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DaVeena Mancha Mrs. Ogden English 100 10/1/13

My education started when I was in kindergarten. It was all fun and games when we started off ut as the years went y the less games we !layed and the more studying we did. "here were no more fun acti#ities such as coloring$ educational games and singing% our creati#e was &ust gone y that time. 'e were reframed from thinking critically as we fell into what society wanted us to e like and think like. In elementary school I struggled with reading and s!elling. (oing to the ne)t grade le#els my education egan to e)cel and I gained confidence in my schoolwork. 'hat I noticed throughout my struggles was that I did not let it consume me% I learned from my mistakes and grew from it. I had a growth mind set in this sense. I e)!erience a little set ack in high school ecause I was getting caught u! in the high school life rather than doing well in school. I had two main teachers that hel! me fully accom!lish my goal and hel!ed me uild as a writer and reader. *fter graduating high school I reali+ed that I was a le to o#er come my low reading le#el$ uild myself as a writer and a !erson$ I used what I learned to let myself grow and ecome confident in school. 'hen we are little we are like a s!onge$ we ha#e that mentality of ,monkey see monkey do.- *s children we are curious to how things work$ why they work that way$ and what makes it work. "his could e good or dangerous in some !eo!les. eyes$ society o#er the years ha#e

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reframed children.s !assion for thinking as they try to stri! them of their knowledge. In kindergarten we are taught coloring within the lines is the correct way to color a !icture. *lready at a young age we are forced to reframe our thinking into what society thinks is the ,right wayto do things. ell hooks e)!lains critical thinking as em racing the &oy and !ower of thinking itself. In our lower education she e)!lains that children.s ,!assion for thinking often ends when they encounter a world that seeks to educate them for conformity and o edience only.- / ell hooks$ 0ar. 31 In elementary school we find that our ,memory of thinking is su!!ressed as a !assionate and !leasura le acti#ity$- why this is the way it is we many ne#er understand. *s we get older society wants us to e a le to think and do for oursel#es after years of ,conformity and o edience- in the ,correct way of ,thinking- we as the younger generation ecome lost in our ways of thinking. 2ooks also e)!lain how ,students do not ecome critical thinkers o#ernight$this eing said it takes time to restore our will to think or the fear of thinking for oursel#es. I noticed in my educational life that there were some teachers that reframed you from thinking outside the o)$ such as math teachers. In math we are taught that two !lus two e3uals four and that.s the way it is ut we ne#er e)!lore the thought of the !ossi ilities of it not e3ualing four. *s for English teachers they try and show of the ways of critical thinking$ as we are taught how to look and e)!lore meanings with in meanings for e)am!le in a !oem$ e)ert$ or story. "hese different methods eing taught to us lea#e us to figure out the e)ternal 3uestions we ha#e clinching inside our minds. Our education egins in elementary school. "hroughout my elementary years my le#els of education was ecoming etter and I was a le to understand more and more$ so I thought. I was always so ad a s!elling% I usually always failed my test. I felt so ad and scared to go to my house with an 4 on my s!elling test I would &ust throw it away or ha#e my grandma sign it for

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me. I tried to study hard for it ut it seems as though e#erything I did ne#er hel!ed. 5tudying was always the hardest !art for me% I got ored fast and easily distracted with anything &ust to get me out of studying. *s I got older I focused more on reaking this ad ha it. I was a le to uild my s!elling somewhat$ ut e#en to this day I still cannot s!ell #ery well. I sometimes get em arrassed a out it$ or feel insecure a out s!elling in front of !eo!le ecause what if I s!ell it wrong and they make fun of me or laugh. In addition to eing a ad s!elling in the 6th grade I was not a le to read at the le#el I needed to e. 7emem ering what I read was a !ro lem for me$ and trying to relate/understand what I read tagged along. I was always em arrassed since I was not a le to read at my reading le#el. I would ask myself why am I so dum or stu!id that I couldn.t read at the le#el my friends read at. *t such a young age imagine what this does to a child when they egin to think this way. In the ook Freedom Writers y "he 4reedom 'riters with Erin (ruwell it talks a out high school kids from 8ong 9each who o#er come their educational struggles and !ro#ed society wrong as they could make it through all the struggles. *lthough their li#es were harder and they li#ed for the moment their new high school teach Erin (ruwell showed them that their was more to them than they thought. 5he taught them to find the confidence in themsel#es and think for themsel#es is a !ositi#e way. E#en though my life struggles were not anywhere close to these kids li#es they still ins!ired me in what they had to say. "hey showed that they could do it and they could make it. In the ook a dairy entry e)!lained$ ,I am willing to ste! forward$ unafraid of who or what lies ahead. *fter all$ history tells me that I am not alone- /Diary :61 "his entry had made an im!act on me as I was willing to ,ste! forward- and try not to e afraid of feeling dum in front of !eo!le. *s a child you are !raised ased on how smart$ cute$ or silly you are. 'hen you are rewarded for accom!lishing task this oost yourself esteem. "his entry ins!ired me to ha#e the will to not e scared of what

