Taking Control of Our Education

Normally anonymous voting in Ms. Serensky's class entails choosing a homecoming queen or something, but Friday the votes were cast for something much more important. We were voting for the fate of the blog project. I consider this a very important matter. After all, the blog project takes up a considerable chunk of time every week, and Ms. Serensky acknowledges this. Especially with the return of poetry papers, keeping up the blogs will become an even greater challenge, but I feel it will pay off in the end. Looking over my past blogs in preparation for the final gives me a sense of accomplishment. We will have these blogs to look back on for years to come, and I can definitely see some of the ideas we started here being expanded to help us in college. 

I remember feeling surprised that Ms. Serensky would bother asking our opinion about the project. In most classes, if a teacher wants us to complete an assignment, we have to do it, no matter how the students feel about it. I appreciate that Ms. Serensky cares about how her students feel; after all, it is our education, we should have a say in it. I wish more teachers would survey their students before assigning large, time-intensive assignments. I understand that some teachers feel that without their guidance, the students would not accomplish any work. Although I can see this being an issue in some classes, I do not see it being a problem in AP classes. Everyone who takes an AP class is motivated to learn the material for the AP exam, so I feel that, for the most part, the students will be willing to complete assignments if the work will genuinely help them learn. More teachers should learn from Ms. Serensky, and respect their students' opinions regarding coursework.