Why don't you participate?

I don't understand something: why won't people speak up? In particular, why don't students speak up in class? Oh, I understand the fear of giving an incorrect response in front of your snickering peers. Really, I do. You want to be certain of your answer so you aren't embarrassed. Sure!

I challenge you for a moment. Think of the instructor or speaker who has just asked for class participation and NO ONE responds. Not even with a wrong answer. The speaker wonders if anyone is listening or cares about the subject they are passionately trying to convey! It is interesting to me that small children are eager to share their thoughts and ideas when prompted, yet as we age, and are ridiculed by our peers, we become silent and passive learners; we are afraid of each other. Not much better, is the situation when one student voices an idea and others jump on the bandwagon with the pressure removed for them to formulate an idea of their own.

Now think of your classmates... the snickering ones, in particular... those who do not share thoughts and ideas, even the incorrect ones, with the class. You see, even an incorrect response to an open question is a teaching moment. If you offer an answer that is not 'spot on,' at least two things happen:
(1) A silent student supposed the same wrong response and would have gone home not knowing the right information if you had kept silent, and
(2) now the speaker (teacher) will correct you out loud, thereby teaching the whole group how to arrive at the correct answer. I would bet you are likely to remember the right answer when you are publicly corrected!

This is learning. We learn by making mistakes and finding out why our answer was not optimal, then fixing it. It is advantageous to make a mistake in the presence of a mentor or instructor (someone who can show us how to avoid the same mistake in the future). So, SPEAK UP EVEN IF YOU ARE UNSURE! Those who ridicule you are, IMHO, relieved that you spoke up with the wrong answer, because possibly they thought it, too, but were afraid of being wrong. Make the effort. Your instructors will appreciate your participation and attempt at showing interest in the subject matter.

Happy Birthday, Jaran Stratton!

Repost: November 16, 2011...
Never give up on someone who not a day goes by that you don't think about them...

(Letter to long lost person of interest on his birthday, November 16, 2010)

Jaran,
Wherever you are, I hope life is treating you well! Even in the brief months our paths coincided, you made a tremendous impact on my life, more specifically: my spiritual life. The Christ Light shines brightly from within you. I admire your ability to remain composed under fire and your unyielding respect of others when they showed no respect to you. You inspired me to reach for the stars and to follow my passion.

 When we worked together, I was over-stressed, hungry and exhausted , and I could rattle off the most absurd ideas without conscious cognitive filtering. For that reason, and maybe others, you must believe I am a complete wacko. Perhaps, I was at the time. Now, I have been reborn, and I am amazed and embarrassed by some of the things I remember about those months.

 When we last spoke, I was preparing to enroll in astrophysics at a local university. Well, rocket science was a little beyond my aptitude, and I found I am well suited for rock science. I earned a BA in Geography/Earth and Environmental Sciences and am pursuing the dream to be an astrogeologist with NASA or USGS Mars research (in the future, at the moment I am taking remedial courses at State :) to meet graduate school admission requirements for a Master's in Geology)..I haven't honed in on a grad school yet...

I hope you periodically search your own name in Google or other places, and you will stumble upon this message. If you do, I hope you will take a few moments and send me a message on my Facebook page or some other venue. I miss you, especially those big blue eyes! I hope you are well, warm and fed.
God bless you always, Jaran!
Always.
Heidi