Final Portfolio

I have had challenges in learning English and being able to read and write it with minimal areas. The first unit played a significant role in making this dream a success. I learned many things about grammar, including tenses and new alphabets. I must admit that I have become better in my reading and writing to this point. To perfect some of the things taught in the first unit, I took time to go through the notes and assignments. Practicing to perfect my reading was a daily dose for me. Some of the students who were practicing the language were a great motivation. We would try to rehearse together and advise each other on how to become better. Linking up with other international students even made the race a bit easier.

As a reader, I have learned English alphabets and the required pronunciation for various English words. There were tough times trying to learn a new language and starting from scratch with my peers finding it awkward. ‘I had to start with the basics such as the alphabet, which made me feel stupid.’ Some of the other problems included low self-esteem, poor vocabulary, and grammar issues in both reading and writing. All these factors had a considerable effect, especially since it was the beginning of learning new knowledge. With time, I found most of the topics and many aspects of the language quite interesting. The desire to prove other individuals in the class wrong also came as a driving force. I found it interesting to read grammar books consistently and newspapers, blogs, and English movies. I mainly found my change in perspective and acknowledging the voice needed in English as a significant step in helping deal with a direct translation. From what I have learned in the unit, I would use the knowledge to advise and help non-English speakers and other international students in their journey to become proficient English readers and writers. Guiding them on the need to read more English materials to boost their vocabulary and eliminate grammar mistakes will make me insist on the most. I would also use the knowledge in other units in college to become more proficient in descriptions and writing more fine papers that will give me good grades. It will also help boost confidence in public speaking as I will have more trust in what I know in the language.

The second unit looked at the various impacts education has on children’s curiosity. To revise the topic, I took time to analyze all of the articles and books used in the unit, including downloading and reading the full texts. I then looked at the notes, lectures, and discussions to ensure I could bring out the relation of the various sources with the unit’s contents.

I learned that many adults do not appreciate the curiosity in children and see it as a source of nuisance and naughty behavior. That is contrary to the fact that curiosity could lead to children accessing more knowledge and learning from their seniors and the environment. I further learned that education has a significant effect on the levels of curiosity. As a reader and a writer, I learned of interest as a step to explore and harnessing knowledge. ‘…therefore, when one is curious about something, they are motivated to explore and settle their curiosity”. I appreciated the role of curiosity in enhancing the need for research and innovation by using ideas and knowledge collected. As a scholar, I was particularly interested in learning that curiosity is historical and dates back to the age of philosophers and religious leaders. I was keen and got to know the different perspectives these groups had on curiosity and the research conducted due to curiosity. I understood that more curious children learned quicker from school experiences with children and explored most concepts making them outsmart the rest. As a scholar, I learned the need for curiosity to conduct research. I intend to use the knowledge to boost my curiosity to improve my exploration skills and feel more motivated to execute most college tasks that require investigation. I further learned of the problem most curriculums have that fails to support curiosity in children. I found it hard to understand why this would be so and saw the need for changes in most school curriculums to make children more curious and enhance research in the institutions. I would help advise and develop a curriculum that will allow children to be frank and ask questions to improve their learning experiences.

For the third unit recently studied, I look forward to looking into different education systems and find ways on how best they can be improved to acknowledge the need for curiosity in children. I will also seek to find some articles and opinions of different scholars on how the issue can be solved and whether education fully uses curiosity in education. Further, I strive to consult with fellow students and lecturers on the topic and find suggestions on the references to use in ensuring that I come up with a plan and have all the information needed as far as the issue is concerned. I found it interesting to explore the many school systems and how they fail to uphold curiosity. I was also impressed with discovering the tremendous role teachers are accorded in the whole exercise and the necessary steps they are to take.

This unit helped me understand the need to tackle children’s curiosity in the present for a better future. Measuring grades with performance in class is one aspect I learned has a significant impact on making the whole system fail to appreciate curiosity. I learned of the different advantages of children learning out of curiosity and the positive effect on their adulthood. School teachers should realize the enormous role they have to play in changing the education systems to encourage curiosity. ‘The main audience of the project is the different school teachers who happen to be the main stakeholders in the encouraging or shuttering of the curiosity of the different students.’ I will dig into various newspapers and articles that tackle the same to understand the issue better and evaluate any possible recommendations to tackle the issue. Some of the potential problems in the whole process include finding past newspapers and accessing most articles to get those containing information needed to develop a perfect workable plan.