Learning Profile

Overall, I liked this class. I think it has helped me with not just school, but with life. It has made me realize the different ways that I learn. It has also helped me to see a different side of all the things I do. Writing about the different chapters in the book is a good way to analyze myself. The first chapter about coping with change has made me realize that, for the most part, I do a fairly good job adjusting to new situations. The second chapter about persistence helped me see different ways that I can go about doing things and that I need to have to include persistence to get through things. The third chapter about prioritizing has made me think about what is more important to me. I have to keep in mind the important things and that I need to take care of my first priorities first before I can go do the other things that may be more fun. In the fourth chapter I learned what type of reader I am and how to improve my reading skills. The fifth chapter helped me to see my learning style and the things I can do to help me learn better. The sixth chapter about note taking helped me learn what things to write down that will help me the most. The seventh chapter, which talked about remembering, helped me to see the things I learn the easiest and how to help myself remember things better. The eighth chapter about assessment helped me see how I do on tests and my strong parts and weaknesses. And finally, in the ninth chapter about thinking I realized the ways that I think and it will help me in everything I do.

I feel that I have many strengths and weaknesses as a learner. Some things that come easy to me are doing activities where I can see first-hand what I am supposed to be doing. I have learned throughout this class that I am a visual learner and I do better at things when I can see what I need to do. I remember that in high school during basketball, I would always volunteer to be in the first group so that I could be showed what I had to do. Watching others do what I am supposed to do also helps, but it’s better for me then I am put in the position that I need to be in, rather than just told. It’s not something that I just do in basketball, but in every aspect of my life. If people are having a hard time understanding what they are supposed to be doing when they are just told, I would suggest to them to ask their teacher or the person in charge to show them what to do. They might find out that this is the type of learner that they are too.

I do not learn well when I have to read instructions on how to do something, or reading in general. I will read things about 10 times and still not have a clue about what I have just read. This just drives me insane, because I just wish I could understand things the first time I read them so it didn’t take me forever to finish what I need to. This would have to be my weakness. I do not do well when I have to read things. I can read just fine, but sometimes I just don’t take in all the information that I read and I end up reading it over and over to figure things out. It takes forever. If I could give someone new information that would help them with this class, it would be that when you read things, that if you read it slower, it doesn’t help. Your brain comprehends things at a 500 words per minute, and if you read at 100 words per minute, it makes it more difficult for you to understand. That piece of information has helped me and I am still working on it. I believe that it really does help to read it faster.

This course has helped me see that I need to work on my study habits. It has given me different ideas of how to study. I have realized that I need to read faster when I have to read things. Slowing down my reading does not help me to understand what I am reading, but actually makes it harder. Before I started the course, I didn’t know what to expect, but now I completely understand why this course is required. It helps students to look at their learning habits and different things about themselves so that it can help them be more successful in everything they do. I don’t think that I ever analyzed myself and the type of learner that I am, and I believe that this class has helped me to that. On top of that it has made me learn more about myself. I think that the most important thing that I learned in this class is what type of learner I am. I now know different techniques to help me study which will be a more successful student. It won’t just help me with school, but with jobs and other things of that nature.

There were many assignments that were relevant to myself. I feel that all of the assignments we were given were relevant to me and the course. They were all things that helped me figure out myself. They all helped me realize my learning style, my study habits, my strengths as a student, and my weaknesses as a student. All of these things are very important to know. It all comes together to make you more successful in everything you do. I feel that the lesson about coping with change has made me notice that everyone is constantly going through change. Everyone has a different way of dealing with things, and I have realized that this is one of my strong points. I realize that things change and I just make things work the best I can. There is nothing that anyone can do to stop change, because it is a constant thing that everyone goes through. There is no sense in letting changes get the best of you. You have to keep moving forward. I don’t feel that there were any assignments that didn’t relate to me. They all brought forth a different topic that should be assessed.

I don’t think that anything about this class should be dropped. Everything that we covered was very relevant to everyone in the course. It presented new ideas for learning. I feel that the part of the class that was most important was learning what type of learner you are. This should not be dropped from the course. I feel that this was one of the most helpful things of the course. It can be applied to many different things in peoples lives. If people understand the type of learner they are, they will be able to figure out the things that will make them understand and be more successful. If I could give any suggestions about the class, I would just suggest maybe a few more hands on activities where everyone gets to do a fun project of some sort that will help them learn more about themselves. It could only help them to understand themselves better and therefore make them more successful in everything they do. Other than that I feel that the course was very well constructed and put together well. There are not many things I would change.