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lies ahead ecause odds are you are ne#er alone. "ill this day I learned to deal with not eing the est s!eller ut I do not let it consume me In my first middle school year$ in the :th grade I had to take e)tra reading classes. in order to hel! uild my reading and writing skills. It sucked ecause while my friends had woodsho!$ art$ and other fun classes I had a reading class. I was em arrassed as well$ since me out of all my friends I hung out with none of them had this class$ ut I reali+ed that I was not alone. "here were other students like me that needed the e)tra hel!$ I ecame close to the kids that were in the same class as me. "his class actually really ameliorated me% my teacher was sim!ly ama+ing as she roke e#erything down to me ste! y ste! I was im!ro#ing so much. "aking these classes hel!ed me to e a le to remem er what I read$ and right after tell my teacher !iece y !iece what ha!!ened in the story. *fter taking this class my reading was where it needed to e. 2a#ing reali+ed that I was not stu!id or dum I &ust needed the e)tra attention$ hel! and moti#ated me in order to o#ercome my struggle in my education. ;arol Dweck e)!lains #ery well a out his thoughts a out growth and fi)ed mindset. 2is definition of a !erson with a fi)ed mindset is when$ ,!eo!le elie#e their asic 3ualities$ like their intelligence or talent$ are sim!ly fi)ed traits. "hey s!end their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of de#elo!ing them. "hey also elie#e that talent alone creates success<without effort. "hey.re wrong.- /Dweck$ 0ar.=1 *s he e)!lains this I can agree with Dweck$ !eo!le with a fi)ed mind set are wrong for thinking a certain way and sticking to it. "his cut off their mind to what else to world has to offer$ as they are not o!en to learning new things and acce!ting failure. "heir ,intelligence or talent- is cut off from de#elo!ing. "his eing said I noticed that my traits did not relate to that of a !erson with fi)ed mindset. I took these e)tra classes that rought u! my reading le#el ut it also hel!ed raise my grades in class my classes. *t first I had a fi)ed mind set a out it not really

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o!en to learning ecause I felt discourage ut I later than reali+ed that these classes hel!ed me. I was almost getting straight *.s and my !arents were so !roud$ which of course made me #ery ha!!y. I felt smarter in my classes$ I was a le to gi#e it my all and try my est. In Dweck.s mind I had a growth mind set. *s he e)!lains a !erson with growth mind set to e$ ,!eo!le that elie#e their most asic a ilities can e de#elo!ed through dedication and hard work< rains and talent are &ust the starting !oint. "his #iew creates a lo#e of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accom!lishment. Virtually all great !eo!le ha#e had these 3ualities.- /Dweck$ 0ar.31 "his eing said my asic ,skills and a ilities- in reading and writing were ,de#elo!ed through dedication and hard work- I did not gi#e u! and 3uit. I had an o!en mind as I grow a ,lo#e for learning- and accom!lished many of my goals. "he 3ualities I had were those of a !erson with growth mind set$ I did not let my failures of eing in lower reading class and taking e)tra reading and writing classes consume me. My middle school years had to ha#e een where I changed my educational goals and accom!lished them in the !rocess. I had the est grades those two years% there was no more coming home with 4.s scared to show my !arents. My confidence was raised and I succeed in my education was accom!lished. *s my education grew and I egan high school I was still a le to kee! my grade le#el of reading and writing u!. In >th grade I ke!t u! my good grades. I was ha#ing fun in high school and en&oying the new e)!eriences around me. "his was a whole other all field for me ut I was u! for the challenge and I was determined. I ke!t u! with all my work and in the mist of e#erything I sort of lost my !arents su!!ort. ?ou notice in high school you don.t really need your !arents hel! as much as you did efore. I learned to do things on my own and e more res!onsi le. Of course they were there when I needed them ut &ust not as much as efore. (oing into high school all my !arents cared a out was if I had good grades$ they constantly nagged me

