Titled In Black Fit Analysis

of effort would continue to get me by. I quickly found that my lack of study habits

Furthermore, I started working on Algebra 2 problems which were a little more tedious than the ones from the other class, yet, they still entertained me. After a couple of weeks in that class, the teacher approached me and asked me if I would like to try a more challenging class; AP Math. I saw it as a good challenge and gave it a chance. Now that didn’t turn out as I expected. The teacher was from a foreign country and had a terrible accent. As a result, I couldn’t understand anything. I felt lost from the moment she started talking to that end I couldn’t follow. I was trying to learn English and had enough with my other classes. I didn’t want my favorite class to become stressful, so I decided to go back to Algebra 2. The teacher welcomed

As time went on, I had to be more realistic. I began to focus heavily on my grades and I took on intense academic classes.

Little did I expect, however, that this ego boost would be so short-lived. As my classes became more demanding and academic achievements were no longer something I could take for granted, I found it challenging to ask for assistance amidst this period of downfall. As a result, my grades plummeted all the way to a dreaded D.

Generally speaking, researchers and experts believe that self-directed learners who prefer active learning and are intrinsically motivated turn out to be creative and innovative, as they deploy active learning methods that are experiential, mindful, and engaging. (Active Learning, n.d.). This essay discusses the essential aspects of being a self-directed learner, my areas of personal strengths and weaknesses, and the strategies I am planning to employ and how I am going to evaluate them to become a successful an active, self-directed, and intrinsically motivated student.

As a lifelong learner, it is important to recognize one’s unique needs in order to continuously gain and create new knowledge. Self-directed learning (SDL) was found to be the basis for those who identify with being a lifelong learner (Dynan, Cate, & Rhee, 2008). Therefore, self-directed learners tend to be motivated by intrinsic incentives to successfully acquire new skills and qualities for personal and professional growth (Hiemstra, 1994; Patterson, Crooks, & Lunyl-Child, 2002). Self-directed learning is a process in which the individual determines their path in recognizing and implementing learning strategies for their needs (as cited in Dynan et al., 2008). As a self-directed learner, one has the ability to strengthen the desire to achieve and accomplish goals (Hiestra, 1994). Previous literature identified self-directed learners as the most effective learners when he or she has identified and chose their preferred learning styles. For this reason, teachers in secondary schools introduce and model various learning strategies to provide students with the foundation for future use. With this SDL skill, students should determine useful resources and tools, identify required modifications for unique needs, and address any questions (Dynan et al., 2008). This provides students with the ability to make learning meaningful and easier to retain (Dynan et al., 2008).

Yet another effort to achieving my goals. With short timing, I managed to maintain my pace, to overcome many obstacles. Have my mind on the big picture towards the long run. I’ve been avoiding distractions so I can become successful through my courses in college. I’ve come to learn from varies mistakes that others have encountered along the road such as dropping out along the way. Improving my study habits made me realized how important education can come to be. Having the dedication, and willingness to keep my eyes on the prize has really motivated in how I carry my daily activities.

As I reflect on my first four week of algebra I recall being very skeptical that I could learn and complete a mathematics course with a passing grade. Thats because I had not taken a mathematics course since graduating high school in 1999. I struggled with match in high school and never really felt overly confident that I could learn and apply mathematics in real life. Over the past four weeks I have learned a great deal of information and how algebra can be applied in real world applications. The course has been challenging but I feel that I am doing ok and I am hopeful that I can pass this course and move on to attaining my degree.

The ninth grade is when I had been placed into a year long Algebra I class. The first few weeks went smoothly, due to what I was taught at my hometown, but then I started to fall behind when we began the computer program for math. This was the first time that I had done anything similar to this and it was difficult to say the least. There were conflicting educational goals between the teaching happening in the classroom and the electronic lessons on the desktop. However, fear of failure was a major justification on my dedication to have an adequate grade in the class, even with the frustration that came along with it. In the course of the year, I had become well educated in many math areas. Nonetheless, now having the opportunity to look back, I now see that the electronic program had not taught me an abundance of math as

“AIM HIGH ALWAYS AND WORK ‘HARD’ TO REACH YOUR GOAL BECAUSE SUCCESS IS SWEET BUT IT’S SECRET IS ‘SWEAT’.” I have always been inspired by this quote to the extent that belief in the outcomes of hard work has always motivated me to be perseverant in nature. Having this in mind I have had a strong desire to pursue a course of liking for the post graduate phase of my academic life. Right from primary education, I had strived hard to be consistent in performance. In this note I owe greatly to all my teachers who had identified my talents thereby motivating me to study well and achieve more.

This essay will describe the essential aspects of a self-directed, intrinsically motivated, active learner. It will also identify two areas of personal strength and two areas of personal weakness in being a self-motivated and engaged student. The essay will also include five personal growth strategies how I will implement these five personal growth strategies. The development plan will evaluate the success and accountability aspect of the five planned personal growth strategies.

First off, who I am as a learner has changed over the past years. At times before, I wouldn’t take certain classes or assignments seriously and have learned my lessons when I failed. I believe having classmates at the time who weren’t as focused as I wanted to be, played a big role in my lack of understanding in classes. I understood later that if I felt learning was so important to me, I need to realize that it is my future and I needed to focus on my own. Having learner in my top 5 strengths defines me very well. Rath (2007) explains that, “The process, more than the content or the result, is especially exciting for you” (p.133). I believe this defines me as a learner because I enjoy having books in hand, opening up my notebook to write notes and learning new ways to understand the class. Regardless if the content is something I have to get in to or if I don’t do well on tests, I enjoy the process of studying and learning more even when I know I didn’t do so well; that is what motivates me. I believe as long as I keep this mindset and understand that this is my strength, I will continue to grow and further my education as much as possible. Even though I have failed a few of my last classes, I never let that stop me from continuing. Knowing that I have “failed” makes me realize I know I can do better and I try my hardest not to let it get me down. I will not get further if I don’t keep trying and as a learner I am a motivator to myself in my studies.

A purposeful approach to personal growth through my ongoing coursework is an excellent way forward in my professional career. By staying positive, optimistic and working hard along the way, I know I can achieve my goals. I am very excited about the new material I will learn in my educational pursuit the new challenges and the final reward.

I always put my academic career in the first priority and I thought I did a good job in getting used to college academic life. Comparing to high school, college schedule of class looked more flexible and students just needed to take two classes per day. However, it required us to have more preparation before class. At first, I had a wrong expectation in college class, which I owned lots of free time. Fortunately, I realized the difficulty of each class in the first week. When I got into the lecture, it was hard for me to follow my professor’s step with such fast rhythm. Homework assignments made me have more struggle since I could not catch up the key point at class. After I found the hard work, I tried to reread my book, powerpoint and summarized the main points by myself. While I read those materials, I found the connection between main points and lecture. It helped me finish my first homework assignment, at the same time, it gave me some ideas of preparing for class. Before each lecture, I would preview the new chapters and wrote down some important definitions. In class, I just needed to focus

When I entered secondary school, I lost interest in my studies. Till this day, I remember very distinctly an incident that changed my attitude towards my academics. My Mathematics teacher came up to me and told me that I was the last in class for the examination. It walloped me that the whole class was ahead of me. Moreover, it was a crucial year as our performance would determine which subject combination we were eligible to take. Thankfully, I had an extremely patient Mathematics teacher who ignited my passion for Mathematics. I started working very