Learning throughout Life

While watching the “TED” video I thought a lot about how I have learned things in my life so far and where I have learned these things. I also thought about what different things I have learned and what purpose they have served to me. Also, how people around me have viewed my failures and successes.
There are many things throughout my life that I have learned outside of school. Much like Gever’s tinkering school many things that people learn in their lives outside of school are learned by doing, trial and error. When you try something new as a kid and you “mess up” your parents encourage you to try again and they tell you that you will succeed next time. Like learning how to ride a bike without the training wheels, you have to learn by doing. You must fall in order to learn how, you go a little bit without your mom or dad holding on and after you go for a bit you fall. But you falling is celebrated because you rode on your bike by yourself for a bit. After that you get back on and try again and after trying again and again you learn how to keep going and ride by yourself on two wheels.
Inside a school we are taught that we need to learn everything and that we MUST pass the tests we are given. We are shown the right way to do things in school and often times we are not allowed the time to try ourselves and fail and then try again and learn from failure. Teachers don’t give students the opportunities to just try something. Instead of feeding students the information for the next test, teachers could try to give the students a new assignment and just let them go and try and learn from mistakes. At a young age in school we are taught that failure is bad and that we need to learn things and do them the right way the first time we try.
An example that I found that fits for both the in school and out of school learning is when a student learns how to drive a vehicle. A student learns the rules of the road in class and learn what to and not to do while driving. But the time comes when you have to get into the car and actually drive. The first time is a bit shaky, but just like riding a bike you get better and eventually are driving to the best of your abilities. For me the best way to learn is to do hands on, in this example I did best when I got behind the wheel and learned how to drive by driving the car myself. My first time I was a “curb hugger” and made mistakes, but after the first time I got better and better until I was able to take my driver’s test and drive by myself.
In the video Gever says that at the tinkering school, “Failure is celebrated and analyzed, and problems are puzzles.” This is often not societies view on failure. Many times when you fail in “the real world” people like down on you and criticize you. Just the opposite should come from failure as Gever says. I have learned that failure is not a bad thing, it helps me learn to keep trying and do better the next time that I make an attempt, by learning to fail people become better at what they are trying to do. Without the struggle of learning to do something there is no satisfaction or celebration when you learn or accomplish something.

My typical weekend!

This weekend I spent my time like most weekends, working and hanging out with friends. I started my weekend Friday afternoon, I went to lunch with a friend from work and we went to a few rummage sales. I found quite a few nice things for my new apartment! Friday night I went to a friend’s house and played Wii with her and her three adorable kids. Saturday started with an early morning wake up because I had to go to work by eleven, I worked till close and by the end of my shift I had worked almost eight hours and was ready for bed. After work I went home and instead of sleeping I changed so I could go out and meet with some of my friends, two of my friends and I went out to dinner and to a party. My Sunday was spent with family and friends, for most of the day I went to see my grandpa who was having a party for Labor Day and to celebrate life. After me and my family got home from my grandpa’s party, I went to go with some friends to a movie at the Rivoli and eat dinner. On Monday, I had to work from open to close; our store was open for shortened hours because of Labor Day so I was done by six pm. Like most weekends though I ended the Sunday with homework, overall my weekend was eventful and filled with work, friends and family.

A little about me!

My name is Alexandria Heather-Mary Schurhammer, but everyone I know calls me Lexi. I was born in Virginia Beach and I have also lived in Mississippi, but I have spent the past 13 years living in La Crosse. I graduated this past June 2010 from Central High School here in La Crosse. In high school I played volleyball and softball my freshman and sophomore year. I really enjoy photography in my spare time; I also have a job that I have been working at since I was 15 and a half. I am a very independent and creative person; I also love to spend time with my family and friends. I can’t sit and do one thing at a time I have to multitask or I can’t get anything done. I am very quiet and shy around people I don’t know but after I get to know someone I am very talkative and nice. I care a lot about people and I have learned to be careful with whom I trust. I enjoy being outside and seeing new things, I love to travel. I have a 13 year old brother that is in middle school named Jake and a mom and dad named Heather and Jim. I am attending Western Tech to become a registered nurse. I hope to someday after I graduate work in the emergency room in a large city.