Did you like studying in your elementary school? I heard many people did not like studying. The reason why many people did not like studying is that they thought it took a long time, or it was a waste of time, and it was boring. However, if they got a chance to learn about their favorite subject, what would students think? Would they still think they do not like studying? I do not think they would. According to Graff’s argument, few students are “street smarts.” Many children will begin to study when they are elementary school students, so all schools especially, elementary schools should introduce a non-academic study like sports into the class culture.
In the article “Hidden Intellectualism” by Gerald Graff, he urges teachers to show their students how to be more intellectual by focusing on their areas of interest. However, he discusses how schools and colleges need students to have academic skills. He gives examples of subjects that he needs schools to consider for their students are cars, fashion, and sports (249). In addition, he thinks that this allows a chance for students to explore their interests more easily and fairly (248). Since Graff was young, he loved to read books and magazines about sports, so he actually tried to learn about sports by making arguments, finding many kinds of evidence, summarizing other points, and communicating with people about his ideas (251). He believes that these actions were more intellectual than what was being taught in schools. Graff suggests evaluating non-academic interests, which are more interesting to students, in the same way, we evaluate academic learning for grades. He explained that the reason why he thought it was great was that students could write their passions in a reflective way, which means thinking deeply about what they say. For example, students can research sports history, or another interest, through a critical lens. Just knowing about sports for enjoyment is not good for academic study.
This is my own experience which related to my thesis and Graff’s thesis as a case in point. I have played the trumpet for six years in my school’s brass band club. When I heard a club member’s trumpet sound, I was touched. Therefore, I wanted to be like them. Moreover, I practiced every day because I wanted to catch up to them. The practice was hard, but I could increase my playing skills day by day. Also, I tried to know how to make the trumpet sounds better than before. I learned about the trumpet, history, and music through not only my teacher’s teaching but also reading. These are very important to know because it helps motivate me. When I was a high school student, I became the first chair of the trumpet section. Then, I learned about all the band members because every person and instrument is important to the whole band. It was the leadership skill of looking at everyone’s musical pieces and how to fit them together to create the best sound that made me learn about resource management. Furthermore, I learned that teamwork was very important too. When I was a second-year high school student, I participated in an ensemble concert. At the time, I was so depressed that I could not play the trumpet well like I did in every other practice. However, after our performance, the other members came up to encourage me. Because of them, that is why I have a positive attitude to this day. I finally figured out, with some help, that a few kind words can change a person for the better. In the article, Graff talked about the experience that he read about sports and discussed with his friends. He got a knowledge of sports, but I got an important thing as same as knowledge through the trumpet.
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When my younger sister was an elementary school student, she loved to draw. She always drew Japanese animations. When I was a middle school student, I watched the animation “Phi-Brain -god of Puzzle-” with my younger sister. I thought it was fun, the picture of the animation was very clear, and the music was so cool. However, I was not into that animation, so I stopped watching. She was into that animation because she was moved by it and she tried to draw animation. I was surprised not only by her craze but also by her drawing skills. She practiced every day because she wanted to become a professional comic artist. Not only I but also my family and everyone was surprised by her drawing skills because she increased her drawing skills day by day looking like a professional. She learned how to draw animations with her hands, what kind of animations she made, and how to create interesting animations through not only readings but also the Internet. When she made an animation book, her classmates said to her “Your story was very good! I like it! Make another one for me please.” My younger sister was so glad to hear that. I thought that too, so I said to her “You are amazing! You can do it!” Now, she always draws and learns about animation because of her experience. In addition, she made a friend through her drawing, so she always discusses Japanese comics and animations. This is my own experience which related to my thesis and Graff’s thesis as a case in point. In the article, Graff described his experience that he discussed about sports with his friends. I thought that my younger sister did the same with him.
Some people think non-academic is not useful, so we just learn about academic study. When I was a middle school student, my teacher said “Why are you guys coming to school? Because you guys have to study! ” In fact, he told us that the biggest advantage of studying academic study is that it covers the whole range. As is the case with school classes, there are many cases where the curriculum is properly organized. In regular examinations, questions are basically created from the range that the class has learned, so you should be able to expect a high score if you are understanding the contents of the class. If you have the ability to score well on regular examinations, you will be able to handle the entrance examination relatively easily. It's also one of the advantages of being able to grasp the overall picture of the content. You don't have to understand the content of the class all at once, but if you remember the content you heard in the class, it's easy to get a general idea of how to answer when you review. Then it'll be quite easy to start over by yourself. It takes a lot of energy to learn to do something you don't know, so 'I haven't heard' or 'I was sleeping' is a waste. Actually, Graff discusses how schools need students to have academic skills in his article.
That is true, so we have to learn about academic study, however; There is a gap between theory and practice. Even if students understand, some students may not be able to solve problems with their own minds. There are a lot of things that are not enough in themselves, although there is a practice class. Usually, in order to solve the application problem, many students have to follow from the basic problem to the standard problem to the application problem, so it's not enough time for practice.
From my experience, all schools have to allow a chance to learn about students' interests which is non-academic study.
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