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a le them. DaVeena kee! your grades u!$ DaVeena do this to im!ro#e that and so on and so forth. 2earing this all the time made me want to ha#e good grades &ust so I not ha#e to hear them talk so much a out it. My so!homore year I dro!!ed my grades$ not y a lot ut it was #ery noticea le I was not doing as well as I could ha#e. My !arents were on my case more than e#er. I noticed I was not doing adly ecause I couldn.t understand the material$ I &ust got la+y and if I did need the e)tra hel! I did not try to get it. I ecame really la+y to do anything. I got caught in the high school life$ foot all games$ !e! rallies$ going out with friends anything ut doing my schoolwork. My !arents were getting #ery u!set with me and disa!!ointed$ I knew I had to sto! them from feeling this way. I needed to try my hardest and rethink some goals for myself. I wanted to ha#e the grades I earned in middle school$ I wanted my confidence ack and in order to regain it I knew I had to work hard for it. 5o I !ut my mind to it$ worried less a out going out and more a out schoolwork. I was ecoming too much of a social utterfly and although this was not a !ro lem I &ust needed to get my !riorities straight. I started working hard for my last = years ecause I knew they were the most im!ortant years of my high school years. My grades im!ro#ed and my !arents sto!!ed worrying so much a out them. "he !ressure of my !arents was lifted and the stress they had from my grades was gone. I had gained my confidence ack. My senior year I took higher English class then the regular English$ it was an E)!. ;om! class. I wanted to show my !arents that I could im!ro#e form starting off with a lower English class in elementary to a higher English class than grade le#el. In this class it hel! uild me as a reader$ I learned to annotate articles and this hel!ed me remem er what I read. "he main focus of this class was to write a out to!ics that kids. our age could either relate to or e interested in. "owards the end of the year I uilt myself more as a reader and writer. My English teach o!ened my eyes as I fell in lo#e with writing. It got to the

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!oint where I would rather write a 10@!age essay than take a test. I like eing a le to write a out current e#ents and su &ects that related to us. *fter taking this class I felt more !re!ared for college English. I was ready for million essays e#ery week$ in class essays and &ust anything. My teacher Mr. Es!ino+a changed the way I felt a out English$ as he was my teacher for = years in a row and hel!ed me so much. My second year with him which was my senior year$ I would only take the E)!o. ;om!. class with him$ I refused to take it with someone else. I uild a trust and admire for him and his teaching. 2e hel!ed me uild my writing skills and strategies. I will fore#er e thankful to him for doing this for me. "his is what I accom!lished throughout my educational life and I thank those teachers and my !arents for su!!ort and structure throughout it. 'e all start school off school easy with fun acti#ities$ not noticing the hard work that comes ahead. "hroughout elementary I struggled with reading and writing I o#er came my fear of feeling dum . I went to middle school I e)celed #ery much as I gained confidence in my school worked and succeed in my educational goal. (oing through high school I went through a little set ack as I got caught u! in the high school life and my grades egan to fall. "owards the last = years of high school my English teach hel!ed me stri#e for etter in my grades as well as in my reading and writing$ "owards the end of my high school year I gained my confidence ack$ I was a le to o#ercome a lower le#el of reading$ and I uilt myself as a writer and a !erson. I will and am fore#er grateful for those that hel!ed me throughout my educational life. *s it does not end here.

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Work Cited Page

(ruwell$ Erin.$ eds. "he 4reedom 'riters DiaryA 2ow * "eacher *nd 160 "eens Bsed 'riting "o ;hange "hemsel#es *nd "he 'orld *round "hem. Cew ?ork A 9roadway 9ooks$ D=00EF. 0rint. Dweck.$ ;arol. GMICD5E".G Mindset. 2tt!A// stro.com/$ =00E. 'e . =1 Oct. =013. 2ooks$ ell. ,;ritical "hinking- CRITICALT THINKING