On August 12 I was just someone who was used to the same old structured class learning through a book and moving onto working in a packet. As a learner I was just used to being in a box that almost everyone was put in . I thought that my English class was going to be like my other classes. When Dr.Preston said that he wanted the class to choose between learning through a book or open source learning I was surprised. I didn't quite understand what open source learning was, but to me it meant we didn't have to read out of a boring book so I thought open source learning would be an interesting experience.
My experience with the journals was something odd. I've tried writing in a journal before, but I could never keep up. When I first started writing it was hard for me to fully put down all my thoughts of the journal topic since I wasn't used to writing like that ,the same goes for my blogs. This reminded me of the quote from On Self-Reliance "We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which each of us represents". This quote made me realize that I was half expressing myself because I was too afraid to show my true self. Memorizing was actually quite hard because I didn't have a strategy on how to memorize the poems, however I eventually developed a strategy for myself and learned it faster like that. Posting myself reciting the poems was quite embarrassing but I still did it which made me proud of myself. Over the last four months I have definitely improved on almost everything. Even though I improved I am still learning on how I can improve more especially on my writing.
Throughout the 4 months I have been here I think the time I felt the most tension was when I was studying for my vocab final. Since I was already busy studying for my other finals I didn't really have much time for the vocab final. I thought I would never have enough time to study for it and that stressed me out a lot. In the end I made a quizlet so that I could study while I walked to my classes and on the way to my house. I had memorized most of the Lit Terms and some of the Tech Terms. When it came to the Final I did my best even if I didn't write every single definition correctly. Throughout this time I was reminded of the poem A Dream Within A Dream because the poem was about how our life is going to go by really quickly even if we don't think so at times. The poem reminded me that this time will pass whether I want it to or not.
Four months is a long time especially when its revolved around school. Finding a good routine to follow is hard to do, but when you are a busy person you are usually already used to it. The first half of school was stressful but I got through it. It took me a short while to come up with a routine that I could work with but I am satisfied with it. My routine starts from when I wake up. I get ready, go to school, attend all my classes and take notes, after school I either take the bus home ,stay for community service, or go to the public library to do my physics homework. By the time I get home I make myself food if I have time or I go to my room to rest a bit. Then I start my homework which is typically math. When I finish that I get ready for bed. I usually do my English work in the morning because I have an hour to kill due to the bus always picking me up early. This has contributed to my success by not being stressed out all the time to finish everything on time and knowing that I always have time to finish something. This reminds me of The Laughing Heart because the author tries to persuade the reader to take charge of their own life which is what I try to do.
Having had the experience to learn through open source learning has changed the way I learn now. I have found ways to learn and memorize important things. I have been able to apply this to my other classes and it has helped me out. When I first started I would barely understand what the class was discussing but now I perfectly understand what we are doing. This class helped me by coming up with strategies that will help me learn. Not only do I use these strategies in this English class, but I also use them for my other difficult classes. When I wrote my favorite journal on 12/04/19 and blog
"First Impression of a Dream" I wrote with my thoughts only. I wrote/typed everything that I was feeling and thinking. After I read it I was satisfied with what I wrote. Something in this course that made me smile was when we were reading On Self-Reliance I smiled so big because Emerson stated things that everyone could relate to. This class has been great and I hope that other teachers take Open Source learning into consideration.
