"My MEL Experiences"

• Student/teacher relationship: In seventh grade I was placed in a classroom with an extremly strict teachers who could have cared less if we learned anything. She would ask questions that were rather difficult to answer, at our age, and expected us to respond. When no one said anything she would say something to the effect of "this is the generation we're counting on, and you can't answer this simple question". That was the worst year of school I've ever been through.
• Hands-On: My biology instructor in high school was one of the best teachers I have ever had because his learning style was so similar to mine. In almost every class we did something that was visually stimulating where we would manipulate objects with our hands to prove a point. Looking back now he must have spent hours planning each lesson, but I'm glad he did because I have such a great understanding of biology because of him.
• Learning Styles: After about the fourth grade my teachers stopped creating lessons that incorporated all different styles of learning. It suddenly became read this section in the book and then do this work sheet, or read this passage and write a response for homework. I remember most of my classes being taught this way and sadly I don't believe much has changed.
• Interest: In eighth grade we were required to choose a topic that interested us, research it, and then we were asked to present it in an academic fair. We could choose almost any topic that we wanted to learn more about. three weeks were spent in the library doing research, and then two weeks in the computer lab writing our report. Along with the research paper we had to create a visual display and a poster board to present to our classmates.
• Connections: The only class I ever remember making real life connections to what we were learning in class to the real world would have been in my math class. My math class taught me how to balance a check book, to figure out how many miles per gallon of gas my car used, and how to figure out percentages.