Is School Killing Creativity?

Ted talks video: Is School Killing Creativity?

In the Ted Talks video that I watched, he insinuates that children cannot express themselves in school. He says that when children are creative and have special talents, teachers and parents think that there is something wrong and they must have a learning disability. I personally believe that school does kill creativity, unless you go to a school that fosters creativity, like my high school did. Most schools are designed to teach math and science and that is it. They prepare students for the working world by teaching them what they think are core subjects. However, some students aren't interested in the normal working world, they want a different career path, one that is more interesting to them. Most teachers would call these students "lazy" or "problem children". Most people don't understand the creative side of individuals and so they look down upon it. 

In Ted Talks, he also says that schools create a specific kind of person, the "University professor" type of person. I happen to disagree with this be because I believe that no matter how hard you try to change someone's outlook on education, you usually won't be able to. You can't beat the creativity out do students with ungodly amounts of school work and "critical thinking". 

I happen to be a very creative person. I grew singing and I have a very musical (creative)family. As a young child, my teachers definitely tried to get me to forget about my creative side and learn the subjects that someone else who didn't even know me decided I needed to learn. My own mother even tried to make me forget how much I love music. She would tell me that music doesn't give you a career it gives you a hobby. At one point in my life, music was my whole world and I planned on pursuing music as my career. The machine that we call school worked very well on me. I, with the help of society decided that I needed a more reliable career. Now I am going into law enforcement, which I love, but I was forced to find something else that I likes that fit into the little box of appropriate careers. 

I think a good solution to this problem we have of killing students creativity is to run high school slightly like college, with less freedom of course. I think that in high school, you should be able to choose a specific subject that you want to focus your classes around throughout your high school career. This way, the creative students will be able to thrive in classes built around creativity, and they would probably love school a lot more. And those students that aren't very creative could focus their high school career on traditional subjects, such as Math and English. 

I define intelligence by the ability to think deeply about any given subject, whether a highly creative subject or not. 

I think that this Ted Talks video and this whole subject is a great example of why standardized testing doesn't work. Standardized tests focus on testing a specific type of student. The problem with this method of testing is that everyone is not alike. Just like the video talks about, some students are creative and some aren't. This is why standardized tests work well for some students but not for others, when both kinds of students are equally smart. This would be like asking a student that is not at all musical inclined to sing a song in order to get into college. It wouldn't make sense and it wouldn't be fair. 
Sorry if there are typos I was really tired. 

Internship Experiences

         I have recently started an internship at the CMPD. The things that I am experiencing in my internship are helping me to realize why I want a career in law enforcement. I am a Criminal Justice major and an internship in a Criminal Justice field is a good way to help me understand the information in my class better. This internship has also provided me with a large array of experiences to reflect on in my writing.
       My academic career is important because I will need it to get a job after college. In my college career I have had to take classes that I didn't want to and do assignments that I thought were not relevant. All of the assignments and classes that I have had to take are making me a more rounded person which will one day help me in my career as a law enforcement officer. I am actually thankful that I am required to do so many things that don't seemingly relate to my major, but surprise me when I use the things that I learn in my job as an intern.

"My 54 Year Love Affair with the SAT" Reading Response

    This article starts out talking about a student in 1946 who is preparing for the famous SAT. The writer is helping the student prepare. In 1946, not many people had heard about the SAT. It was mainly used as an entrance exam for highly selective schools. This is the first time that the author has heard about this "SAT", but when he saw the sample questions and read the description of the test, he knew he would be a great tutor for this test. This was the start of the Kaplan Test Preparation Company.
      Some of the important points that the writer makes throughout this article are the equality of the SAT, the nature of the test, and how students prepare for the SAT. The SAT puts every student on a level playing field with college admissions. In the article, Kaplan says that because many schools had very different curricula, the SAT measures each student's ability to do well in college regardless of the high school that they attended. Kaplan also says that students usually do about as well in college as the SAT results say they will, which I disagree with. In this article, Kaplan describes the nature of the SAT test. He talks about the format of the SAT, the questions on the test, how the test is administered and the strategies many students use to take the test. He talks about how the test has changed over the years. He says that in the beginning the test was a simple series of multiple choice questions with no essay portion. Kaplan talks about how he prepares students for the SAT and also how students do their own preparation for the test. He talks about how in 1946, there were no SAT prep books and the only preparation that students did were with the booklet that the College Entrance Examination Board put out. The booklet warned against cramming and last minute reviewing. Kaplan also talks about how some students struggle more with the SAT then others. He says that some students review the material on the SAT while others have to learn the material for the first time.
        This article was very enlightening about how the SAT has evolved and how it was developed. While reading this article, I learned a lot of the reasons that I did not do as well on the test as I had hoped. It was probably because I had to learn a lot of the material for the SAT for the first time. I struggled with the SAT even though I had a pretty good GPA in high school.

              

Writing History

             I started writing when I was very young. The level of intensity in writing increases the older a child gets and the further they get in school. My writing started out very simple and with each year of practice and learning, I became a more mature writer.