If I was to tell future participants in this course, I would suggest to them just to start analyzing themselves and to start thinking about the ways they learn and how they deal with things. When I came into this class I didn’t have a clue about what to expect. Having completed the course, I would also suggest to people to have fun with it keep caught up on their work. If they stay on top of things, they won’t be doing this paper at the very last second like me. I normally don’t procrastinate, but I didn’t realize that the class was ending quite so soon, and I have a ton of things going on and now I’m regretting not doing this earlier in the semester. To make it through this course, just make sure that you get everything handed in by the end of the eight weeks. As long as you do that, you should be fine and not have any problem completing this course with flying colors. It just helps you to analyze your thoughts and leaning habits. It only can help you.

The things that I have experienced in this class will help me as a learner and a worker because the things that a presented to you in this course apply to every part of your life. Things that I will do differently in my life now include asking for help if I need it or have questions. I may be able to be shown what I have to do, which will accommodate my learning style, which I now know because of this class. This course will also help me realize the different ways to deal with my issues and the ways I can cope most affectively. One other thing that I will now incorporate into my life is the way that I can remember things. I now know the ways to suit my type of learning and remembering, so I will use my new skill to my advantage. I am glad that this course was required because it has helped me a lot with figuring out myself. One final thing that I have learned is that if you have a good relationship with your instructor, it makes the class not seem as hard and makes the whole experience better. I feel that it will benefit me in the long run.

Academic Plan

At the end of my experience at Butler, I hope to have earned my Associates in Arts degree. My major is interior design, and although they don't have my major here, they have all the courses i need to transfer to Kansas State University. All the courses that are required for me in Communications are English Composition I, English Composition II, and Public Speeking. I got all of those out of the way this year, thankfully. The courses I need in Science and Math are a Math class, which I have already taken as well. Also, I need a Lab Science Requirement. I will be taking one of those next year. The classes I need for Social/Behavioral Science are Psychology and Sociology which I am in the process of completing this semester. I have one additional course I must take in that category. Humanities/Fine Arts courses that I need to take include a Fine Arts course, a Humanities course, and one additional course. I also need one credit hour of Physical Education. I have definately completed that one. I am involved in volleyball here at Butler, and I think we practice enough for everyone. I also have many art courses that are required. They include Drawing and Comp. I, Design I, Art Appreciation, which I have already completed, Drawing and Comp. II, Life Drawing, and Fundemental of Three Dimensional Design. I will be very busy next year with art classes. I don't mind though because are comes pretty natural for me. I enjoy it. I can also take any art course as an elective. I think that my science and math classes will be the hardest for me to complete. Those are not my strong courses. I am looking most forward to my art classes. I love art and drawing. I would hope so, since my major is Interior Design. I plan on getting academic support from my family and my friends.

This I Believe

There are many things that I believe in. One that I feel is the most important is one that I discovered about nine months ago. I had this boyfriend. We were pretty much inseperable. I think we were the longest relationship that Mulvane High had ever seen. We did everything together. I thought that we would go through college together and eventually get married and live happily ever after. I have came to find that it was all just a dream I had. We were together for one year and eleven months. There was one week of high school left until we graduated. It was a Friday. The same Friday that I had Regional Track in Augusta. I noticed that my boyfriend Brock had been acting wierd all morning. I kept asking him what was the matter, but he would just say that he didn't want to talk about it. I just kept asking him. We were walking down the hall to our third hour class and a girl walks by and hits him. It just happened to be a girl that I had played volleyball and basketball with and her dad was my club volleyball coach. I was pretty good friends with her and her family. It all happened so fast that I didn't even see who she was, so I turned around. She was just standing there with a wierd look on her face as she was staring at Brock. Then as I turned back forward, I noticed that Brock was just looking at the ground with a very sober look on his face. Right then I had a pretty good idea of what was bothering him. The day went on and we were at lunch. He was still acting very strange, so I started asking him questions about what was going on. I finally asked if it was about the girl in the hall. All he said is, "I am so stupid". I just quit asking questions because I didn't want to be crying all day. I could see that he was about to cry too and I didn't want to make a scene at lunch. As I was leaving for the track meet, I met up with my best friend, Josey. She was asking me about things and was consoling me. Keep in mind that I didn't even know what really happened, just that something did. As we got on the bus, she said "you are handeling all of this really well." I had no idea what she was talking about. Handeling all of what well? She told me that she heard that he had cheated on me with that girl from the hall. I was in complete disbeliefe until i sat down and had the whole ride to Augusta to think about everything and I realized that it all matched up. I felt so stupid for not even realizing it. I spent that night with my close friends who all tried to cheer me up. Nothing helped. The next day I went to a band concert and talked to his sister Brook. She went home after the concert and called and said that Brock had left and he was saying some very disturbing things about what he wanted to do to himself. Right then I knew that I had to talk to him. He came to pick me up from the high school parking lot and we went to English Park to talk. We talked for hours that night and early the next morning and on and on. I eventually decided to stay with him and give him another chance. In my heart I knew that he would change, and he did. We began our journey into college and we started arguing a lot. I found myself thinking about what it would be like without him. I had tried to break things off with him a few times, but it never seemed to work and we always got back together. This time is different. We have broken things off, and it has been a success now for almost 2 months. I am a lot more happy than I thought I could ever be without having him in my life. I wouldn't change anything that I did for the world. This experience has helped me grow and learn about myself. Now that I have followed my heart, I feel that I am on the right path.

