Week One Reflection

     So far in Chemistry I have seen a new side of learning.   The teaching style in this class is seeming more like assisting or helping instead of ordering and instructing.  The activities have been thought provoking and interesting instead of the usual class instruction made to teach a certain topic.  This style has helped to give students an open mind and take a new approach to challenges and learning.  We've been taught that there may not be one right answer, but when you come to a consensus we can all be correct in some form.  There are steps to learning or grasping a concept but they all start with an open mind.  Learning and teaching take on a whole new meaning in this class.
     I have also started to discover the positive side of social media.  Instead of discouraging the use of social networking and electronics, we have learned the importance of all being connected with each other and with our world.  Social media like blogs and twitter have already benefited our learning experience in just one week of school.  We can all learn from not only the help of the teacher but from each other and thanks to the media we are being encouraged to take advantage of, we can do so freely and effectively. 
     We have also learned the importance of taking on whatever we are thrown.  The phrase "Challenge Accepted" is one we are all prompted to say whenever something is asked of us.  Even if something seems to difficult we should take the challenge and do what we can to make the best of it.  So far this class has been opening my eyes to a new kind of learning and bringing back my faith in school and teachers.  I feel that this year I will be able to effectively learn at my own pace and really understand instead of learning just for the sake of a test. Overall, this is a whole different genre of learning and teaching and we're in for an eye opening year.