Best of Week: Asking for Student Input

This week has been one of the most stressful, overwhelming, and difficult weeks of Academy. My peers and I have collectively felt extremely frustrated and hopeless. However, several moments this week have been fantastic. The best of this week was when Mr. Allen asked us when we wanted to have our English in-class writing assignment. He gave us the option of either Monday or Tuesday and asked the class to decide. I told everyone to raise their hands so we could vote on what day worked best. 28 students voted for Tuesday, and therefore that is when our King Lear in-class writing assignment will take place.

Although this may seem like a small deal, to me it was extremely significant. Aside from being a kind gesture on his part, it was meaningful to me and occurred at the perfect time. I was feeling so aggravated the entire week because of the immense homework load in one of my classes that came completely out of the blue. I was caught off-guard and thus felt extremely irritated by the busy work that I was being given and the crazy amount of quizzes. Myself as well as other students approached the teacher to try to better understand what was going on, but we were ignored. The entire situation was and remains extremely disheartening.

What made this week a little more bearable was being given the option of when to have our English writing assignment. By asking for student input I felt not only relieved of unneeded stress but also important. By being able to express when would be more convenient for me to have this assignment I felt like I mattered. I know teachers often tell students that their input and ideas matter, but sometimes it becomes far too hard to believe. 

This entire week I felt that not only my input didn't matter but that my teacher didn't even care about how ridiculously stressed out the entire class was. Although that specific teacher still makes me feel that they do not care, I know that at least one of my teachers really does. This was very comforting and although I'll still have to do the in-class writing assignment it is great to know that I had a say in when this would take place and that my thoughts and feelings matter.

Connection: King Lear and Motivation

We've been reading The Tragedy of King Lear in English for a little while now, and to be honest, I've been struggling. I'm a fan of Shakespeare and I've read several of his works, but this play has been the most challenging read yet. Last year my English class read Romeo and Juliet which was much easier for me to understand and therefore enjoy. I spoke with some of my peers and many of them have felt similarly about the difficulty of King Lear in contrast with Romeo and Juliet. Although countless variables affect this change in view of Shakespeare, what is most important is that currently, many of us are struggling. We are all honors students who, for perhaps the first time, are struggling with basic comprehension. I've kept up with the reading and annotating, but there are simple things that just seem to be going over my head. Although my English grade may suffer because of this, I feel that something even more valuable is going on. There are very few classes I've ever had a hard time in, and I think it's important to struggle. Life isn't easy, and if school is supposed to prepare us for life, school cannot be easy either.

I've made a connection between King Lear and motivation. To me, this play is a struggle. It's difficult to understand and appreciate. I'm generally a very motivated, ambitious student and person; but when I'm this frustrated with something I find it very difficult. I must admit that, in the past, I've looked down upon unmotivated, "lazy" students. This experience has shown me how difficult it is to persevere when something is unexpectedly challenging. When I feel like I really understand a class I'm a confident student who participates in class. When I'm a bit lost with the material I find myself giving up and missing out on something that could potentially be extremely valuable. 

Making this connection is extremely important to me. I've been able to realize that I need to work on this specific play and my understanding of it. On a broader spectrum I need to motivate myself more to improve and overcome things that are initially difficult for me. What do I have to lose? I think that my struggle with this will be extremely beneficial in not only improving with King Lear but also staying on track with challenges. Upon reflecting on this play, I see how advantageous it is for me. I now also understand how difficult it is for students who struggle, regardless of the subject matter. I regret that I was so quick to judge them before but it surely will not happen again.