in the process of understanding and interpreting history. The mock trial allowed us to see the complexities of the Salem Witch Trials and the various perspectives involved.
This incident made me realize that education is not just about memorizing facts and dates, but about actively engaging with the material and applying it to real-life situations. It showed me the importance of critical thinking, communication, and collaboration in the learning process.
The mock trial also fostered empathy and understanding. By taking on different roles and arguing different perspectives, we were able to see the nuances and complexities of historical events. It taught us to question assumptions, challenge biases, and consider multiple viewpoints.
Overall, this incident opened my eyes to the power of experiential learning and the importance of active engagement in education. It showed me that education is not just about acquiring knowledge, but about developing critical thinking skills, empathy, and a deeper understanding of the world around us.
Paragraph 1:
It was a warm spring day when I walked into a small classroom filled with eager and curious faces. I was invited to observe a science class at a local high school, expecting to witness the conventional teacher-led lecture. However, to my surprise, the teacher had transformed the classroom into a vibrant and interactive learning environment. The students were divided into groups, huddled around lab tables, engaged in lively discussions. The teacher, instead of being the sole source of knowledge, acted as a facilitator, guiding and encouraging the students’ exploration. This incident was a catalyst that shattered my preconceived notions about education, as I witnessed firsthand the power of student-centered learning and the importance of fostering critical thinking and collaboration skills.
Paragraph 2:
As I observed the science class, I noticed how the students were not only absorbing knowledge but actively constructing it. Each group was assigned a different experiment, and the students were encouraged to ask questions, propose hypotheses, and design their own procedures. The classroom buzzed with excitement and intellectual curiosity. It became evident that the students were not merely memorizing facts but developing a deeper understanding of the subject matter. They were not passive recipients of information but active participants in their own learning process. This incident made me realize that education should be a dynamic and engaging experience that empowers students to become lifelong learners, capable of applying their knowledge to real-world situations and contributing meaningfully to society.