I Learned

After reading Literacy as Situated Practice, it made me realize how much non formal education has occurred for me in my lifetime.  To be honest, most of what I have learned have come in these kind of settings.  Interactions are very important to me.  I have been a person who listens closely to what everyone around me says.  Experience and wisdom from others is something that has always been fascinating to me.  So it makes sense that learning comes in out of classroom settings as well as classroom settings.  This does not mean that the classroom is not important, but the combination of the two, I believe, is very important in a person's growth.

Growing up, I remember sitting around every neighborhood I lived in and just taking in everything the "old heads" would talk about.  I would watch what my older siblings and others would do.  All these people would try to teach me things just randomly.  I always figured they were bored and had nothing else to do but bother me.  But I learned plenty of things when looking back on it.  One event that really sticks out to me is when I used to have to ride the MATA bus home everyday.  After school I would catch the 69 on Winchester and it would take me to Whitehaven where I would get off on Neely Rd. 

When I first started riding, I was with my older brother.  When he left to go live with his mother I had to ride alone.  So when the women and the bus driver realized that I was by myself for now on, they began to watch after me.  They taught me things about crossing the street and paying attention to my surroundings.  They even taught me things I would learn in school, such as the ships that Columbus brought when sailing and correct English, which I still struggle with.  Even when a new bus driver would drive the bus, the old one would tell him about me.  Times on the bus were very important in my development I believe.  I learned a lot that I still use to this day.  It helped me realize that someone can learn anywhere.