My MEL Experience

• Student Teacher Relationships: All throughout school my teachers have been my support system, and sometimes my very good friends. With my teachers I feel like I can relax and feel comfortable and come to them with problems in my schooling and in life. Because of this connection I feel more comfortable in my learning environment.
• Helping Students Succeed: The worst school year of my life was my sophomore year in high school. I started the year off with all honor classes, and learned really quickly that I was no longer at the top of the food chain and all my confidence disappeared. My honors English teacher noticed too. One day she realized that because I thought I was less than my peers I had stopped trying. That day she made me sit in the hall and hand write a paper draft while the other students got it assigned for homework. After class I had to go over it with her- she got my confidence back that day.
• Hands-On: In the very first science classes that I took in middle school that involved labs I felt like a fish out of water. I felt like I never completely understood what was going on, and was really lost the whole time. I never liked labs since.
• Avoid Rewards: My freshman math teacher never gave rewards. For me he didn't need to. I have always been more driven by the idea of making someone proud than of a material object that I could acquire. Well one day before math class I went in to class early for a quick review before a big test. After reviewing everything he looked at me and said "Shila I want perfection," I told him I would try, and he told me flat out that he didn't want me to try just to do it. I got 100's on every test and quiz in his class from then on, and looking back I think it was because I knew he believed in me.
• Connection: In 7th Grade there is a time of year that is called China Connections. This time consists of all classes building a curriculum around Chinese culture. All the teachers worked together to build the unit into a huge group project that gets presented to the parents the the end in an after school event.