Loren Birdsall

Dr. Preston

Expository Composition Essay

June 2, 2014
     


       Looking back on this whole year, I have had a lot of practice when it comes to Expository Composition

 and Open Source Learning. From what I have experienced, I feel that with Open Source Learning I have

 been able to experience the luxury of not just one but many fields of study. Some of which I tend to gravitate

 towards more so than others. I have also been able to meet many new people in which some are still

 included in my network group primarily for the soul purpose of my Journalism study. Overall I feel that I

 have changed in the sense that I am more disciplined and thorough in my own research. I feel like I am a

 student that can benefit more from teaching myself rather than having a mindless teacher just give me a book

 because their expected to and they want me to learn from that. I don't want to do that and or live by that

 traditional schooling lifestyle anymore!

   

       One thing about Open Source Learning is that it does require a great amount of trust in the students.

 When being in Preston's class, I honestly feel that I was given a certain amount of trust and because I didn't

 do anything to ruin that trust I was able to actually earn more trust later on in the year. It's easy to give

 someone trust at the beginning of the year however many other students lost a lot of that trust because not

 many were holding themselves accountable for their actions and or "pulling their own weight" like they were

 asked to do specifically for this course. Because I knew I had a great amount of trust with my teacher, I did

 all that i could to honor this by bringing in those assignments on time and actually taking power into my own

 hands. By going above and beyond, I was able to acquire a whole new level of learning. With this said, the

 beauty of it was that it was all material that I was teaching myself!



      It's easy to see that I want to become a writer now because writing is something that comes easy to me.

 However, at the beginning of the year when everyone was required to choose a specific field of study to

 research on, I didn't know what to pick because at first I felt that I had lost all my hobbies and talent just

 because I could never stay persistent. As time went on, I later realized that I love to write and that this is my

 primary passion that drives me to continue to write both for myself and "business" related. I will continue my

 learning with writing by continuing to write about many things that interest me as well as continuing the

 interview process that I have for people when it comes down to looking for people to join my network.



       Something that made me genuinely laugh out loud during this course was a time when a student hi jacked

 the learning environment and stood on a table singing very loud and obnoxious like. It was funny because

 many people did have a response back for this particular student's actions some being pleasant and others

 seeming like they were annoyed. For me I felt that it was completely random and out of line therefore that's

 why it was funny! It also actually had to do with the presentation that was going on as well so I guess in a

 way you can say that this student actually acted as a leader for the rest of us that were witnessing this.



       These past 2 weeks we have had a series of presentations going on that were the masterpieces of many

students projects. Out of 5 students it was clear to see that the way students presented, connected to their

 audience and were able to provide a mass amount of information about their subject just shows that they

 actually were doing the work all along and for that have been rewarded with the acquired knowledge that

 will forever stick with them. For example, the way Veronica was able to appeal to the "crowd" by playing a

 game such as playing music and if the crowd liked the music they would put their thumbs up is one example

 of a communication style that appeals to a crowd to help get them involved in the material being taught.

 Another of a communication technique that strikes me is the time when Jacob Caldwell presented his

 presentation on body building. It was obvious to 0 period that this kid really cared about his body building

 because he had so much passion and enthusiasm when he talked about everything that goes into the art of

 this field. He did this by stating true facts about body building, being very blunt/raw about everything, and

 talking about the whole lifestyle that needs to be acquired by certain individuals in order to guarantee results.



       Through my entire journey as an expository composition survivor, I can truly say that this is a class many

 common people will go into then thrive later and become the actual, diverse individuals they were looking to

 become. Why wait on an opportunity like that? If you have an experienced teacher like Preston whom

 knows that their talking about then why wouldn't you want to upgrade into a type of learning environment

 that's completely different from the traditional school environment where you actually learn a lot more and

 you sometimes don't even know it? It amazes me to know that not a lot of people actually know about open

 source learning and how it can actually benefit people in a much more positive way compared to any other

 type of class that they are taking. I am a hero in the sense that I have completed this journey I have been on

 for 180 days now and I'm going to be a graduate both of high school and my open source learning class. I

 was able to find a fun, fanatic, enthusiastic, writer and journalist that acted as a great mentor for me. Just

 from this I was able to learn a lot. I conquered a challenge by putting myself outside of my comfort zone and

 becoming familiar with the unfamiliar and comfortable with the uncomfortable when it came down to talking

 to people and really getting to know others students, not just sitting next to them a whole year and not

 learning anything about them or what they do.



    Sources Cited:

    Veronica Cavazos http://vcavazosrhs.blogspot.com/

    Jacob Caldwell http://jacobscaldwell.blogspot.com/

    Preston's site for majority of my information http://drprestonrhs14exposcomp.blogspot.com/