Academic Dishonesty

I personally know many people who have either cheated on an assignment or a test. I have to be honest and say that I have done this before too. It is something that I am not proud of. During high school, I think that it is easier to get your homework done when you and all your friends work together and get answers from one another. As I have gotten older and more mature, I have realized that in the long run, cheating and getting answers from other people will not help me to learn information that will help me with my academic achievement. It will only hurt me. Yes, it might seem nice at the time since you can finish your homework early and have more time to do the things that are more interesting to you, but when it comes time for a test or for you to apply the information that you have cheated on to a real live situation, you won't have a clue of what you are doing. It is never good to cheat on anything. My high school english teacher my senior year told all her classes that the one thing that can never be taken away from you and that you can posess forever, unless you give it away is your integrity. Whether it be academic integrity or not. That statement has stuck with me, and made me not want to cheat. She has a very good point that I had never thought about until then. So as I go on with my college career and my life, I will keep that information with me and use it in everything that I do. I would suggest the same to everyone.

Community Service

There are many things that people need help with. Community Service from others can help people get back on track. One major issue that I feel should be addressed is hunger. Many people in the world do not have the resources they need to get food. People die every day from starvation and I feel that it is a problem that should be addressed. Some of the things that people can do to help this problem is donate canned goods and maybe even just a few cents per day. If everyone donated a can of food per week to send to the needy, it would make a huge impact on the number of starving people around the world. Also, if more people would donate a dollar or even fifty cents per day, it would eventually add up to a large amount of money that could be spent on the hungry. People around the world should not be so greedy and start thinking about others. One final thing that could be established that could benifit the needy is an organization where people have the opportunity to meet some of the people they would be helping. If people could see the living conditions of the less fortunate, maybe they wouldn't take their life styles for granted. Seeing first hand how people with limited means have to live every day could help to influence more people to donate and start caring about others. Maybe people could start a petition to make it manditory that everyone participate in a yearly fund raiser to help people get the food and lives that they need and deserve.

Butler Resources

In my case study, there is a girl named Jessica who is 18. She just started her first semester at Butler and had a ton of things going on in her life right now. Her and her boyfriend had recently broken up after a very long relationship. She thought they were going to have a wonderful future together. Everything she does reminds her of him and she's going crazy. Her parents have just told her that they are getting divorced. About two weeks ago, she started feeling like she was getting the flu. Everything seems to make her sick. One night while doing some research for her Marriage and Family class, she ran across some information about pregnancy. She started reading about it and immediately started worrying. She thinks she may be pregnant. I've thought about it and she has a few resources that are available to her here at Butler or around El Dorado. First, she has the library databases. She can get on there and find a wide variety of information about pregnancy. She can find the beginning symptoms of pregnancy. She also has counselors here at Butler that she can talk to about things and that could maybe give her some information or point her in the direction of help. Here in El Dorado, there is an organization set up that is similar to Planned Parenthood in Wichita. She can go there and get checked out and find out for sure if she really is pregnant. The can do some tests on her and make sure that there is nothing seriously wrong. If she really is pregnant I'm sure that they would have some very good information for her and some other options for her to look into.

Time Management

Time management skills are a very important skill that everyone should posses. I personally have many things that I have to manage. I have classes and volleyball practice everyday. If I manage my time poorly I will have to run extra in practice and if I'm late to work, I might get fired. On top of that I work two jobs. I want to make time for social events as well. This isn't all that hard for me to do though because I have inherited many good time management skills from my parents. My mom has very good time management. She is very busy. I remember when she had to manage three kids and a job. Now that all the kids are pretty much grown, she still has to manage her time wisely. I feel that I have recieved some of her techniques. Some of the things that I do that I have learned from my parents are to always be on time or early. Now if I am on time I feel late. I like to have plenty of time to be prepared for class, practice, or work. Another thing that my mom uses to manage her time is that she always has a list of things that she needs to get done. She also makes a list of things that she needs for something in a week or two. She plans ahead. I find myself doing the same things. I write down my schedule for the day or I estimate how long things will take so I make sure that I have time to accomplish all the things I need to for the day. When I make my lists, I make sure that I have plenty of time to finish all the things that are the most important and then if I have more time at the end then I can do the extra things. I can also use these things to help me manage my money as well. I can make a list of all the expenses for the week and see how much money I will have to work with. All these techniques are very simple and don't take much time, so everyone can do them.