Competition
She is my competitor now.
Why? No more friend or classmate?
I need to be able to answer
the question before she does.
Okay, is the answer yes or no?
No! I don’t know!
I must decode this logic question.
No! I don’t know!
Is she going to slap the answer
with her blue bendable ruler now?
No… please!
I know that I can do that.
I solved the same puzzle before.
Oh, is she going to slap the answer now?
No… please!
I’d like to show that
I am smarter than she is.
I will choose the right answer before she does.
But what’s the correct answer?
I don’t know. Is it yes or no?
Oh, she chose yes
as her team member from
the back of the class shouted.
She got a point.
Why? She could not answer the question either.
This point was not hers.
I read this in her eyes.
My soul sank, and my head down.
I wandered back to my seat.
Is it an activity to learn?
No, not at all.
But is it an assessment?
Even so, should it be under
the speed pressure?
Do I feel good after this?
Does she?
Is it learning?
Why should this activity be in a class?
I attached the pictures of a brain, heart, and my poem because in my experience of the poem, I only wanted to beat my competitor; I no more have a feeling of sharing or kindness to my classmate. As a result of lacking heart, my brain under competitive tension shut down its proper cognitive process. My poem's experience was during an EDS's peer teaching class. The teaching group was giving a review or assessment on the Piaget's Formal Operational thoughts and Concrete Operational thoughts at the Gang Age stage. Each member of the two teams came up in front of the projected screen, and slapped the right answer of the quizzes with the provided bendable rulers. Every time a question popped up on the screen, a teaching member read the question very quickly, and the two participants tried to slap the correct answer out of the two options. The first one who chose the right answer earned a point.
This poem experience led me to write some journals, and the attached poem was the second product out of the journals. I reread the first version of the poem after a few days later of writing, I was aghast by the phrase “my opponent” in the poem; I questioned myself, “why wasn’t she seen as my friend or classmate anymore?” Then, after setting aside the current poem one day, I reread it and was also appalled by my thoughts of “I’d like to show that I am smarter than she is.” Now reflecting on the poem experience, I recognized how these unhealthy thoughts out of my desire to beat her blocked my cognitive process of decoding the question. This experience put me into again the experience of my previous summer’s Intro: to Statistics Class. Since my Burmese Education system trained me to do lots of Math, I was almost always the one who gave the calculation answers first to the instruction’s questions. I sensed that other students felt inferior or not good enough with their capabilities. But like in the nature of all the competitions, I could not always be the one who got the answer first, and would definitely feel bad like in the poem. So after the summer class, I yearned for a writing class where individual ideas or perspectives are celebrated. I understand that people have different intelligences – not just the logical one which Math applies. Honestly, I do want all learners to feel good with their capabilities of learning. However, I questioned myself, “Does it mean that I am not going to teach my young kids Math where there is only one right answer, and some students got the answers earlier than the others?” Of course not. I think what matters is how I help them learn Math. So writing this entry, I remind myself that there are different ways to get to right answers, and my kids of different cognitive processes. And my classroom lessons will reinforce the cooperative learning environment where students’ sharing and kind human disposition is encouraged. Then their neuron fibers will keep running for their learning in their emotionally healthy classroom.
I included this entry under the authentic learning because the poem experience had no time for us to process the information, rather to compete for the right answers. Under this time pressure, students’ cognition could shut down like me. Also the competitive situation brought emotionally strain to the students for their capabilities. Learning from this peer teaching’s lesson, I am determined to create the authentic learning environment for kids where they have a chance to cooperate their brain power with their caring disposition for one another. My classroom lessons will more focus on students’ critical and creative thinking, and they should feel good about their own abilities.
This poem experience led me to write some journals, and the attached poem was the second product out of the journals. I reread the first version of the poem after a few days later of writing, I was aghast by the phrase “my opponent” in the poem; I questioned myself, “why wasn’t she seen as my friend or classmate anymore?” Then, after setting aside the current poem one day, I reread it and was also appalled by my thoughts of “I’d like to show that I am smarter than she is.” Now reflecting on the poem experience, I recognized how these unhealthy thoughts out of my desire to beat her blocked my cognitive process of decoding the question. This experience put me into again the experience of my previous summer’s Intro: to Statistics Class. Since my Burmese Education system trained me to do lots of Math, I was almost always the one who gave the calculation answers first to the instruction’s questions. I sensed that other students felt inferior or not good enough with their capabilities. But like in the nature of all the competitions, I could not always be the one who got the answer first, and would definitely feel bad like in the poem. So after the summer class, I yearned for a writing class where individual ideas or perspectives are celebrated. I understand that people have different intelligences – not just the logical one which Math applies. Honestly, I do want all learners to feel good with their capabilities of learning. However, I questioned myself, “Does it mean that I am not going to teach my young kids Math where there is only one right answer, and some students got the answers earlier than the others?” Of course not. I think what matters is how I help them learn Math. So writing this entry, I remind myself that there are different ways to get to right answers, and my kids of different cognitive processes. And my classroom lessons will reinforce the cooperative learning environment where students’ sharing and kind human disposition is encouraged. Then their neuron fibers will keep running for their learning in their emotionally healthy classroom.
I included this entry under the authentic learning because the poem experience had no time for us to process the information, rather to compete for the right answers. Under this time pressure, students’ cognition could shut down like me. Also the competitive situation brought emotionally strain to the students for their capabilities. Learning from this peer teaching’s lesson, I am determined to create the authentic learning environment for kids where they have a chance to cooperate their brain power with their caring disposition for one another. My classroom lessons will more focus on students’ critical and creative thinking, and they should feel good about their own abilities.
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