Penobscot Job Corp Center Reflection

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1) While at my first placement at the Penobscot Job Corp center, I learned three valuable lessons. The first thing that I learned was self-motivation and its overall importance in the learning process. The Penobscot Job Corp center is not the same as a traditional school. There are similarities, but overall, the students at the center have to be self-motivated learners. In the class that I observed, there are no lectures. Rather, students are expected to utilize the computers in the class and take practice exams on the HSD-HSE test. This classroom had a strong self-learning approach and if a student did not understand a problem, the teacher would act as a tool and come to the distressed student to offer them guidance. This type of independent …show more content…
While observing the class, one student raised her hand and said, “Why do I need to learn geometry? It’s too hard and I am going to be a Certified Nurses Assistant, so it will not help me.” The teacher responded by saying, “Someday you will be a home owner, and you will need to know geometry to know how much carpet you will need to put in your house.” The student then looked puzzled and said, “Well can you help me with this problem then?” The teacher replied ecstatically by saying, “of course.” What I witnessed in ten minutes almost made my jaw drop and it was truly touching. In a twenty-minute time span, the student gained an understanding of geometry and as the teacher walked away, the student responded by saying, “wow, geometry is easier than algebra.” The lesson that I learned was that in order for students to gain an appreciation in something, they need to be able to relate it to a real life purpose. A teacher needs to construct his or her lessons into one that can have a real life purpose to what they are learning. If a teacher does that, it can surely motivate a student to strive to learn the material being presented. Someday hopefully, I will be a teacher and my intent with every lesson will be to connect it to a real life problem or real life

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