My MEL experiences

Student/Teacher Relationships: Mrs. Winter was my English teacher for my Freshman and Junior years. She was tough but fair. She was an older woman who seemed on the surface to be very stern. As the year progressed however I discovered that she had a wealth of humor, she just expressed it in a more subtle way. As we read various books, she would laugh at the same things I did-no one else got it. I felt like she understood me.
Helping Students succeed:
Hands-on: My favorite part of science classes were the labs. I loved being able to really see what we were learning about. If I could touch it, draw it, even smell it, it became more real to me and I was able to make connections with the rest of my life.
Learning Styles:
Interest: Most English teachers that my children have had seem to choose books that are the most depressing ones they can find. They all choose from the same short list, for example: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (all the characters are despicable so it is really hard to relate to any of them), Lord of the Flies by William Golding (makes students think that all society would be run by the playground bully if left to themselves-no belief in the nobility of the soul and the tenacity of human goodness when confronted with evil), and The Pearl by John Steinbeck (there is no point in fighting the system-evil men will always get the best of you so your only hope is to keep your head down and hope they don't notice you). English majors love these books, but most teenagers don't. For less than enthusiastic readers it is enough to make them decide never to read a book again. My children are all avid readers, but they hated the assigned books. There is so much wonderful literature out there that is uplifting and inspiring that never seems to get a hearing such as: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (the main character grows stronger and gains insights, skills, and confidence as a result of being put in extraordinary circumstances), Corrie Ten Boom's The Hiding Place (a story of the courage of a family during WWII who hid many Jews from the Germans), and Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (the story of a family of sisters who worked, played, and fought together through a difficult time in their lives). These books do not minimize the difficulties of life, but they model positive actions and attitudes they can emulate to make them better learners as well as improving their corner of the world and make it better for their having been a part of it. Allowing students to choose from a wide variety of good literature helps to keep their interest and ensure that they will continue to read even after class is over.
Autonomy:Dr. Ron Butler was my professor for Evolutionary Biology. A large part of my grade was a 15 page research paper. Even college students are often overwhelmed by the thought of a paper that big, especially science majors. In the instructions for the paper, Dr. Butler provided us with a list of possible topics and we were to choose one of them. I found this very useful because I always have a difficult time coming up with a topic because there are too many possibilities. Working from a list, I had a finite amount of ideas which was easier to narrow and choose a topic from while giving enough variety that everyone could find something interesting to research.
Connections:My chemistry teacher used a lab workbook to direct her labs. They included detailed instructions and questions used to direct understanding of the process being studied. We just followed the directions and answered the questions. However, I didn't get as much out of them as one would think because I couldn't make connections to what I was supposed to be learning. I was always worried that I wasn't doing it right or that I would get a question wrong rather working on understanding the concept. I found that there was no substitute for teacher instruction. When the teacher helped me find the relevance of a piece of information and put it in context I was able to really understand and become more interested in the subject.
Context: