What High School Learned Me...
the good, the bad, and the ugly of my experience.

Curriculum offered was one of two strands...business or college prep. The problem for me was that I really wanted a bit of both. I wanted some of the college prep courses and some of the business courses. In the end, I choose the business strand--not sure why. High school learned me that I must decide either/or--not some of this and some of that to meet my individual goals. I learned that I follow the prescribed track/courses regardless of whether that matched my needs.

The majority of my classes (probably all but two or three) were traditional in their methods and presentation. Which classes do I remember the most? Which helped me the most--not the traditional ones. British Lit class! I loved British Lit because of the teacher. A strange man who reminded me of the hunchback. He would jump on the desk, run along the window sill, and bring Shakespear to life. I love literature, and Shakespeare thanks to Mr. Rempe. A course I didn't like: I remember our biology classes. Four days of book/lecture learning and one day in the lab. Like the class session the lab exercises were completed following the prescribed steps and filling in the prescribed/expected outcomes and being sure that you had the "correct" final results. As an educator, I've always known how important the hands-on, project, constructivist approach is to learning. However, our study, interaction, and reflection in OMET brought that knowledge and belief to the "center of me." As I think of these lab sessions, I'm wondering if science would have become a passion had I been able to use those lab session to answer my own questions and create my own learning experience. I think so.

I did learn to: be a rule follower, do what I have to to get where I need to, and acquire the skills necessary to reason and research for my own purposes. What I didn't learn was inquiry skills, a love math or science, management skills through designing my own high school map for graduation. I didn't learn the art of reflection because it wasn't something that was encouraged as everything was mapped out. What I learned I learned because I had the basic skills necessary to acquire that knowledge. I learned because I had the desire to learn and knew that education is important, and that was instilled from my parents. What I didn't learn was a solid foundation for math and science--this was partly because the teachers of the time didn't have their own solid foundation for "teaching" the subject and in turn I wasn't able to "understand" the topic. Today, I'm very interested in science, but do lack some of foundation knowledge on the topic. That does hinder me at time.

I did learn some wonderful skills: getting along with others, helping when needed, being part of a team, conducting oneself appropriately, etc. These are valuable skills that I have used throughout my life.