 When I was in second grade, I was given an assignment that helped me to expand my writing abilities. My assignment was to write a short story about anything at all. As a second grade student, the ability to write about anything that I wanted was quite enticing. I wrote a story about a zoo. I described all the different kinds of animals. My teacher had our stories bound into a book. The ability to go from a simple assignment to a book as an eight year old was amazing. This really helped to ignite my passion for writing. By the time I was in middle school I was writing papers that made me think critically and helped me to improve my writing ability. By the time I was in high school I was writing things of much more meaning.

            When I started high school, I was not very confident in my writing ability. Until only a few years ago, I was not the best writer. I had a few good teachers in high school that helped me to be a more confident writer and to explore my writing capabilities. In high school, my assignments were more interesting and I had more choices in my writing, which I think is important for the development of a strong writing process.

            A particular paper that I had to write when I was in high school was a Statement of Faith. This was an in depth detail of my faith in Jesus Christ. This was the first time that I was able to write about something that was important to me. In my Statement of Faith, I got to express my love for Christ and my reasons for what I believe. This is one of the most important assignments that I have ever been given because it not only stretched my writing as far as possible, but it allowed me to freely express myself in my writing. It was this assignment that I truly developed my voice. In every assignment that I have had since then, I have had no problem expressing my thoughts in a methodical manner. Throughout most of my schooling, I have been told exactly what to write, even down to sample sentences. This was the first time that I got to write about something truly interesting to me. It is assignments like this that really hit on the strong points of writers and make students want to improve.  

            With every assignment that I have had and every step in my writing history I have learned a little bit more and improved significantly each time. My writing history is unique and special to me. I would never be the writer that I am today if I had not been taught all the wonderful things of each teacher and each assignment. I also wouldn't be where I am today without my writing history. My writing improvement has allowed me to be able to express my thoughts in a clear, concise way. In order to get into college, to get internships, jobs, and scholarships I have had to do a lot of writing. Writing is an important part of our lives, whether we like it or not, which is why it is so important to be able to write clearly.

Illustration of Writing and Schooling Trajectory Interacting

I believe that this picture is a good illustration of the connection between writing and my schooling/career trajectory. This picture shows four people, young, possibly interns writing some sort of paper or letter or taking some sort of test. This is an exact example of when writing crosses into the trajectory.

In my path as a student and my writing timeline, I have experienced the following events that I believe serve as an example of my path as a student as well as how my writing has affected my life and vise versa. My summer as a student at CPCC was both important in my path as a student and in my writing timeline because it jump started my college career and it exposed me to college writing for the first time. My application to UNCC was also an important factor in both my path and my writing because it officially started my college career and it was the first official thing that I wrote for college (with the exception of my writings at CPCC). Also very high on my list is my Statement of Faith Paper. The Statement of Faith Paper is a paper that all high school seniors at Charlotte Christian School (where I graduated from high school) write as their "exit project". This paper was very important to me, obviously because it was the deciding factor in whether I would graduate or not. But, more importantly because it was a Statement to everyone about my faith and my love for Jesus Christ. Also on the "crossover" list is a poem that I wrote for my grandparents last year at Christmas. It was very special and a great example of my writing and what in my life has affected my writing. My first piece of legislation in SGA was a proposal to require Housing to give personality tests to all residents in order to match residents with a roommate according to their results. This was very important because it was a big writing accomplishment and because it was a big step in my student career path. The very last thing that I want to talk about is my college application essay that I wrote about my brother. I love my brother very much, we are very close even with everything that has happened in his life and all we have been through.

Writing Timeline:
Beginning 
of writing careeer--emails to sister---response to----Statement of------College Application--------graduation poem-----my first --------letters to----poems to my
                                      in 9th grade    poetry writing      Faith Paper          Essay about brother         for parents               piece of            my best    grandparent's
                                          (9th grade)     (10th grade)       (12th grade)           (12th grade)                      (12th grade)            legislation           friend       (Christmas)
                                                                                                                                                                                                           (college-Fresh.   (college- Fresh.
                                                                                                                                                                                                               year)                               year)

I have discovered that as a writer, I draw from many of my life experiences. I have even had experiences where my writing has affected my life. The one person in my life that has affected my writing the most is my brother, Noah. Even though my brother has had a lot of stuff happen to him, we still have a very close relationship. My brother is my inspiration for a lot of my writing. One large discovery that I have made in my Timeline is that in my writing I have a lot of experiences that I draw from.

Schooling Trajectory:
-the SATs
-Harvard and Duke interviews
-the day I moved in and my first day of classes
-my first day of my internship - CMPD
-the day I decided that I want to be in law enforcement
-when I left my high school (Sun Valley) and transferred to Charlotte Christian
-my summer at CPCC when I was in High School
- my high school graduation
-my statement of faith paper
-my application to UNCC - because that's where I ended up

I have discovered that my path through school (high school and college) has included a very large amount of writing. I believe that, just as in my writing timeline, my brother has heavily influenced my path as a student.