Fierson's Not Becoming The Best

Matthew Misiura is a math teacher at Susquehanna Community High School. Mr. Misiura explains that he always pushes for “content mastery” in his math classes. However, Mr. Misiura’s teachings are more than an average algebra and precalculus class. Mr. Misiura pushes for students to learn about the real world. He pushes for students to always work to their full potential. In a year in his classroom, I not only learned precalculus and trigonometry, but I learned how to view situations from a different perspective. Some students, when given back a test in which they failed, would cry, act childish, or simply complain. Mr. Misiura was able to reinforce the belief that the only way to learn is to make mistakes. He often stated that, if you already

“Greatness and nearsightedness are incompatible. Meaningful achievement depends on lifting one's sights and pushing toward the horizon.” This is a quote by Daniel Pink. One can only achieve greatness, once they put in work and time that is acquired. There is a goal that must be set and to be accomplished.

must always be aware others are continually learning through observation and strive to make his or her actions worthy of being imitated.

Practice makes perfect. This statement directly relates to chapter 1 and 2 in “What the Best College Students Do,” by Ken Bain. Throughout the chapters, Bain provides examples of successful people, studies, and tools to support his idea that learning surpasses grades and other awards in the scheme of life. To accomplish the skill of learning, students must possess determination, intrinsic motivation, and a passion.

Whether it was from you Coach or Teacher, this statement is very accurate. If you’ve always thought of yourself as dumb, clumsy or non-artistic you should think again because as the saying implies you can always improve if you are hardworking and conscientious. Recent studies have shown that the brain grows more when you learn something new, and less when you practice things you already know. For instance, when you are attempting challenging math problems you are allowing the dendrites and neurons to grow and strengthen certain parts of your brain. This cannot be attained by just completing the simple problems and skipping over the difficult ones. Math can become easier to anyone if they practice it the right way. It may become difficult at one point but if you continue within time it will become relatively

This quote has always been inspiring in my life. I believe learning is not limited to just the classroom but takes places through out our life. Right education not only enhances personal development and social inclusion, but also increases competitiveness.

Apply that to any situation, and if rejecting help comes into mind, change that into a growth mindset. Will Smith exemplifies growth mindset especially in this quote of his: “Skill you have naturally, skill is only developed by hour and hours of beating on your craft.” In Fact, to master something most researchers give the idea that it takes about 10,000 hours to master something. Dedicating a large portion of the day to mastering that one skill takes an obscene amount of grit. Statistics show in an online study by PsychTests.com that 66 percent of people feel down on themselves when they recieve grit.

No one is born knowing how to do everything but we can all be taught. Sometimes, there are circumstances in life where factors out of our control can change who we are. Every challenge we face has the ability to teach us a variety of lessons; we just have to be willing to

Author Ralph Waldo Emerson once stated, “Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.” This statement proves to be correct in today’s society. The world is always making technological and educational advancements. Therefore, people should always take advantage of being able to learn and understand new concepts. Emerson’s statement is correct because people should challenge themselves into learning beyond what they already know because it expands them to new opportunities, gives them experience, and increases personal growth.

Another personal value that I live by till this day that you taught is “it’s not about what you do, it’s how you do it”. Another concept that went over my head when I was younger. I think this concept can mean many different things depending on your perspective. The way I look at is I should always give everything I do my full effort and do it to the best of my ability. I think it saves you time from have to redo things multiply times. It’s basically like quality over quantity, the way I see it. For example, me going to school. If I just go to school just to say I’m going and not do my work to my full potential I would have different results than I have now. Instead of it taking me two years to finish my Associates degree it probably would

Ralph Waldo said, “unless you try to do things beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.” I agree with Ralph Waldo, push yourself to do greater things. Ralph Waldo said it right, if you don't push for greater things you will not succeed. One reason is, to be a greater person push further than what you have already accomplished. You will never get better if you keep doing the same ole thing. People who don't settle for the easy way are stronger.

I can relate to the above quote. During my first years of high school, I did not take my academics as seriously as I should have. I did not set goals so that I would not disappoint myself. I have learned my little decisions I made impacted my grade point average and class ranking. Also I realized I needed to make some academic changes.

Drucker (2005) states that one of the most important things a person should do is to self-evaluate. They need to look internally and try to determine what their true strengths are. Often, the skill set to which a person is born will be what they assume that they are best at and consequently people often misidentifying what their strengths are. The best way to understand what you are really best at is to get feedback from other people (Drucker 2005, page 2). A person can also provide feedback for themselves provided they

The second rule is to encourage a growth mind-set by, “telling stories about achievements that result from hard work…descriptions [like that] of great mathematicians who fell in love with math and developed amazing skills engenders a growth mind-set,” (Dweck, 171-175). Encouraging a growth mind-set allows for a child to have more success in their school life as well as in their social life as a result of motivation and the willingness to be challenged and learn.

Like when I did track, I wanted to jump at a minimum eleven feet so, I had to practice every day before I could actually do it, but I never gave up. Because of that, I can now soar more than eleven feet. If I would’ve given up I probably would not have enjoyed the meets and I wasn't embarrassed about how much I could jump. It wasn't the best jump, but I was content with it. I could also apply this lesson to simple problems on a daily basis. Like, when a teacher asks you to do something, try to figure it out, and after a couple mistakes don’t just say I give up just ask for help. Now, I’m learning to apply this to everyday things. I also learned that I should just keep trying. I’ve experienced the truth. I’ve done this by applying it to everyday