My First GT ELS Class - Kiki
Prior to my sophomore year of high school, I craved a class where I had a bit more freedom than I had experienced in the previous year. With a bit of reassuring and encouraging from Ms. Dunley, I signed up for the GT ELS online class. There is so much beauty in the freedom of being able to learn about any topic of interest. For my first GT class, I chose to study the science of happiness. I took an online course through UC Berkeley, and it included online lectures by professors and also snippets taken from real lectures that happened at the university. The class contained various forms of multi-media to teach the lesson in more interactive ways. All in all, the online course felt just as informative, or even more informative, as a real lecture would have.
Every week, I would complete my course work and then take notes on what I was learning. By the end of the unit, I was able to look back over my notes and summarize them through an analysis-based blog post. Halfway through the course, I formulated a theme and began to argue it, using the knowledge I was gaining from class as evidence. Finally, I would think back on each week on the previous unit through a reflection blog post. I would use that post to ask unanswered questions and make connections between the course and other sources I had studied.
By the end of the course, I had accumulated enough information to give a 20 minute presentation on what I had learned. The GT ELS class is a great way to not only delve deeper into an area of interest but also gain public speaking skills. Around 10-15 adults and students in total came to watch my presentation. I worked on my networking as well as conquered fears of speaking in front of an audience. I loved the class so much I took it my junior year and my senior year!
The most important lesson to be learned from taking GT ELS is the value in choosing what to study. Often times, it is easy to fall into a pattern in high school. Parents, counselors, and teachers dictate which class you should take to get credits, which will help you get into the top tier colleges, and which are "less serious" classes to avoid. Students get wrapped up in GPA goals and forget to take classes that they are actually interested. When a student takes a class for the sole purpose of the weighted addition to the GPA, they lose the opportunity to discover or grow potential passions. It is for this reason especially that I would suggest the GT ELS class to anyone!
Every week, I would complete my course work and then take notes on what I was learning. By the end of the unit, I was able to look back over my notes and summarize them through an analysis-based blog post. Halfway through the course, I formulated a theme and began to argue it, using the knowledge I was gaining from class as evidence. Finally, I would think back on each week on the previous unit through a reflection blog post. I would use that post to ask unanswered questions and make connections between the course and other sources I had studied.
By the end of the course, I had accumulated enough information to give a 20 minute presentation on what I had learned. The GT ELS class is a great way to not only delve deeper into an area of interest but also gain public speaking skills. Around 10-15 adults and students in total came to watch my presentation. I worked on my networking as well as conquered fears of speaking in front of an audience. I loved the class so much I took it my junior year and my senior year!
The most important lesson to be learned from taking GT ELS is the value in choosing what to study. Often times, it is easy to fall into a pattern in high school. Parents, counselors, and teachers dictate which class you should take to get credits, which will help you get into the top tier colleges, and which are "less serious" classes to avoid. Students get wrapped up in GPA goals and forget to take classes that they are actually interested. When a student takes a class for the sole purpose of the weighted addition to the GPA, they lose the opportunity to discover or grow potential passions. It is for this reason especially that I would suggest the GT ELS class to anyone!
How did this course help you as a GT student? Why did you add the course additional years even though it is not weighted?
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