Chez Tarleton English 1102 Sippy May 8th My Reflection

At the beginning of the semester I did not fully understand how well things connect with each other in any class. I always thought that teachers or professors came up with things as they went along and nothing was ever relevant to me. After being in this class the past semester, I can finally see how everything goes with each other. When we first read Mike Roses article referring to his educational struggle I could already connect that with a part of my life. I actually picked one of my journal entries, Oh School, because it reminded me of him. All of the chaos that goes on in school, sometimes it is hard to believe that work actually gets done. I could relate to his struggles as a child growing up with poor hearing. Roses article was what sparked the idea of my research proposal. Although at first I can up with two different proposals. Due to Roses article I thought od starting my research on preparing students for the real world by providing them with classes in high school that were not on a four-year college path. His story scratched into my skull that not everyone is on the same path way but should not be treated differently for it. As I thought more about schooling and the school system I wondered why there were such unnecessary rules in high school if you were trying to prepare a student for college. When a student is plopped into college they do not understand how much freedom they actually have due to high school. In my day book entry, Have you ever questioned something? , I explained how high school rules just add more stress to a student than needed. With Roses influence on my idea of my proposal I decided to dig a bit deeper. Though I was completely interested in schooling and how students may not all have the pathway I thought

about how each students path is decided, through testing. Not only are students judged on their teacher made tests, they are mainly judged by standardized tests created by corporations. I thought long and hard about how much I personally despise standardized tests because I am a horrible test taker. I remembered how sometimes my grades would slip because of tests, especially standardized tests. Some people blame students for being the reason why they perform poorly on tests, but I think it is a good mix of both. I picked my bay book entry, Just because, due to the fact that this dispute is a major issue. Edmondsons article gives someone to point for the reason behind bad grades, students. I believe that there always has to be that one person or group of people needed to point a finger at and blame everything on. I do not believe that you can really blame teachers or students. In my day book entry, Connections, I commented on Paulo Freires article about how someone person only gains knowledge if they really work for it. I think that this is true about students. I think that if a student really wants to success they will try their hardest to. With that being said, teachers need to make themselves available to help a student. Just from one of our very first readings, I had so many ideas in my mind. Everything started connecting and making sense to me on what I needed to do. I decided that my research topic would be standardized tests because I knew it was going to be a hard topic to come to a conclusion to and I did not necessarily want to. I was very excited about how we would be able to format our paper using different techniques and forms. I was tired of using the standard five paragraph essay format. I spoke of how I was ready to try something new in my day book entry, Critical Thinking. I chose that entry because I honestly thought that the standard writing style hinder students creativity as do standardized tests. Standardized tests do not show how well a student understands a subject but merely how well they can memorize material for an exam. All

the five-paragraph essay does is enables students to memorize a certain format and repeat it for other writings to come. Although the five-paragraph style provides students with organization, it takes away their personality in their paper. Though I had everything worked out in my head for the project, ideas, and beliefs for the final inquiry project and paper, my biggest struggle was organization. As previously stated, the five-paragraph format does aid students in organization. When we had to create a script for the inquiry project, I almost jumped with joy. I am a very strong writer when it comes to scripts simply because I have the ability to write exactly what I think. When I have to write in a certain style I feel like I can never get my actual point across. Though many people in class thought it was annoying I thought the argument was a blast, I loved turning my sources into actual characters. I loved being able to bring a higher level of personality to my sources instead of just having statements and facts that they have said to researched. When we had to type up an essay I was a bit hesitant to just jump right into it. Like I said before, it is easier for me to get a point across when I type what I am thinking rather than dress it up into an academic essay. With all of the research, arguing, and connections that happened throughout this class I am very pleased with what I have discovered about myself as a writer and researcher. I was able to understand that I there are some arguments that are never ending. The argument about standardized tests will always be an issue until someone comes up with a fail proof alternative. This class has opened my eyes to a writing world where the five-paragraph format does not always need to be used to create an academic essay even though it might be better for some. Allin-all I would like to end this with my favorite day book entry, My favorite. I chose this entry because the quote is so true. Everyone has a different trajectory to where they will go. Some people will end up in the same place but go through different obstacles to get there. Everyone in

class ended up creating some kind of final inquiry project/paper and I wonder what obstacles they had to go through.