Writing Feedback / CLEP essay "Teachers are responsible for motivating students". [3]

I am using essay suggestions I see here, at this forum, to practice for the CLEP I will shortly be taking. It is the College Composition essay test for my English 150 credit. I am doing it within the 30 min. time limit. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

Teachers are responsible for motivating students to learn. To what extent you agree or disagree?

As a student and a parent I have an interesting viewpoint from which to consider whether or not it is a teachers' responsibility to motivate myself or my children as students. First of all what kind of motivation is needed and the methods used could be taken into account. The extant of the motivation and the expected outcome should be considered. Finally the individuals' needs and limitations could be looked into. How these questions are answered could play a large role in who takes responsibility for motivation in the classroom.

A hundred years ago the preferred method of scholastic motivation is often portrayed as being corporal punishment. A ruler across the knuckles was many a child's experience. Although this method may have kept many children on task in the class it would hardly be approved of in today's age. On the other hand all fun and no work may keep a students' interest it certainly is the teachers responsibility to keep the focus on the task at hand, namely the curriculum.

The lessons that are expected to be taught also play a role in the atmosphere of the class and the teachers' ability to motivate the students in their charge. We would not expect first grade children to studiously study the electron configurations of the elements as we would also not expect a college student to repeat the alphabet numerous times. The lesson must fit the student as well as possible. Many a subject can become interesting merely on the fact that it pertains to the lives of the students it is taught to.

Finally the limitations of the individual are paramount to the information they can absorb. Age, ability and even the home life of the student can greatly affect the level of success a person can achieve. As I mentioned we would not expect a first grader to study electron configuration nor a college student to find the alphabet of interest.

The teachers responsibility in regard to motivating their class is certainly limited by factors outside of their control such as a students' ability, the material they are expected to teach and the home life of the student; and yet they are expected to keep the interest of every student in their charge. I believe that as a society we must recognize these limitations and help students and teachers balance these needs. As they say "It takes a village to raise a child".

Writing Feedback / CLEP - Individual Opportunity: Myth or Reality? [4]

I did this practice essay within the 30 min. time limit for the first College Composition essay of the Clep.

Individual Opportunity: Myth or Reality

Each individual in every moment of their lives exists in perpetual motion consisting of choices or opportunities. One could say that opportunity is merely a state of mind when facing these choices. Does this make an individuals' opportunity a myth?

Throughout history people have faced incredible choices that became great opportunities. As one studies the events surrounding a persons' historic opportunity, it may well come to light that the individuals' opportunity was a myth and depended completely on their perceptions. Take for instance Hitler, during WWII Hitler engaged in genocide among other "crimes to humanity". As an individual Hitler may well have believed that he was faced with a great opportunity to alter the world for what he believed was the better. Was this opportunity a myth or real? What happened to all of those people was most certainly real, but Hitler's' view that what he did was due to an opportunity is a myth. It may be generally accepted that his actions were twisted and horrible; the "opportunity" was simply his state of mind, his opinion of a choice.

As an individual I could say that I have faced many opportunities. But alas, if I had not been in the right state of mind at the time would I have even seen the opportunity? I am the mother of four children and I chose to go to college, was this really an opportunity or did I make a choice. Were the events that led to my decision real or a myth?

I believe that opportunity is a state of mind, a way of feeling about the choices one makes there for it is a myth, a belief more than anything else.