My MEL experiences

• Student/Teacher Relationship: In my fifth grade class our teacher used journals to get to know each of us. We had to do a certain amount of entries every week and she would respond to each of them. She knew what we did outside of class, what sports we played, what clubs we were part of and came to most of the important events. She was respectful and was always available to talk outside of class. Her teaching style and relationship with her student were so much appreciated that my parents requested her for my sisters fifth grade teacher, a decision they usually allowed the school to decide.
  
• Helping Students Succeed: Last semester my art professor informed me that though I had a very good sense of color, my artistic talents were lacking. It was nice of her to add something nice to the insult, but it did not make me want to prove her wrong, it made me want to leave. Being in a beginning painting class I had assumed that my artistic talents were lacking and that the class was there to help me improve upon them, I was sadly mistaken. The professor alienated most of the class in some way and ended up having a entire class resent her and her opinions. Criticism is fine, when it is constructive, but to be told something is not up to par and then not be given the resources or knowledge to succeed is of help to no one.
  
• Hand's On: I learn so much better from hands on learning, since when I have to recall the knowledge I can envision the activity. At UMF the Physics class is workshop based, we discover the concepts for ourselves and then discuss them. When we were learning about acceleration we didn't just learn the formula or look at graphs, we made the graphs, varied variables and fully explored the different factors involved. After we did all that we learned the formulas, how to use them, and the mathematical reasoning behind them.
• Autonomy: In eighth grade science we were moving faster then the other class so the teacher gave us an extra assignment. We were able to explore something of our choice as a class and basically design the experience. As a class we found a place where we could send in bugs and then have them put under a under a large microscope, and then from our classroom we could explore them as well as talk to the scientist on the other end. It was one of the best experiences, because we did all the work to make it happen and got to choose what we wanted to learn and what we wanted to focus on. It was also nice to know the teacher trusted us with our own education.
  
• Connections: I am always wondering why I am doing something or learning certain information, how is it going to help me in life and what I can apply it to? I think this is why I enjoy physics so much. I enjoy mathematics, but am often wondering if I really need to know this and am I ever going to use this concept again. Physics gives you those real life examples and how the concepts you learn in math connect to everything you do. Not only are your questions of why certain things work answered but the questions of why did I learn this and will I ever use it again are answered as well. One of my favorite examples of this is when we explored why there are speed limits, especially on a curve. By changing speed we found that some of the posted speed limits on curves are only slightly below a speed that will not allow you to stay on the road.