Monday, June 2, 2014

Masterpiece Academy Essay


     

Miranda 1

Chance Miranda

Dr. Preston

Expository Composition

2 June 2014

The Change

          My change from "traditional learning" to "Open Source Learning" started last year and has carried 

over into this year. I feel like I've always been a good writer, but through taking this course I've learned to 

include the necessary elements to reassure my points and help my writing flow better. We were also taught 

to write on a personal basis so it doesn't feel like a traditional five paragraph essay written just to get a grade 

and that has also helped my writing improve. 

          In a traditional English class teachers would be the leader of the room and the students would just sit 

back and listen. In Open Source Learning the teacher treats the students as colleagues and gives them some 

decision in how the course is run and what processes they take throughout. This comes with a great deal of 

trust. There were times this year where we were trusted to do something, but ultimately did not get the job 

done and that happens sometimes. Although trust in us may have been altered, Dr. Preston stuck with it and 

in the end it led to a better learning experience for everyone. The good thing about trust is it can be earned 

when lost. 

          Another great thing about this course is it has made my passion for baseball grow immensely. 

Through research I was able find information that makes me a better player. What I mean by that is I had a 

basic understanding of the information, but by looking deeper into it I became more confident in my 

knowledge. When it came time, I applied what I learned and my confidence in my knowledge translated into 

a good performance on the field. The masterpieces served as a catalyst for us to begin researching what we 

plan on doing with our lives and I am grateful for the process.  

          Maybe one of the funniest parts of this course occurred after some of the students presented their 

masterpieces. At the end of each presentation the class had the opportunity to ask questions. The questions 

drew valuable information out of people and I thought the way Dr. Preston asked why they didn't include 

the information in the presentation was funny. It wasn't about what he said that made it funny, it was the way 

he said it. 
          
          Referring back to the masterpieces I noticed that the common theme between most of them was 

passion. The most interesting ones to me were the ones where you could hear the burning passion in their 

voices. The top five people who did this were: Jacob Caldwell, Malik Pope, Robert Rucobo, Daniel 

Alvarez, and Matt Reynolds. I could tell they were one hundred percent committed to their topics and it 

really reflected in the quality of their presentations. Hopefully others saw the same in my presentation. 

          The Journey from the beginning to now was not always easy. It's the times where I have been 

successful along the journey that let me know I have conquered it. Open Source Learning has been an 

adventure and if you ask anyone if they regret being a part of it, they will say, "no". 

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Beginnings

My masterpiece is making a big difference in my life right now. I think the biggest thing I've gotten from it is confidence. When you are unsure of something, that's when you have a lack of confidence and that's where I used to be. Now that I've done research and worked on areas of baseball that I needed to become familiar with, I feel confident with my skills. This really is starting a new chapter of my life and has thrown fuel on the fire of passion I have for the sport. These next couple months are going to be very important for me and if I don't take advantage of the opportunity I could be in a difficult spot heading to college. That's why I will do everything I can to avoid that situation.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Look At My Brain

My blog can show a lot of qualities that are necessary to get a job. It shows that I can work with others, solve problems, and critically think. You can look at my network or other posts to see the times I collaborated with others to get a job done or solve a problem. Sometimes I ask others to solve my problems, but a majority of the time I figure things out myself. Lastly my blog shows that I critically think because almost every single post is well thought out and organized in a way that shows my diction.