A fond memory of schooling

This blog is in repsonse to the following prompt:

As part of your assignments in this course, you are asked to look into your past to think of events that shaped your own thinking as an educator and person. For this task, I want you to look into your own background as a learner (anything up to the completion of your bachelors degree) for your own most powerful learning experience. Choose just 1 learning experience. Be sure to choose a positive learning experience (not some time you were deeply embarrassed, for instance) that was structured by some other individual intentionally (likely a teacher, but it could be a scoutmaster, coach, etc.). Your tasks then (you can do it here on the discussion board, but perhaps also repost to your blog only if you want) are:

1. Describe the learning experience being sure to provide enough background so that a reader can contextualize (what age, etc.).

1. What about the learning experience really resonated and stuck with you over time.

1. What about the intentional design of the designer (looking back) really made the learning experience work?

1. Also looking back, what type of form of learning modality (lecture, activity, project, etc.) did the experience take? 

I remember it clear as a sunny day. I was a freshman at Jackson City High School in Mr. Sewell's English class. Now, Mr. Sewell had this aura about him: he was tall (think 6'6', maybe), had a beard, and said exactly what he meant with as few words as possible. He just commanded respect and gave respect to students as well. You didn't show up late to his class, you didn't come without your homework, and you definitely didn't try to distract from honoring the learning time of the class. 

On this particular day, we were working on a research paper. My chosen topic was the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and who was to blame (the thesis really isn't important as I'm sure my perspectives have shifted since writing that paper). There were numerous things that stuck out to me from this project. Many of the skills and habits I developed through this project still enable me to do research and structure papers in ways that are coherent, clear, and compelling. I definitely credit him and this project for massively improving my writing abilities. 

The project was kicked off with a structured discussion of the expectations of the project. We had a rubric detailing the areas in which we would be scored including grammar, length, thesis statement, organization, and having three strong arguments. We explored this rubric in detail and even looked at a few other research papers and scored them using the rubric. Looking back, this was pivotal in my understanding of what good research papers include and how arguments are formulated in ways that make the reader want to take action. This activity set a clear foundation for what was expected, how we would be scored, and why research and research papers are important for our future selves as scholars. 

Fast forward, I was on a computer looking up research for my topic. Mr. Sewell stopped by and asked me how my research was going and for me to tell him something I've found that could play a role in my arguments. I replied, "Israel don't recognize the Palestinian State." He immediately replied, "Let's revisit that sentence, does it sound correct to you?" And I said, "I think so." He said, "You should have said, Israel doesn't recognize the Palestinian State. Be careful to make sure subjects and verbs agree, always." In that moment, he didn't make me feel stupid, but he definitely made me feel as though I needed to interrogate how I wrote and how I spoke in order to be correct. While this moment was part of his every day job (and probably not memorable for him), I consistently ask myself if am I using language that is correct and structuring words and sentences in a grammatically correct way. I guarantee you I haven't made that mistake again. 

In addition, Mr. Sewell deeply believed in learning and growth. We had the option to submit our paper for feedback before the deadline. Of course, I submitted mine for feedback to ensure I was on the right track. I received comments from Mr. Sewell that frustrated me and challenged me (I just wanted to be told it was OK). Mr. Sewell wasn't one for "OKs." He demanded excellence and looking back, I am thankful for the time he took to give us tailored comments that improved everything we did in his course. I still carry those comments with me! 

When I think what made this lesson effective, it's that it wasn't a lesson focusing on one skill. It was a lesson that brought skills together. Mr. Sewell could have ignored my error since it didn't technically align to the project, but he had such a vision for what he wanted to be true for English students (and the skills necessary for us to be competent) that he went for it and made an in-the-moment correction. Of course, the rubric, the expectations, the structure of the research paper, the feedback was all great and made this a deeply personal and challenging learning experience, but it was the vision of "this paper isn't enough and there are so many more skills necessary" attitude of Mr. Sewell that made this particular assignment and the overall class great.