Think about your experience and history as a learner. What story can you tell? Write about your disconnections with learning (the things that cause you grief, create barriers, impede your progress as a learner). Then, write about the tensions and excitements associate with learning. Use specific examples when possible to illustrate your meaning.

Being a junior in college, I have had a lot of experiences with different teachers. Most of my experiences were positive; however, there have been teachers that I do not prefer. In order for me to learn, I need to have encouragement. It helps me learn when the teacher is shows a positive attitude about my work and is enthusiastic about learning.

In elementary school I had a teacher who did not care for my work. She was a very artistic person and gave special attention to the good artists in the classroom. I had always thought that I had good artistic abilities and was creative until I had this teacher.

I remember for one assignment we had to write a poem (I can't remember what it was about though). The night that I needed to do the assignment, I was trying to figure out what to write. It was very hectic at my house because my sister was getting ready for her homecoming and my all of family was over at our house trying to help her get ready. I asked my mom and sister for some help, but they were too busy, so I tried to do it on my own. The day it was due, I turned it into my teacher (mind you I was very proud of this poem) and the teacher told me it was horrible and said to me (in a grumpy, fed-up voice), "Why didn't you have your sister help you? She was always good at writing poems." That was very discouraging for me and I have never enjoyed doing creative projects like that ever since. I would have been more encouraged if she would have criticized my work in a nicer way.

I enjoy learning when I feel confident about the material. If I feel it is something too difficult for me, I get discouraged. I know that is not the best way to be, but that is how I am. In high school I had a science teacher who was pretty hard. However, when someone would answer a question wrong or make a mistake, he would work from the student's mistake. Instead of making them feel stupid, he would try to make them think and figure out the right answer--without putting them on the spot and making them feel pressured. I ended up doing very well in that class and enjoyed learning about science.

He was also a good teacher, in my opinion, because he actually taught the material. I cannot stand it when teachers stand and lecture straight out of the book ---without talking to the students and paying attention to how 'we' are responding. That is another important factor to me when I am learning.