I belong in this academic community. I believe this is the most important attribute of my schooling education. Why? Research shows in an article about evidence on mindsets, “the experience of belongingness is associated with important psychological processes. Children who experience a sense of relatedness [in school]... perceive themselves to be more competent and autonomous and have higher levels of intrinsic motivation [than students with a low sense of belonging]. They have a stronger sense of identity but are also willing to conform to and adopt estab- lished norms and values. These inner resources in turn predict engagement and performance... [Students who experience belongingness] have more positive attitudes toward school, classwork, teachers, and their peers...They invest more of themselves in the learning process” I completely agree with this concept after experiencing it first hand.
I was in the 7th grade when my mom saw on my school grades, how I seemed to be struggling on tests on when I shouldn’t be. She kept me back a grade, by repeating the 8th grade, even though I passed it. Even though, I didn’t need that to happen. She decided to sign me up for testing, to see where my level as a student was. I remember the document of the results saying I was exceeding in math compares to other students, but I was not at the same level as other students in the class. I was given an I.E.P.The IEP is meant to address each child’s unique learning issues and include specific educational goals. It is a legally binding document. The school must provide everything it promises in the IEP. Going into high school, I was given this document saying how I can take tests at a later time, be given study guides to help me, turn in work late, even sometimes given answers on home works to help me as well. You would think most students would strive off of the fact they basically never have to do work, given this benefit. I absolutely hated the fact that I was getting different tests and different homework packets, just because I had a learning disability. I would get pulled out of homeroom every Tuesday with another kid, who also had an I.E.P., just to check up on us to see how we were doing, monitoring our grades every week. I hated it so much, I would never use it. I would struggle so much with high school, keeping up with everyone else, just so I wouldn’t be seen differently from everyone else, and treated like a normal student. I worked my ass off at school, but on the down low of course, just so I could be seen as a normal student. I graduated high school as an honor roll student. I worried a lot about college in general to see if I could keep up with an even higher level of schooling. I had a teacher in high school, named Mr. Lavery. He really motivated me to find a career path and do what I want to do, even though, what I want to major in, needed a lot of schooling, and one of the toughest majors to major in. Even though, I wasn’t necessarily like everyone else, in terms of intelligence or knowledge retaining ability, I still wanted to be seen like everyone else, and had to create my own way as being seen like a smarter student. I found ways that worked for my studying abilities, while remaining on track as a normal student who attended classes and never missed any time in homeroom.
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Melanie
Here I will be blogging about my thoughts and ideas. Archives
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