And My Experiences Of A Good School Experience

As we pulled up to the massive elementary school building, I begged my mom to let me stay home from school, just once. As usual, she said no. Realizing my attempt to get out of school was futile, I shouldered my backpack, swung open the door, and trudged over to the front door. I would rather be anywhere else than here. For the majority of my life, I attended public schools. It wasn’t rare for me to fail a test or even a whole class. It was because of these failures that I would get even more demotivated and threw away the idea of working hard or completing quality work altogether.

Students who are becoming freshmen often ask “what’s it like to be in high school?” High school is not what you think. Freshmen don’t get pushed in lockers, there's not that one popular girl who shoves other students books out of their hands, and the cafeteria is not the most embarrassing place to be. High school is not an amicable. If you really think high school is a amicable place where students smile at each other, think again. Here is some advice from my high school experience.

I recall the beginning of my freshman year when I was thrown into the chaotic and hectic mess that is high school. Not only was I given a much harder course load than ever before, but I also started the year off with volleyball. This made my life so incredibly difficult. As if getting home from a game at 10 o’clock was not enough, I typically still had about an hour of homework to complete due to my honors classes. That season felt longer than a giraffes neck . From the long nights of homework, to the complete mental breakdowns, Freshman year was one of the worst experiences of my life.

The best teacher I’ve ever had was my Honors English teacher, who was the strictest and harshest grader I’ve ever come across. With her as my teacher, I spent the majority of my sophomore year stressed out. What I didn’t realize, however, was that the only reason I was struggling, was because I refused to acknowledge that what she was doing was teaching. The teachers I had previously, never challenged me in the way that she did and, because of that, I could do the bare minimum and still pass. After I finished her class, I realized that she didn’t just set me up to pass her class, but set me up to excel in the future. She changed the way I looked at education, and made me acknowledge that having trouble in a class didn’t mean that I was incapable;

1. Provide a short description of your high school experience. How have you grown/evolved from 9th grade to this point? List some of the highlights of your high school career.

I believe that I can better my students and help them have a successful future, starting out with me as their teacher. Looking back I can remember specific activities from those years; how school was a fun place to be and where the learning areas of the class were also enjoyable times. These are experiences I would like my students to look back on and remember and cherish about their time in my classroom. By creating those lasting impression, I think that I can make student’s futures brighter and better because they enjoyed what they were

Through the school years I have been to two schools. Some of my years were near-perfect but, others were a train wreck. I would have to say that my worst school year was sixth grade. Thinking back I have found many issues that lead me to think the year was a train wreck. First off, in the first semester I had an I.S.S. which stands for in school suspension. I regret doing what I did to earn that because it was as boring as a sack of wet sand. But as my wise 8th grade teacher Mrs.Moncada once said “You can make any choice you want. But, you are not free from the consequences that come with that choice.”

I began the speech that I had rehearsed a thousand times into my mirror. I watched as the students hung on my every word. Their expressions changed just as my parents had when I practiced my speech for them earlier. I could tell that I was inspiring and engaging each person in the

7th and 8th grade year at Lake Road were atrocious. My teachers made me feel worthless as they screamed “You can’t get from point A to point B.” and “You’re so stupid it’s not even funny.” The best one came from my least favorite teacher, “No one likes you. None of them laugh with you they all laugh at you. You need to grow up because you’re annoying.” The teachers made fun of me and stood in the hall talking about my friends and I as we walked to class. I didn’t understand what I did wrong to make the teachers dislike me so much. I had good grades, started at every sport I played, never got in trouble unless it was for talking, and they still treated me as if I wasn’t even good enough to go to the school. One day it got so bad I called my mom and we went to the Obion County Board of Education.

During my adolescences I encountered a selected few of good teachers and many bad ones. The bad ones that I have encounter were those that had one student(me) missing the lesson in order to always help a foreign student that did not speak English and needed help to understand what was going on. I only agreed to help because I was a talkative child and it was an excuse to make a new friend and talk during class. In my years of

looking back on my secondary education, I remember having a teacher in high school who was the most caring person I have ever met, Ms. Noriega. She was not just a teacher but also a friend. She was there for me when I needed someone to talk to but also when I needed assistance with school work. No matter the time or place, Ms. Noriega listened to me with caring ears. She did not judge me but rather guided me toward the right direction. On the other hand, I remember teachers like my ninth grade English Literature teacher, Mr. Ruiz. He went into the classroom to do his job, which meant teaching students the curriculum and nothing more. He was not will to try to get to know his students nor cared for our struggles. He was not helpful and was rather

“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires” -William Arthur Ward. Throughout the history of each of our learning careers, I am sure every student has been taught by one of these kind of teachers. The one who talks for hours upon end about their bike trip across the country and all of the life lessons they learned along the way or the one who decides they simply must not let you take their word for it and prove an entire calculus problem for 3 hours. But, there are also the exceptionally unordinary ones. During my time of slavery in the Rochester school system, I have been blessed with many of these teachers. Their love for their job and the way they impact and love

I had a history teacher who was actually an English major on a provisional license (it was also his first year) and only begrudgingly taught our class. I very clearly remember getting the highest grade on a test of his after having been absent for the entire unit and having had prepared for it with only the help of my parents. He lectured the class on having to study harder and a student commented back to him that maybe he needed to teach a little better. My history teacher the next year was the exact opposite, despite only having taught for a few years, she was incredibly supportive of all of her students and did an excellent job of differentiating between our varying educational

While my teacher and I did have our struggles I did learn a lot from her. I will use some of her techniques in my future classroom. One of them is at the beginning of each day she allowed that students time to talk. Along with get out all of the materials they need for the class that day. I came up with an idea during this time when I was with her to play a “Name that Song” game with the students. This was a great way for them to use comprehension skills with songs they love to listening to. I also loved how during the week she has an agenda paper hung up in her classroom. During the week students can write down any concerns or things they would like to change about the classroom. Then at the

Of all the choices that the California State University of Fresno offered, I decided to enroll myself in English 10. My decision was based on my high school experience. I always challenged myself to take rigorous and challenging courses. In high school, whether it was a gate, honors, or AP courses, I always took up the challenge and gave it all my best. I had excelled in my English course in high school, however, I do understand that high school writing will massively differ from college writing. In addition, my decision was also based upon my recent participation in the English 10 course over the summer offered by the HCOP program for incoming freshmen experience.